The First and Great Command

You know exactly where we will be because that's where we were last week.

We're here in Matthew chapter 22, verses 34 to 46.

Matthew 22:34–46

In your word, reveal to us your love for us.

And you call us to love you with all our heart, soul, and mind.

And Lord, who is worthy of such things?

Who is?

Who can obey such a grand command?

Who can obey such a grand command?

And yet, because you have commanded us in your word,

and because you, by your Spirit, enable us to do what you command us,

we come with faith to this passage,

that you might teach us what it means to love you,

and that you might enable us to love you as you deserve.

So meet with us, Father.

Give us ears to hear,

hearts that are ready to receive.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Please stand if you are able,

so that we can honor God as we read from his word.

Matthew chapter 22, 34 to 46.

Matthew 22 · chapter mention

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 a second is like it.

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

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

Now, while the Pharisees were gathered together,

Jesus asked them a question, saying,

What do you think about the Christ?

Whose son is he?

They said to him,

The son of David.

He said to them,

How is it then that David, in the spirit,

calls him Lord, saying,

The Lord said to my Lord,

Sit at my right hand

until I put your enemies under your feet.

If then David calls him Lord,

how is he his son?

And no one was able to answer him a word.

Nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him

any more questions.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

Please be seated.

What is the greatest of all Christian virtues?

It's love.

It's love.

It's love.

If I can speak in the tongues of men and of angels,

but have not love,

I'm a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

If I have prophetic powers,

if I have all knowledge,

I can understand all mysteries,

and yet have not love,

I'm nothing.

If I have faith so as to remove mountains,

if I give up my body to be burned,

if I die as a martyr for him,

and yet have not love,

I gain nothing.

Love is the greatest of all Christian virtues.

What is the greatest of all commandments in Christianity?

That too is love.

Jesus says here,

you shall love the Lord your God

with all your heart,

with all your soul,

with all your mind.

This is the great and first commandment.

And a second is like it,

you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Why is love so central to Christianity?

Because anyone who does not love

does not know God.

Because God is love.

1 John 4.8

Everything we do or don't do,

all our obedience or disobedience

boils down to the love of God

or the lack thereof.

Yes, of course,

there are other factors to consider,

but at the heart of it,

the foundational motivation

is love.

Jesus made that very clear in John 14

when he said,

if you love me,

you will keep my commandments.

Whoever does not love God

does not keep his words.

In his book,

The Confessions,

Augustine,

who was a 4th century African theologian

and pastor,

observed,

made this observation

that everything moves

according to their weight.

By weight,

he really meant density,

but he says smoke,

fire and smoke coming up from it

goes upward

because of its weight.

A stone drops,

sinks to the ground

because of its weight.

And he asked the question,

what determines

how humans behave,

whether we go upward

toward God in heaven

or downward toward death

and hell?

He concludes,

my weight is my love.

Wherever I am carried,

my love is carrying me.

He's following Jesus' teaching.

This is an all-important principle,

and I think that's why

Jesus calls it

the great and first commandment.

The commandment is first

not only in its primacy,

in its greatest importance,

but also in its priority,

in the order.

It's the command

that precedes all the others

and obeying this first command

enables you to obey

all the others.

And my main point this morning

is this,

love the Lord

with your whole self

and love your neighbor

as yourself.

And I'm going to break this down

into two main points.

First, love the Lord,

and secondly,

that Jesus is Lord.

The Pharisees have heard

that Jesus has silenced

the Sadducees,

their political rivals,

and so now they gather together.

Before they had sent

their disciples,

they failed to trap Jesus

and embarrass Jesus.

The Sadducees then came

and tried their hand,

and then they also failed.

Now the Pharisees themselves come,

and they send

one of their representatives,

a lawyer.

He says in verse 35,

comes to ask a question,

to test Jesus.

The parallel passage

in Mark 12

suggests that this lawyer

actually had a sincere motivation.

He really wanted to know

what Jesus thought,

and he really respected

Jesus' opinion.

However,

as a representative

of the Pharisees collectively

who have gathered

to plot against Jesus,

to entrap Jesus in his words,

this question still amounts

to a test for him.

