Matthew 22:34-40

So our text this morning, as Nathan said, is Matthew 22, verses 34 through 30.

So let's start by reading our text.

This is the Word of God, and it reads,

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.

And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.

Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?

And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

This is the great and first commandment.

And the second is like it.

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

On these two commands depend all the law and the prophets.

So today's passage answers one of the most basic questions of Christian living.

What does God desire of mankind?

If we can perfectly obey the two commands that are given here throughout our lives perfectly, we will fulfill the law.

That's what Jesus is teaching.

No one but the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, has been able to do so.

And as we'll see today, loving God and others in this way requires a whole self-devotion to God and to his work at all times.

So my goal for this morning is for us to grow in our understanding of what these two commands actually require of us,

that we may understand the heart of God in a more real sense, greater treasure, the atoning work of Christ,

who perfectly fulfilled the law and imputed his righteousness to his people,

and therefore grow in our ability to display the love we have for one another in a tangible way.

So to do so, we'll take a look at this text in four points, and I'll refer back to them as we go.

But it'll be the context, the question, the commands, and the connection, and the connection between those two commands.

So firstly, let's look at our first main point, the context.

So this passage in Matthew 22 has zoomed into the last week of Jesus' life.

He has made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.

He has driven out the money changers, and the next morning he curses the fig tree.

It withers immediately, according to Matthew's account, and he enters the temple again to teach.

We read in chapter 21,

When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching,

and said, By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?

So the question that this particular leader asks is in the context of Jesus coming into the temple,

teaching, and his authority being challenged.

So Jesus' following teaching is bookended by two simple questions that they cannot or will not answer.

And these questions expose the religious leaders' hypocrisy and ignorance of the law.

So the first question, what Jesus directly responds to this challenge,

he asks them where John the Baptist's baptism came from.

And they discuss it among themselves, as it says in chapter 21.

And if they said from heaven, Jesus would say to them,

Why then do you not believe?

But if they say from man, they are afraid of the crowds, for they all hold that John was a prophet.

So they answer Jesus, We do not know.

And he said to them, Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

And then on the other end, after our teaching, following our text,

Christ asks them how the Messiah, as the son of David, is referred to by David as my Lord,

which, again, they cannot or will not give an answer.

So in between these two bookends, we find three parables that are specifically targeting the religious leaders

who have come to challenge him.

And then we find three questions asked of Jesus in order to test him.

So in summary, we first have the parable of the two sons,

where Jesus concludes in verse 31 of chapter 21,

The tax collectors and prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you, these religious leaders.

And then we have the parable of the tenants and the parable of the wedding feasts,

both showing the betrayal of Israel's leaders of God's original plan,

accusing them of killing his messengers and denying his son.

We know that these Jewish leaders understand that Christ is speaking about them,

and they want to arrest him, but again, they fear the crowds.

So instead, they resort to outsmarting him.

So after, of course, they are unable to do this,

we know that they eventually abandon this plan of outsmarting Jesus

and instead bring false witnesses against Christ and convict him of crimes that he didn't commit

and would crucify him on the cross.

But they're not quite to that point yet.

They're first trying to shame him or trip him up in his words.

So our text this morning is the third in a series of questions that the leaders are asking.

And Jesus takes the opportunity to teach about three fundamental relationships.

So firstly, we see the Pharisees joining the Herodians,

asking about our relationship with government,

to which Jesus answers,

render to Caesar that which is Caesar's.

Then we see the Sadducees asking a question about the afterlife,

to which Jesus answers,

there is no marriage in the afterlife,

and God is not a God of the dead,

but of the living,

thus confirming the resurrection.

And then we have our text,

where the Pharisees send a scribe or a lawyer

concerning the relationship between man and the law.

So that's the context of our passage this morning.

Let's take a look at the question asked to test Jesus.

So this question is asked by a lawyer or a scribe.

And so this type of Pharisee

would have had little to do with actually leading the people or teaching,

but was more of an academic expert on the law.

So this question is clearly meant to test Jesus,

but if you read Mark's account of the same story in chapter 12,

he seems to have a bit more of a positive impression.

So we know that this Pharisee is trying to test Jesus,

but at the same time,

we also see him in some ways in Mark's account,

genuinely seeking after wisdom.

