A Transcendence Obedience | Matthew 22:34-40
The King is Coming: Jesus in the Temple • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 50:15
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Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Barbeque wars. Every region not only believes that their BBQ is the best, but that their BBQ is the only BBQ.
Context
Context
“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.” (Matthew 22:34–35, ESV)
· Two challenges have been leveled at Jesus in an attempt to trap him in His words and expose Him to their violent intentions.
o For the Herodians, it was a matter of allegiance.
o For the Sadducees, it was the matter of eternal life.
o Now, the issue of obedience to God will be in view.
· The third and final attempt at trapping Jesus in his words.
· The Pharisees officially step into the ring with Jesus (before, just their disciples helping the Herodians).
· And like the two opponents before them, their attack deals with areas of significance to their faction.
· The Pharisees were not present for the showdown between Jesus and the Sadducees, they only heard about it afterward.
· And though they have great antipathy with the Sadducees, they are notably not celebratory about their failure.
o This again shows the singular, unifying threat that Jesus poses to them.
· They put their heads together and select a lawyer, an “expert in the Law,” to confront Jesus.
· The Pharisees were not a group of experts, they were more like a denomination.
o They were not unlike many denominations today, made up of laymen who had a conviction about obedience.
§ Obedience was their most important doctrinal position.
· They prioritized obedience to the Law over even the Temple sacrifices.
o They relied on the expertise of their Rabbis, who had spent their lives in the vocational study of the Law.
· They recognize that Rabbi Jesus is no pushover; He has dominated all comers so far.
o So they determined to pull out the “big guns” and put forward their finest scholar.
o Matthew identifies scribes as the experts on Scripture, but here he uses the term expert in the Law.
§ This indicates that this scribe was known for his particular expertise in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible known as theLaw of Moses.
· So, we enter the story with the Pharisees searching for legal grounds to arrest and prosecute Jesus.
· As a side note, this is a text that is represented in more than one gospel.
o This interaction is also shown in Mark 12.
o There is a somewhat different tone in the two accounts. Mark’s is noticeably less confrontational.
o I don’t like to speculate, but this is perhaps down to the differing perspectives between Matthew and Peter (the foundation for Mark’s account).
1. Prioritizing Love Over Legalism
1. Prioritizing Love Over Legalism
Mt 22:34-36
The Question: Prioritizing Obedience
The Question: Prioritizing Obedience
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” (Matthew 22:36, ESV)
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
· Teacher. Again, the approach is respectful, if not sincere.
· The question was likely the topic of frequent debates amongst the Pharisees.
Just to show that there is nothing new under the sun…this is the same today amongst many Pastors and ministers. Endless books, videos, and tweets fly back and forth. It’s amazing how many times a year the greatest theological discovery since Paul has been discovered.
Similarly, the readiness of professing Christians to publicly attack one another over doctrines can be quite depressing. I have become increasingly convinced that there is little redeeming value in social media platforms except perhaps for seeing pictures of your extended circles of friends and family.
· They would debate the finer points of the Law and categorize them by their relative importance.
o One such category will show up in our text in the next couple of weeks: Weightier and lighter.
This is somewhat like the debates between different denominations on what they think is most important (i.e. Baptists/Presbyterians)
· In any case, this lawyer was likely well-prepared for this debate and likely had an answer that he thought was the best answer.
o He was ready to challenge Jesus on what he considered to be an inferior answer.
· This lawyer is not asking Jesus which part of the law is really important and which part can be ignored.
· He is asking:
Jesus, in your opinion, what is the fundamental rule that the law is based on? What I the heart of God’s Law?
· There were many possible answers to this question.
o Circumcision.
o Sabbath.
o The great rabbi Hillel, founder of one of the two great rabbinical schools of Jesus’s day, believed that it was “if you hate it, don’t do it to others.”
“In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Proverbs 3:6, ESV)
6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
““Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4, ESV)
4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.
o
· God had given 10 commandments to Israel, but Jewish tradition counted around 613 commands.
o 365 negative commands (thou shalt not).
o 248 positive commands (thou wilt do)
This plays into people’s proclivity toward positive or negative forms of obedience.
· The trap-like nature of the question further illustrates the lack of genuine interest on the part of Jesus’s opponents.
o They are full of selfish and malicious intent.
· They intend that Jesus will answer in a way that they can seize upon.interactions.
2. Relational Commitment to Love
2. Relational Commitment to Love
Mt 22:37-39
“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.” (Matthew 22:37–39, ESV)
37 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.