This is the only time

the Gospel of Matthew

identifies someone

as a lawyer.

It refers to a Jewish scribe

whose job it is

to transcribe the Jewish law,

the Torah,

to transcribe it,

to teach it,

to spread it.

And so by calling him

a lawyer,

I think Matthew

is pointing out

that this is a recognized

expert of the Old Testament law.

The law is his bread and butter,

his area of expertise.

And this question

is about that law,

teacher,

which is the great commandment

in the law?

Following rabbinic calculation,

Jews held that the Torah

had a grand total

of 613 commandments,

the first five books of the Bible,

613 commandments.

248 prescriptions,

things we must do,

and 365 prohibitions,

things we must not do.

And Jewish rabbis

often discussed among themselves

which laws are the heavy laws

and which laws are the light laws.

Even Jesus says later

in chapter 23,

verse 23,

that some matters of the law,

some matters of the law

are weightier

than other matters of the law.

But this question

about the great commandment

in the law

is not merely about

which command

is the most important

of the 613,

but also about

which commandment

encapsulates,

sums up,

the entire law

most accurately

and comprehensively.

What is the crux

of the law?

What is the heart

of the law?

That's the question.

And we know

from historical examples

that this was a question

that was often debated

by Jesus' contemporaries,

and this serves as a test

because there was

a lingering suspicion

among the Jews

that Jesus flouted

the Mosaic law,

that he disregarded it.

And that's what he had

to tell them

in chapter 5,

verses 17 to 20,

I have not come

to abolish the law

but to fulfill them.

And so they're asking

Jesus this question,

do you really uphold

the law of God,

the law of Moses?

If so,

what is the great law?

This is also,

you know,

something that's easy

to quibble about.

No matter what Jesus says,

they can say,

well,

you said that's

the great law

but what about this one?

What about that one?

Because people,

based on their temperaments

and tendencies,

often emphasize

different

and give precedence

to different commands

in scripture.

So it's really hard

to answer this question

in a way

that satisfies everybody.

It's bound

to alienate someone.

So that's their test.

But somehow,

Jesus finds an answer

that silences them all.

He says in verses 37 to 38,

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.

This commandment

is taken from

Deuteronomy 6,

Deuteronomy 6,

Deuteronomy 6:4–6

verses 4 to 6.

Hear, O Israel,

the Lord our God,

the Lord is one.

You shall love

the Lord your God

with all your heart

and all your soul

and all your strength.

And these words

that I command you

today are to be

on your heart.

This is what Jews

refer to as the Shema.

Shema is just

the Hebrew verb,

the first word

of that passage,

hear.

Hear, O Israel.

From Jesus' day

until today,

pious Jews

recite the Shema

twice a day.

Jews include

a parchment

that contains

the Shema

in their phylactery,

which is like

a leather box

that they wear

on their forehead,

on their arm

when they're praying.

This is

the Bible verse

that every Jew

memorizes.

This is the one

that they cling to.

Jesus picks

the most familiar

verse,

but in the parallel

passage in Mark 12,

29,

so in this passage

in Matthew,

we don't see

the first part

of the Shema,

hear, O Israel,

the Lord our God,

the Lord is one,

but in the parallel

passage in Mark 12,

29,

Jesus actually includes

that part

in his response

because the declaration

of the Lord

as one,

the Lord is one,

is integral

to this great

commandment.

Precisely because

the Lord is one,

there is only one

Lord, Yahweh,

and there is no

other God

beside him,

we owe him

our singular,

undivided allegiance.

If we served

many lords,

then we would have

to give each of them

parts of our hearts,

parts of our time,

parts of our money,

but because the Lord

is one,

we must love the Lord

with all our heart.

The singularity

and unity

of the Lord

demands our singular

and undivided devotion,

but what does it mean

to love God?

Loving God

with all our heart,

soul,

and mind

entails two primary things.

First is allegiance,

second is affection.

The first aspect

of loving God

is our allegiance

to him.

Remember the original

context of Deuteronomy 6,

the Lord is one,

so love him

with all your heart

and keep his commandments

on your heart.