No matter this particular scribe's intent,

we do know that some of the Jewish leaders were converted,

or at least some came to Christ in humility,

seeking to learn Nicodemus being one example of those.

Now, as he asks our Lord,

which is the greatest commandment?

He's not simply asking,

which is the first command among many that we should obey?

Rather, he's asking,

which is the preeminent command that informs all the others?

The great command is in a category of its own.

So we can know this from a couple of different points.

Firstly, from Jesus's response,

and then if you read the scribe's response in Mark's account,

this is the question that he is asking.

We also know from the rabbinic tradition,

the rabbis held that there were 613 commands

found in the Pentateuch,

the first five books of Moses' teaching,

one command for each letter in the Ten Commandments.

248 of these commands were positive in nature,

asking us to do something,

whereas 365 were negative or forbidding in nature.

So as a shortcut,

the rabbis would categorize these commands

into heavier commands

and into lighter commands

so that they could focus on the heaviest

and not worry so much on the light ones.

And there was an ongoing disagreement among the rabbis,

which were the heavy ones,

which were the light ones,

and which was the heaviest of them all.

So this scribe was asking Jesus

a commonly disputed question.

Now, likely what was happening in the rabbis' minds

is that they were trying to take a shortcut on God's law.

They were trying to see

what was the least amount of effort

that they could put in

to feel or to be justified before God

in their minds.

We have a tendency in this direction as well,

and we know that this contradicts

James' later teaching

that falling short at one point in the law

renders us guilty under the whole law.

So let's take a look at Jesus' response

in our third main point.

We'll, of course,

spend a little bit more time here

and in the next one,

the two commands.

So firstly,

I want to address these commands separately,

and then we'll examine

the connection between them

since that's kind of the main point

of what Jesus is saying here.

So firstly,

sub-point A,

if you're taking notes,

we'll look at the great command.

So as many of you know,

Jesus is quoting here

from the Shema

found in Deuteronomy chapter 6,

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

which reads,

you shall love the Lord your God

with all your heart,

with all your soul,

and with all your strength.

In Matthew's account,

we find all of your mind,

and in Mark's account,

we find all of your mind

and strength.

And I'll address that apparent discrepancy

here in a second.

But this was certainly

the most precious

of Jewish scriptures.

They would have said this

at least twice a day.

They had it written

on their doorposts,

and the Pharisees

literally wore it

on their foreheads

and tiny scrolls rolled up

in their phylacteries.

So it was already

a strong candidate

for the great command

in the Jewish mind.

Now as we look at this,

I don't want to focus

on the love part just yet,

but I'd like to look at

some other aspects

of this text.

So firstly,

let's briefly unpack

what we are supposed

to love God with.

Our heart

and our soul

and this third thing,

either strength,

mind,

or mind,

and strength.

Before we do this,

I want to recommend

the series

by the Bible Project,

which some of you

are probably familiar with

on the Shema.

It's kind of a word study

on some of these

different words.

It's where I got

a lot of the information here.

But of course,

the videos add

some visual aids as well.

So firstly,

loving God

with our heart.

The Jewish people

understood this concept

differently

than the modern

American understanding

of the heart.

Typically,

when we say heart,

we primarily are referring

to our feelings

or our affections.

And while the Hebrew

understanding would have

included these two things,

it would have

accomplished,

accomplished,

encompass,

sorry,

much more.

In the words of Tim Mackey,

the Israelites would have

had no concept

of the brain

or mind

or even any word

for it.

They imagine

that all humans'

intellectual activity

takes place

in the heart.

So this is likely

why both New Testament

accounts add

the word mind.

The Greeks

had a concept

of the mind

somewhat separate

from the heart

while the Hebrew

language did not.

And I was curious

about this

because I had

heard this claim

and so I went

through my little

Blue Letter Bible app

and was looking

for the Old Testament

references to mind

and I couldn't find

any where the actual

Hebrew language

used the word mind.

oftentimes it would

have been more

literally translated

as some other

part of the body

or sometimes

a better translation

might have been

heart in that case.

So this means

that we can know

something with our

hearts.