38 This is the great and first commandment.
39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
· Unlike the previous two questions, Jesus directly answers this question.
o This indicates that the question is a worthy one.
· Jesus’s answer has to do with the quality of devotion we should have in our obedience.
o Obedience doesn’t start with obeying; it starts with loving.
· He first quotes the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4-9.
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:4–9, ESV)
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
· Faithful Jews would have recited it twice daily. Fulfilling the “when you lie down and when you wake up” command.
· Further, it was one of three texts that the faithful Jews, including many Pharisees put in phylacteries.
o Phylacteries were leather boxes that contained passages of Scripture, usually
§ The Shema
§ Exodus 13:1-16 and the inauguration of Passover.
“And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.” (Exodus 13:9, ESV)
9 And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.
§ Deuteronomy 11:13-21, Moses’s final commands to Israel before taking possession of the land.
“You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.” (Deuteronomy 11:18, ESV)
18 “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
o They bound these texts upon their foreheads and on their forearms to remind them of their covenant commitments.
Yet the sad truth is that they were obeying the letter of the Law while missing its heart/intent.
· Jesus says that love for God is the most important command.
· Love for God is not mere emotional affection for God.
o It is an absolute devotion: without reservation; nothing held back.
· Further, love for God should be issued from the entirety of one’s being, represented by the heart, soul, and mind.
o In the Jewish perspective, the heart symbolizes the center of a person’s emotions and intellect.
§ Love of God from the heart means having good inclinations toward obedience to God.
o The soul represents a person’s essential being and existence.
§ To love God from the soul means giving one’s life to God; being willing to lay it down if God requires it.
o The mind takes the place of “might” or “strength” used in other places in the Bible. It is with the mind that one compels the body to action.
§ Loving God with the mind means giving up all pretensions to material things. All is given over to the service of God.
· This is where the rich young ruler fell short in Matthew 19
“Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” (Matthew 19:21–22, ESV)
21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
· His actions didn’t follow his professed affections.
· The reason for loving God is given in the context of the Shema, where Moses is preparing the wilderness generation for life in the promised land.
o His sermon begins with reflection and reminder of God’s works.
§ That He redeemed them from Egypt by mighty works.
§ That He entered into a covenant relationship with Israel.
§ That He gave them the Law so that they might live before Him.
o God repeatedly proves His worthiness to His people.
§ He listens. Deuteronomy 4:7
7 For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?
§ He speaks. Deuteronomy 4:8
8 And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?
§ He acts. Deuteronomy 4:34-35.
34 Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
35 To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him.
Because of His goodness, Moses commands that they love the Lord with everything they are and in every way possible.
· To love God with allof our heart, soul, and mind means that we love God with such a quality that there is no room for love for anything lesser.
· Paul teaches that Christians should do everything as if it were done to the Lord.
o Colossians 3:17
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
o Colossians 3:23-24
23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
A completely different quality of love. Total and complete love.
· God will not receive duty-derived obedience. Only devoted love-derived obedience.
· Yet, Jesus does not stop here but continues to indicate that there is a second commandment that is like it.
o By doing this, Jesus will expose the hypocrisy and moral failure of the Pharisees, who believe that they have been doing this first commandment.
· By saying the second commandment is “like” the first, Jesus is indicating that they share importance and weight.
· He quotes Leviticus 19:18:
18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
“You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 19:18, ESV)
· Jesus personally quotes this text three times in Matthew, indicating the great importance it has to Him:
““You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’” (Matthew 5:43, ESV)
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
“Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”” (Matthew 19:19, ESV)
19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
· In context, Leviticus 19:18 completes passage addressing commands given to neighbors.
o 19:11 has to do with honesty
o 19:13-15 entreats Israel to refrain from abusive or oppressive relationships.
o 19:16 prohibits slander.
o 19:17-18 deals with how to settle disputes without bearing grudges or seeking revenge.
· This is where Rabbi Hillel got his negative golden rule.
· When it came to obeying the 10 commandments it was said;
o Those who followed the first four were called “those who love God.”
o Those who followed the last six were called “those who love mankind.”
3. Living the Law of Love
3. Living the Law of Love
Mt 22:40
“On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”” (Matthew 22:40, ESV)
40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
· Jesus proceeds to explain His answer.
· Love is the supreme governing principle of the Law.
· God’s Law is not arbitratry, but rather, it reflects His character.
· And what does John say of God?
“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:8, ESV)
8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
· And so, any obedience to God’s command must come from a love for God.
· He says that the entire Old Testament “hangs” on these two matched commandments to love.