Loving God

is about obedience

to his commands,

it's about undivided

loyalty to him.

The first and great command

summarizes

the first half

of the Decalogue,

the first four commandments

of the Ten Commandments.

You shall have

no other gods before me,

you shall not make

an idol or image

and bow down before it,

you shall not misuse

the name of the Lord

your God,

and you shall not

violate the Sabbath

of the Lord your God,

you shall keep the Sabbath

of the Lord your God.

The first half

of the Decalogue

all deal with

what it looks like

to love God.

And this is a summary

of that.

Will you be loyal

to him alone?

Serve him alone?

We can see this meaning

clearly in what Jesus

said earlier

in Matthew 6,

Matthew 6:24

verse 24,

no one can serve

two masters,

for either he will

hate the one

and love the other,

or he will be devoted

to the one

and despise the other.

You cannot serve

both God and money.

Notice here,

the words hate

and despise

are parallel

to each other,

and the words love

and devoted

are parallel

to each other.

To love God,

then,

is to be devoted

to him.

It means to cling

to God,

hold fast

to God,

to be committed

to God

to the exclusion

of all others.

It means we don't

try to straddle

two worlds,

one foot

in the kingdom

of heaven

and one foot

on the kingdom

of this earth,

kingdom of this world.

Rather,

it means we jump

both feet

into the kingdom

of God

and where God is

and what God

commends us.

As Revelation 18,

Revelation 18:4

verse 4 says,

come out of her,

my people,

lest you take part

in her sins.

How can a servant

faithfully serve

two masters

when those two

masters' interests

are not aligned?

God,

it's impossible.

A servant

who serves

two masters

is called

a traitor.

Likewise,

how can a bride

have two husbands

or two lovers?

A bride

who has two lovers

is an adulterer.

Our God

is a jealous lover

and he will not

share his beloved

with another.

Are you devoted

to God

or are you divided

and distracted?

What in your life

competes with God

for your

supreme attention

and allegiance?

Do you want

to serve God

and be

successful

and rich

and make a name

for yourself?

Do you fear

God

and you fear

your boss

and fear

your spouse

and you fear

your peers

and fear

all your

social media

followers

and you try

to please them

as much as

you try to

please God?

Do you pursue

God

and the lusts

of this world?

Shall we provoke

the Lord

to jealousy?

Are we stronger

than he?

If you are

living in direct

disobedience

to the commandments

of God

if you are

in unrepentant

sin

do not

be deceived

into thinking

that you love

God.

Loving God

is about much

more than

a warm

fuzzy feeling

that you have

when singing

moving worship

songs on a Sunday

morning.

It's about

your allegiance

to God.

your obedience

to God.

What good

is it

if we sing

on Sunday

morning

God I belong

to you

you are all

I need

you are all

I want

but Monday

to Saturday

we live

as if we

belong to

anyone

but God

as if we

need anything

but God.

1 John

5

3

says

this is

the love

of God

that we

keep

his

commandments

and his

commandments

are not

burdensome.

Are you

devoted

or divided?

If you are

divided

then you are

not loving

God

as you ought

to

you are

disobeying

the great

and first

commandment.

Well then

is loving

God

only about

obedience?

Can we say

that a person

who

quote unquote

obeys God

in a legalistic

and perfunctory

manner

as someone

who truly

loves God?

No we

can't say

that.

God chose

the word

love

deliberately.

Love

involves

allegiance

yes

but it

also

involves

affection.

Love

is the

intimate

term

that

frequently

describes

in scripture

the relationship

between a

husband and

a wife

as well

as the

relationship

between

parents

and their

children.