As the book of

Proverbs says,

wisdom and discernment

come from the heart

and we know that

it's the source

of our choices

and desires

in the biblical context.

Like the phrases

that we desire

something in our heart

or we had it

in our heart

to make this

or that choice

as we see

in scripture.

So we can understand

the heart

as the all-encompassing

essence of our

inner being.

The source of our

physical life,

our emotions,

our desires,

our choices

and our thoughts.

So to love God

with our heart

is much more

than just

our feelings

and affections

but our entire

inner being.

So next

let's look at

the word soul.

Again,

when we think

of the word soul

we tend to think

a little bit differently

than how the Hebrew

authors would have

written it

and thought about it.

Typically,

we kind of defer

back to the Greek

philosophical concept

of the soul

which is like

this non-physical

essence

which will be

released from

its imprisonment

in our body

upon our death.

Now this is not

what the word means

in Hebrew

and it's not

what the Hebrew

authors

how they would

have put it

in Shema.

Literally,

this word

the Hebrew

is nefesh

and it means

throat

but just like

the concept

of the heart

has both

physical

and deeper

metaphorical meaning.

It can refer

to the person

as a whole.

Both humans

and animals

are spoken of

as living

nefesh

or souls

and once

something dies

it is a

dead nefesh

which we don't

really have

the concept

of a dead

soul

in the

American

mind.

So we don't

have a nefesh

or a soul

rather we

are a soul

a physical

being

so to love

God with

all our soul

in the sense

is to do

so with all

of our being

all of our

body

our personhood

or our

essence.

So next

let's look

at the word

strength.

Of the three

this is probably

the worst

translated

into English.

So in the

Hebrew

this word

is

miod

literally

it means

very

or much

it's an

adverb

specifically

an intensifier

so it makes

another word

mean more

of itself

like

very

big.

So a better

translation might

be with all

of our

umph

our power

gumption

fervency

or zealousness

but again

Tim Mackey

prefers with all

of our

muchness.

He says

this final

thing that you

used to love

God isn't

a thing

at all

it's

everything

devoting

every

opportunity

possibility

and

capacity

that you

have to

honoring

God.

This word

again is

all

encompassing

and implies

that every

single part

of our

life

gives us

an opportunity

to demonstrate

love to

God

or as Paul

says in

1 Corinthians

10

whether you

eat or

drink or

whatever you

do

do all

to the

glory

of God.

So to sum

this up

I'd like

to read

a Matthew

Henry

quote

which

again sums

up this

idea of

loving God

with all

of these

things.

He says

we must

highly

esteem

him

be well

pleased

that there

is such

a being

well pleased

in his

attributes

his

relations

to us

our

desire

must be

towards

him

our

delight

in

him

our

dependence

upon

him

and to

him

we must

be

entirely

devoted.

It must

be a

constant

pleasure

to us

to think

of him

to hear

from him

to speak

to him

and to

serve

him

we must

love

him.

Secondly

I'd like

to look at

another aspect

of the

Shema

the concept

of

unity.

So while

it may

not

appear

glaringly

on the

surface

the concept

of unity

is in

the center

of this

command.

So listen

to the

words from

Deuteronomy

which are

included

in our

text

that are

found

in

Mark's

rendering.

Before

this

command

that Jesus

refers

to

we have

this

preface

of these

words

before

hear

O

Israel

the

Lord

is

our

God

the

Lord

is

one.

While

in

isolation

this

oneness

or unity

in the

person

of God

may seem

like it's

insignificant.

But once

we place

this next

to our

disunity

or

disintegration

of the

self

it takes

on a

new meaning.

So I'd like

to look at

a couple

of passages

that demonstrate

this.

Firstly

James

chapter

three.

You can

turn

there

if you

want

to

but

you

can

just

listen.