Imagine this in terms of a suspension bridge, such as our lovely Mackinac Bridge, which I have discovered is the 27th longest suspension bridge in the world and the longest suspension bridge between anchorage points in the Western Hemisphere.
The entirety of the weight of the bridge and the traffic that crosses it is carried on the two towers. If one fails, so does the whole bridge.
· Jesus’s teaching is that a person cannot truly love God without also loving those who are made in His image and beloved by Him.
· By pairing these two commands together, Jesus illustrates that Israel had failed to keep God’s Law.
“Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!” (Deuteronomy 5:29, ESV)
29 Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!
· A heart filled with love for God would obey God’s law.
· Augustine held that “All God’s commandments…are rightly carried out only when the motive principle of action is the love of God and love of our neighbor in God.”
· Love, unfortunately, is never entirely sincere.
o We are not able to love God completely, or our neighbors selflessly.
o This is why God graciously gave the Mosaic Law, with all its many rules.
§ They were designed to shape our lives so that we would know how to live pleasing lives before God.
§ The second table of the Ten Commandments (5-10) teaches how we may properly love our neighbors:
· We love parents by honoring them.
· We love spouses by remaining faithful to them.
· We love neighbors by respecting their property.
o By demonstrating integrity in our dealings with them.
o By demonstrating goodwill towards them and celebrating their good rather than coveting what they have.
Quite simply, the love of God cannot reign in us without creating love for our neighbor.
· Indeed, obeying these commands is both impossible for us, and humanly unreasonable.
o Our hearts are often given over to selfishness and indifference toward God and each other rather than love.
o Consider the reaction of this lawyer in Mark’s account:
“And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
(Mark 12:32–34a, ESV)
32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him.
33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
· Jesus indicates here that which we must understand very clearly that obedience to the Law will never save us because of the impurity of our hearts…the lack of love for God and others.
o Recognizing this impossibility should lead us to despair of ever pleasing God with the works of our hands.
o It points us directly toward our need for a Savior.
§ And God’s answer?
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—” (Ephesians 2:4–5, ESV)
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
· The promise began in Deuteronomy 30:6
“And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lordyour God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:6, ESV)
6 And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
· God promised that in love for his creation, He would make up the difference that we lacked.
o And He will make us able to obey the greatest commandment andthe second greatest commandment.
· God’s love is, in fact, one of the central themes of the Scripture.
· God loves us and we are to love Him in return…it’s the reason we were created.
“We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19, ESV)
19 We love because he first loved us.
· Like Israel, we have experienced God’s love toward us, most importantly through the sending of His Son into the world.
““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, ESV)
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
· Jesus shows His love for us in obeying the Father and coming into the world:
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14, ESV)
o He lived and ministered with great love toward us.
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10, ESV)
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
· And the Spirit of God shows His love for us in His indwelling presence, comforting us with the present experience of God’s love.
· But God’s love seeks a reply.
· We return God’s love by answering it with obedience and multiplying it by extending it toward others.
· The NT writers held that we fulfill all love to God when we love others in God:
o James:
“If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.” (James 2:8, ESV)
8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
o Paul:
“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8, ESV)
8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
“For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”” (Galatians 5:14, ESV)
14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
· Loving God and loving others is the greatest command because God is love.
o Because God is love, true love is an expression of the life of God.
o Because true love is only found in God, it is only derived in a relationship with him.
o True love is therefore a fruit of the Spirit of God and not of hard labors.
· Such perfect love cannot remain inside us, but will necessarily spill out of us.
o Theologian Frederick Buechner illustrates the love for neighbor beautifully:
The love for equals is a human thing—a friend for friend, brother for brother. It is to love what is loving and lovely. The world smiles.
The love for the less fortunate is a beautiful thing—the love for those who suffer, for those who are poor, the sick, the failures, the unlovely. This is compassion, and it touches the heart of the world.
The love for the more fortunate is a rare thing—to love those who succeed where we fail, to rejoice without envy with those who rejoice, the love of the poor for the rich.… The world is always bewildered by its saints.
And then there is the love for the enemy—love for the one who does not love you but mocks, threatens, and inflicts pain. The tortured’s love for the torturer. This is God’s love. It conquers the world.[1]
· So let us look to God, who loves us so much.
o And let us respond to His love by honoring Him in our lives with a transcendent obedience, demonstrated in the way we demonstrate it towards others.
[1]Daniel M. Doriani, Matthew & 2, ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani, vol. 2, Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2008), 312.