Yes

those

relationships

parental

relationships

spousal

relationship

they come

with

responsibilities

and

obligations

but if

those

relationships

are only

characterized

by responsibilities

and obligations

duty

without desire

or delight

then those

relationships

are profoundly

dysfunctional

is it not?

my

wedding

anniversary

is coming

up

imagine

if my

wedding

anniversary

came

and I

got

Hannah

flowers

and cooked

a nice

dinner

for her

at home

but I

did all

of those

things

while dragging

my feet

and looking

really unhappy

and grumpy

as if it

were a

tiresome

chore

and then

Hannah

thanks me

thanks Sean

and I go

oh

nothing

it's my

duty

I mean

would she

feel so

loved

the greatest

commandment

is not

simply

you shall

obey

the Lord

your God

it's not

you shall

submit

to the Lord

your God

although it

includes

both of those

things

it's

you shall

love

the Lord

your God

God

wants us

to desire

him

delight

in him

rejoice

in him

he wants

us to

worship

him

as Jerry

Bridges

writes in

his book

The Discipline

of Grace

only conduct

that arises

from love

is worthy

of the name

of obedience

but does

this mean

we should

only obey

God

when we

actually

want to

obey him

what about

when we

don't want

to obey

some of

his

commands

should we

just not

do it

because it

would be

fake

hypocritical

of course

if someone

were to

obey

God

purely

for

self-serving

reasons

out of

fear of

punishment

or to

save face

or impress

others

with no

desire

whatsoever

to actually

please

God

himself

well then

yeah

that would

be

displeasing

to God

the sacrifice

of the

wicked

is an

abomination

to the

Lord

he says

in

Proverbs

15

8

for

whatever

does

not

proceed

from

faith

is

sin

and

without

faith

it

is

impossible

to

please

God

however

all

genuine

believers

delight

in

God

and

have

a

desire

to

please

God

that

underlies

even

all

their

acts

of

duty

sometimes

the

gap

between

what

we

know

we

ought

to

do

and

what

we

want

to

do

the

gap

between

those

two

things

simply

stemmed

from

the

fact

that

obedience

entails

great

loss

and

suffering

and

hardship

even

Jesus

felt

this

at the

garden

of

Gethsemane

when

he

prayed

not

my

will

but

yours

be

done

when

he

prayed

to

God

the

father

at

one

level

Jesus

didn't

want

to

be

separated

from

the

father

in

that

way

he

didn't

want

to

suffer

and

die

on

the

cross

and

bear

the

crushing

weight

of

sin

and

divine

judgment

he

said

remove

this

cup

from

me

but

at

another

level

at

a

deeper

level

Jesus

wanted

nothing

but

to

obey

his

father

so

nevertheless

not

my

will

but

yours

be

done

and

for

the

joy

that

was

set

before

him

he

endured

the

cross

likewise

when we

feel

reluctant

because

obedience

to

God

sometimes

it

does

involve

!

great

pain

and

great

loss

great

sacrifice

great

suffering

and

because

we

are

human

and

because

we

are

weak

by

our

nature

we

struggle

with

that

obedience

but

yet

we

obey

anyway

because

underneath

that

sense

of

duty

there

is

a

still

deeper

desire

to

love

God

and

obey

him

but

our

circumstances

are of

course

not

always

as

clear

cut

and

dire

as

Jesus

is

it's

rarely

purely

because

of

our

natural

human

weakness

which

was

the

case

for

Jesus

more

often

than

not

for

us

the

gap

between

what

we

know

we

ought

to

do

and

what

we

want

to

do

exists

because

of

our

own

sinfulness

does it

not

because

we

desire

sin

more

than

we

desire

God

and

in

those

situations

yes

we

still

must

obey

!

anyway

but

repent

of

our

sinful

desires

and

as

we

take

that

step

of

faith

and

obedience

God

sanctifies

us

further

so that

we

want

to

obey

him

in

all

those

things

more

and

more

God

I

know

I

should

want

to

obey

you

this

way

but

my

stubborn

heart

refuses

to

comply

Forgive

me

for

this

resistance

and

enable

me

compel

me

to

desire

what

you

decree

there's

a

beautiful

18th

century

hymn

by

Joseph

Hart

that

expresses

this

sentiment

it's

called

Oh

for

a

glance

of

heavenly

I

think

I

have

it

to

project

for

you

Oh

for

a

glance

of

heavenly

day

to

take

this

stubborn

heart

away

and

thaw

with

beams

of

love

divine

this

heart

this

frozen

heart

of

mine

the

rocks

can

rend

the

earth

can

quake

the

seas

can

roar

the

mountains

shake

of

feeling

all

things

show

some

side

but

this

unfeeling

heart

of

mine

to

hear

the

sorrows

thou

hast

felt

oh

Lord

an

adamant

might

melt

but

I

can

read

each

moving

line

and

nothing

moves

this

heart

of

mine

thy

judgments

!