James

three

it says

verse

eight

no human

being

can tame

the tongue

it is a

restless

evil

full of

deadly

poison

with it

we bless

our

Lord

and

father

and

with

it

we

curse

people

who

are

made

in

the

likeness

of

God

from

the

same

mouth

come

blessing

and

cursing

my

brothers

these

things

ought

not

to

be

so

we

have

a

division

in

ourselves

between

what

we

say

at

one

time

and

what

we

say

at

another

time

and

then

Romans

7

is

the

classic

passage

on

this

topic

Romans

7

15

Paul

writing

I do

not

understand

my

own

actions

for

I

do

not

do

what

I

want

but

I

do

the

very

thing

that

I

hate

for

I

have

the

desire

to

do

what

is

right

but

not

the

ability

to

carry

it

out

for

I

do

not

do

the

good

I

want

but

the

evil

I

do

not

want

is

what

I

keep

on

doing

so

again

there's

a

disconnect

between

our

desires

and

then

what

our

actions

actually

manifest

and

then

in

Jeremiah

17

classic

text

verse

9

the heart

is

deceitful

above

all

things

and

desperately

sick

so

even

as

believers

our

affections

desires

words

choices

intentions

actions

feelings

and

thoughts

can

be

fickle

and

fleeting

they

can

contradict

one

another

and

they

can

wax

and

wane

and

furbously

and

in fact

in

my

experience

this

is

the

main

problem

of

the

Christian

life

what

we

know

to

be

true

and

what

we're

able

to

put

into

practice

are

so

often

disjointed

but

as

Psalm

115

proclaims

our

Lord

is in

the

heavens

he

does

all

that

he

pleases

God

is

perfectly

effective

in

every

action

we

are

woefully

disparate

and

disjointed

but

the

Lord

is

one

so

this

adds

yet

another

layer

of

meaning

to

the

great

command

be

united

as

the

Lord

is

love

him

with

all

of

your

heart

not

part

of

your

heart

here

and

part

of

your

heart

somewhere

else

all

of

your

soul

and

all

of

your

muchness

be

complete

united

in

all

of

your

being

to

the

singular

purpose

of

loving

the

Lord

so

how

do

we

show

love

to

God

our

next

sub

point

sub

point

C

for

taking

notes

how

do

we

love

God

it

can

seem

overwhelming

at

times

to feel

the need

to

reciprocate

the

love

that

God

has

shown

to

us

with

a

deep

emotionality

and

close

connection

with

him

these

intense

feelings

should

be

there

to

some

degree

and

sometimes

but

the

biblical

writers

certainly

didn't

feel

this

all

the

time

and

needed

to

remind

themselves

of

the

truth

we

can

never

show

the

same

love

for

God

as

he

has

demonstrated

to

us

he

requires

something

much

simpler

of

us

it's

not

incredibly

complex

very

hard

to

carry

out

but

simple

in

concept

Solomon

writes

in

Ecclesiastes

12

the end

of the

matter

all

has

been

heard

fear

God

and

keep

his

commandments

for

this

is

the

whole

duty

of

man

or

as

John

writes

in

1st

John

5

3

this

is

the

love

of

God

that

we

keep

his

commandments

and

his

commandments

are

not

burdensome

or

as

Jesus

says

simply

in

John

14

15

if

you

love

me

you

will

keep

my

commandments

now

this

phrase

is

repeated

in

one

form

or

15

of

John's

gospel

alone

so

loving

God

means

keeping

his

commandments

now

it's

not

just

this

outward

thing

but

it's

the

outward

manifestation

of

the

love

that's

occurring

on

the

inside

this

by itself

may seem

like it's

a plea

for a

dry

piety

a

legalistic

or

robotic

type

of

living

however

in the

context

of what

we have

observed

in the

Shema

consider

what it

means

for us

to obey

God's

commands

every

last

one

with

all

of

our

heart

our

soul

and

our

muchness

all

our

affections

emotions

desires

choices

physical

body

mental

energy

essence

and

fervency

united

together

to keep

his

commands

since

they are

the desired

expression

of our

love

for

God

first

John

the

passage

that we

just read

earlier

said that

these

commands

would not

be

burdensome

and

Jesus

says

here

in

John

15

in

the same

chunk of

teaching

if you

keep

my

commands

you

will

abide

in

my

love

these

things

I

have

spoken

to

you

that

my

joy

may

be

in

you

and

that

your

joy

may

be

full

so

this

is not

dry

root

obedience

to avoid

punishment

like

when

you're

watching

TV

or

