Sermon Tone Analysis

The Greatest Commandment Revisited

This morning I would like to return to the subject of the great commandment.

I

I would hate my own soul if I did not find it loving God.

St Augustine of Hippo

An old woman can love God better than a doctor of theology can.

St Bonaventure

Give me such love for God and men, as will blot out all hatred and bitterness.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Love unites the soul with God: and the more love the soul has the more powerfully it enters into God and is centered on him.

St John of the Cross

A man’s spiritual health is exactly proportional to his love for God.

Clive Staples (C.S.) Lewis

Only through love can we attain communion with God.

Albert Schweitzer

Love of God is the root, love of our neighbor the fruit of the Tree of Life.

Neither can exist without the other, but the one is cause and the other effect.

William Temple

Martin Manser, ed., Christian Quotations (Martin Manser, 2016).

Five Political/Religious Groups at the time of Christ

Pharisees

Sadducees

Herodians

Scribes

Essenes

Remember something about this episode.

There were four main groups of religious and political leaders really 5, but four that were openly opposed to the teachings of Christ.

The four present at this moment were the Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, and the scribes.

The one that was not supportive of Jesus but their opposition was not recorded in the Bible were the Essenes.

The Essenes were the religious separatists. of Jesus day.

They held the most live apart from the world views and followed extreme religious views.

They formed their own communities and live a communal life.

The Herodians were not religious per se but were more supportive of the government.

They were societal elites that hold more popular or political clout.

Think of those that hold influence for no other reason than they come from families that have positions of political influence and wealth.

The Herodians tended to look at Herod Antipas as God’s man who was put into power in order that the Jews would gain favor with the Romans.

They saw Herod as a political hero of their day.

The Pharisees are the group that we read about most in scripture.

They were a very legalistic type of group.

They had very rigid views about how to live life.

They not only followed the old testament with great rigor, they also had a large set of traditions that added many additional requirements and restriction to religious life.

They sought to live a life separate from the unrighteous.

In this way they were fundamentalists.

The developed a system of beliefs designed (or so they thought) to guard against societal decline.

They tended to be against the Roman government (especially opposition to Roman taxes).

An extreme part of the Pharisees were the Zealots.

The Zealots were forceful in their opposition to the government and at times were commited to acts of violence in this opposition.

The Sadducees were minimalists.

They held to the basic teachings of the law according to the Old Testament.

That is to say if it was not written in the book of the Law then is was not from God.

Thus they rejected the oral tradition of the Pharisees.

They denied resurrection, and angels.

They believed that men had the freewill choice of good or evil.

They were literalists with regard to the the punishments of the Old Testament.

They also tended to be in support of the Roman government.

As a result they tended to be more political than the Pharisees.

The Scribes also held a high view of scripture.

They were meticulous about following the letter of the law.

This is in part due to their role in keeping accurate copies of Old Testament scrolls.

They tended to be the most educated and scholarly with regard to religious traditions.

However, in spite of their high view of scripture they tended to align themselves with the Pharisees with regard to human traditions.

They also were very much like the Pharisees in that outward observance of religious practices were much more important than following the principles of love, mercy, and compassion.

It is interesting to note that three of the groups (Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes) that Jesus had the greatest conflicts with were the three groups for whom understanding and applying scripture was the most important focus of their lives.

Because of their differing views with regard to tradition and government, they often were in strong opposition to one another.

However, when it came to Christ they found something that they could unite against.

What is more the Herodians who had a more political bent also found they could unite with these groups against Christ.

It is this context that Jesus chose to teach these four groups about love.

The immediate context is that the Pharisees and Herodians attempting to get Jesus to say something against the government, and the Sadducees attempting to trip up Jesus in his spiritual beliefs by presenting an impossible scenario with regard to the resurrection (which of course they did not believe in).

The scribe then took a path of trying to trip up Jesus with regard to religious practice.

He asked Jesus what was the most important command.

Getting Jesus to take a position would have aligned him with one of the several opposing groups.

I suspect that the scribe believed that Jesus would have been trapped no matter how he answered the question.

Foolish Debates and Slander

We read in Romans 14:1 “Welcome anyone who is weak in faith, but don’t argue about disputed matters.”

and in 1 Timothy 1:3-4 “As I urged you when I went to Macedonia, remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach false doctrine or to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies.

These promote empty speculations rather than God’s plan, which operates by faith.”

and in Titus 3:8-9 “This saying is trustworthy.

I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed God might be careful to devote themselves to good works.

These are good and profitable for everyone.

But avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, because they are unprofitable and worthless.”

It would seem that these groups were very much devoted to foolish debates and disputes.

They were attempting to draw Jesus into these debates as well.

It is is on this occasion that Jesus introduces the Greatest Commandment.

Imagine four groups that could not stand each other in many circumstances, united in their opposition to Christ is the moment of God’s revelation of the most important commandment to Love God and Love our neighbors.

It was the most unlikely crowd, in the most unlikely circumstance.

Jesus side steps the religious and political debate to say love is the most important focus.

Let me just say that this is a very timely lesson for our generation.

We seemed to be overwhelmed by religious and political debate all around us.

There is many who see the debate of these matters to be the primary importance of their lives.

And yet as you look over the landscape one things is most obviously missing between these groups.

There is no love!

Missing from these conversations is: humility, kindness, civility, patience, and compassion for others.

Love is so far removed from these conversations that we celebrate rude and mocking remarks as winning blows in debate.

Slander and backbiting is the norm for those that disagree.

How we must discourage sin and witness against it, and particularly the sin of slandering and backbiting; we must frown upon it, and, by giving it an angry countenance, endeavour to put it out of countenance.

Slanders would not be so readily spoken as they are if they were not readily heard; but good manners would silence the slanderer if he saw that his tales displeased the company.

We should show ourselves uneasy if we heard a dear friend, whom we value, evil-spoken of; the same dislike we should show of evil-speaking in general.

If we cannot otherwise reprove, we may do it by our looks