devil's

fear

amazing

thought

unmoved

I

hear

goodness

and

wrath

in

vain

combine

to

stir

this

stupid

heart

of

mine

eternal

spirit

mighty

God

apply

to

me

the

Savior's

blood

tis

his

rich

blood

and

his

alone

can

move

and

melt

this

heart

of

stone

even

upon

your

failure

to

desire

the

things

of

God

even

upon

your

very

coldness

of

heart

toward

the

things

of

God

apply

the

blood

of

Jesus

Christ

and

receive

his

mercy

for

that's

where

the

power

lies

that

can

melt

your

heart

heart

unto

obedience

for

that's

the

kind

of

obedience

from

the

heart

that

God

desires

Jesus

says

you

shall

love

the

Lord

your

God

with

all

your

heart

the

heart

is

the

inner

center

of

a

person

so

Jesus

says

in

Matthew

6

21

for

where

your

treasure

is

there

your

heart

will

be

also

whatever

we

treasure

within

our

hearts

that

will

determine

the

course

the

direction

of

our

lives

out

of

the

abundance

of

the

heart

the

mouth

speaks

out

of

the

heart

comes

evil

thoughts

murder

adultery

sexual

immorality

theft

false

witness

slander

what's

in

our

hearts

always

comes

out

in

our

words

and

in

our

deeds

the

heart

is

the

core

of

the

inner

person

when

we

speak

of

the

heart

in

English

we

primarily

speak

of

the

emotions

the

seed

of

our

emotions

and

feelings

it

includes

that

but

that's

not

the

whole

picture

it

does

include

our

feelings

Deuteronomy

28

47

says

we

have

to

serve

the

Lord

our

God

with

joyfulness

and

gladness

of

heart

the

heart

is

where

you

feel

joy

and

gladness

toward

the

Lord

but

the

heart

also

includes

more

than

our

feelings

the

heart

in

the

Bible

is

the

seat

of

our

thoughts

and

intentions

Deuteronomy

15

9

to

10

warns

of

an

unworthy

thought

in

the

heart

so

the

heart

thinks

similarly

Hebrews

4

12

says

that

God

the

word

of

God

discerns

the

thoughts

and

intentions

of

the

heart

and

earlier

in

Matthew

9

4

Jesus

said

to

the

scribes

why

do

you

think

evil

in

your

heart

the

heart

thinks

this

is

why

the

heart

and

the

mind

are

often

used

interchangeably

in

scripture

in

1 Corinthians

12

38

acting

with

a

whole

heart

is

the

same

thing

as

acting

with

a

single

mind

God

wants

us

to

love

him

with

all

our

heart

and

all

our

mind

remember

earlier

when

Jesus

cited

Isaiah

29

13

in

Matthew

Matthew 15:7–9

chapter

15

verses

7

to

9

this

people

he

says

this

people

honors

me

with

their

lips

but

their

hearts

are

far

from

me

God

is

not

looking

for

lip

service

God

is

not

looking

for

half

hearted

obedience

God

is

not

merely

looking

for

outward

conformity

he's

looking

for

inward

transformation

God

doesn't

only

care

that

we

not

commit

murder

he

cares

that

we

don't

commit

murder

in

our

hearts

by

harboring

resentment

and sinful

anger

and hatred

toward

people

and

unforgiveness

toward

people

God

does

not

only

care

that

we

not

commit

adultery

physically

he cares

that

we do

not

commit

adultery

of the

heart

by

lusting

after

people

why

does

God

care

what

happens

in the

secrets

of our

!

hearts

because

God

is not

merely

concerned

with

what

you

do

he

cares

about

you

he

wants

you

he

wants

your

heart

he

wants

your

mind

he

wants

you

to

love

him

with

all

your

heart

and

soul

and

mind

the

word

soul

gets

at

the

same

idea

the

Greek

word