playing

outside

as a

child

and

your

mom

tells

you

to

clean

your

room

rather

this

is

purpose

fulfilling

satisfying

joy

giving

action

rooted

in

deep

trust

in

the

rule

giver

that

he

has

designed

us

and

therefore

he

knows

what's

best

for

us

he

has

commanded

that

which

will

give

us

the

most

joy

and

satisfaction

so

this

concept

is

the

reason

for

David's

epic

psalm

119

which

over

and

over

demonstrate

his

deep

desire

to

know

and

obey

the

commands

of

God

now

I

could

have

chosen

any

stanza

to read

from

in

psalm

119

but

this

one

stuck

out

as I

was

beginning

to read

through

it

this

would

be

in

verses

9

through

16

this

is

again

just

an

example

of

this

connection

between

loving

God

and loving

his

word

and his

commands

and his

statutes

all

synonyms

for the

same

thing

so it

reads

how can

a young

man

keep

his

way

pure

by

guarding

it

according

to

your

word

with

my

whole

heart

I

seek

you

let

me

not

wonder

from

your

commandments

I've

stored

up

your

word

in

my

heart

that

I

might

not

sin

against

you

blessed

are

you

O

Lord

teach

me

your

statutes

with

my

lips

I

declare

all

the

rules

of

your

mouth

and fix

my

eyes

on

your

ways

I

will

delight

in

your

statutes

I

will

not

forget

your

word

some

of us

seriously

need to

question

whether

we

believe

what

David

believed

about

God's

commands

or if

our

understanding

is more

like a

child

being

required

to

clean

his

or

her

room

so

let's

look at

this

second

great

command

love

your

neighbor

it'll

be a

bit

shorter

in

response

to the

question

on

which

do

all

the

other

commands

rely

Jesus

answers

with

two

the

second

love

your

neighbor

as

yourself

is

cited

from

again

the

Torah

Leviticus

19

18

and is

placed

in the

same

category

as

the

Shema

by

Jesus

like

the

Shema

in

that

many

other

commands

are summed

up

in

these

words

all

commands

falling

into

one

of

these

two

categories

so

if

we're

able

to

fulfill

the

command

love

your

neighbor

as

yourself

we'll

be

fulfilling

every

command

that

involves

relationship

with

one

another

Paul

writes

in

Romans

13

the

commandments

you shall

not

commit

adultery

you shall

not

murder

you shall

not

steal

you shall

not

covet

and any

other

commandment

are summed

up in

this

word

love

your

neighbor

as

yourself

so

what

does

this

command

mean

many

have

used

it

to

say

that

we

can't

truly

love

others

until

we

first

love

ourselves

the

thinking

goes

like

this

our

capacity

to

love

others

is

increased

as

our

capacity

to

love

ourselves

is

and

I

hope

that

this

backwards

and worldly

way of

thinking

is as

obvious

to you

as it

is

to me

the

assumption

of the

Hebrew

thinkers

was that

we already

knew

how to

love

ourselves

to meet

our

needs

first

and then

to take

care

of

others

the

ideas

of liking

who you

are

or treating

yourself

or the

apparent

importance

of self

esteem

are relatively

new ideas

that only

seem to

be relevant

in extremely

affluent

and privileged

societies

like ours

poverty

and struggle

to make

ends meet

has been

the norm

not the

exception

throughout

history

when you're

worried about

getting food

on the

table

you don't

really have

the luxury

about whether

or not

you're fond

of your

personality

on the

contrary

the high

calling of

the Christian

life is

one of

self

sacrificial

love

and this

is demonstrated

to us

in the

person

of

Christ

we read

in 1

1 John 3:16

John 3

verse 16

and 8

through 18

by this

we know

love

that he

laid down

his life

for us

and we

ought to

lay down

our lives

for the

brothers

if anyone

has the

world's

goods

and sees

his brother

in need

yet closes

his heart

against him

how does

God's love

abide in

him

little

children

let us

not love

in word

or in

talk

but in

deed

and in

truth

in

John's

mind

closing

your

heart

against

a

brother

has

been

equated

with

seeing

a need

that you

can

fulfill

and not

taking

action

what is

on the

inside

is

reflected

on

the

outside

Paul

describes

this idea

more specifically

in Philippians 2

that we ought to

count one another

more significant

than ourselves

looking after

other people's

interests

having the