The Heart Of The Matter

Secular -

There was a man who wanted to buy a parrot, so he went to a local pet store. The owner showed him a beautiful parrot but warned him, "This bird used to belong to a very legalistic, grumpy old Pharisee. He has a bit of an attitude and a mean streak."

The man thought he could change the bird, so he took him home. But the bird was terrible! He’d yell at the man, "You're doing it wrong! Pick up your socks! That's against the rules!"

Finally, the man had enough. He grabbed the parrot and, in a moment of frustration, put him in the freezer to give him a "time out." For a few minutes, he heard the bird screaming and kicking. Then, suddenly, it went dead silent.

Worried he’d actually hurt the bird, the man opened the freezer door. The parrot slowly stepped out, shivering, and said very humbly, "I am so sorry for my prideful attitude and my judgmental heart. I recognize your authority in this house and promise to love you and the neighbors from now on."

The man was shocked at the change! But then the parrot leaned in and whispered, "Just one question... what did the chicken do?"

Jesus didn't come to just put us in a 'time out' or give us a new set of rules. He came to show us that He is the Lord and that true change doesn't happen because we’re scared of the consequences; it happens when our hearts are actually transformed by His love. Like the scribe in our text today, we need to move past 'saying the right things' and actually be 'not far from the kingdom' by having a heart that truly honors the King."

Historical/Cultural Context -

This Gospel is written by Matthew, also known as Levi who was a former tax collector. It was most likely written between AD 50-60. Matthew left everything behind to follow Jesus. Matthew wrote primarily to Jewish believers—people who knew the Old Testament well. Matthew had one goal: to prove that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, the King of Kings, and the fulfillment of God’s promises. Connecting the Old Testament prophecies to the life of Christ, proving that every word God spoke was coming true in Jesus. The key themes of the Gospel include Jesus as King, The Kingdom of Heaven, Fulfillment of Prophecy and discipleship.

Biblical Text -

Matthew 22:34–46 NKJV

But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 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 then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool” ’? If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?” And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.

-[Prayer]-

Life Principle - Our obedience to the Greatest Commandment is to be fueled by our recognition of the Greatest King.

Life Point- Your Heart/Motives Matter Most

Exegetical -

Matthew 22:34–40 BSB

And when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they themselves gathered together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with a question: “Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?” Jesus declared, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Mark 12:28–34 BSB

Now one of the scribes had come up and heard their debate. Noticing how well Jesus had answered them, he asked Him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus replied, “This is the most important: ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” “Right, Teacher,” the scribe replied. “You have stated correctly that God is One and there is no other but Him, and to love Him with all your heart and with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, which is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that the man had answered wisely, He said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to question Him any further.

Homiletical -

Now the Pharisees had seen that the Sadducees, from last week in our study, came together with the scribes. They decided to test Him again. This time they ask Him what is the greatest commandment. You have to remember that at this time there are 613 laws on the books. They had added more laws so that they would not break the laws that God handed to them.

It’s like there is a line and the line is the law, so in order to not cross that line we make another law to keep us from getting close to breaking the original law

Now Jesus answer comes from the what is called the Shema which was usually prayed once in the morning and once in the evening so these folks would definitely understand the meaning. Much of this prayer can be found in the book of Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 6:5–9 BSB

And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts. And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.

Notice here that it is talking about the original law which was found in the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of our Old Testament. Not the add-on laws.

Jesus cuts to the heart of the matter. What is the purpose of the law? It’s purpose in a Jewish context was to make one love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and all your strength.

We know that all the law is summed up in that statement and the second like it is to love your neighbor as yourself. Because if you do the first then the second becomes second nature to you and you do it automatically. These two commandments are linked. You don’t get one without the other. If you’re loving God, you will love your neighbor.

John Courson says it this way. “Just as you already love yourself, care for yourself, and think about yourself, you are to love your neighbor in the same way.” You see, according to 1 John 4:20, loving my neighbor is not dependent upon loving myself. It is dependent upon loving God.”

1 John 4:20 BSB

If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

Now, can we love God perfectly in and of ourselves?

of course not and that is the problem isn’t it. All transgression comes down to that doesn’t it. If we love God, then we will keep His commands. But we can’t keep His commands because we are sinful.

So we are in need of someone to get rid of our sin. Which is the sacrifice of Christ. He lived the perfect life and fulfilled the law that we could not.

Our faith is in His substitutionary work on the cross.

From where should our good works come from? In other words why do you do your good works in life?

Is it out of compassion? Love of God? Perhaps you will find some selfishness in there too?

For example:

A man was waiting in the store and we will call him Bob and Bob was behind a lady in the checkout line. Her card kept getting declined and she had no other way to pay for her groceries. So Bob steps in an pays her bill for her.

This sounds like a compassionate act right? But what you don’t know is that Bob did it because he was impatient and, in his estimation, she was taking too long. So he stepped in and took care of it so he could get out of the store.

Folks, character matters. Reasons matter. You think that act is going toward his account in heaven? Well, no of course not because Bob was doing it out of the wrong heart.

Let’s make sure to check our hearts to day to make sure we are doing things out of a love for God and for no other reason.

Life Point - Jesus Is Our Everything

Exegetical -

Matthew 22:41–46 BSB

While the Pharisees were assembled, Jesus questioned them: “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is He?” “David’s,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord’? For he says: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet.” ’ So if David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how can He be David’s son?” No one was able to answer a word, and from that day on no one dared to question Him any further.

Homiletical -

Since the Pharisees were already assembled Jesus took the opportunity to ask them a question.

He asks them “what do you think about the Christ? Whose son is He?”

Christ you could say is Greek for Messiah which means the anointed one. Or one who is blessed and pronounced by God to lead His people to freedom.

To anoint someone meant, traditionally speaking, you would pour Olive Oil over their heads to show they had been chosen by God. It was a symbol of the Holy Spirit coming upon them for that office. Whether they were a prophet, priest or king.

There were, traditionally speaking, 3 types of leaders for the people of Israel. Prophet, Priest and King.

We find that Jesus fulfills all three in our lives. We no longer need a mediators between God and man because we have the best mediator of all. That is Jesus. He is all three. There has never been one like Him, and there will never again be one like Him.

Seeing as how the Pharisees were smart guys and they knew that the Messiah, or Christ if you prefer, was to come through the line of David they answered David’s son. But Jesus points to the fact that the Messiah is not just a son of David, but Lord of David and indeed all things.

You would never call your son or descendant “Lord” meaning God. Notice in your Bible that is with a capital L this let’s you know that they are speaking of God.

Notice that Jesus confirms that David was in the Spirit of God when he wrote this. He points this out to the Pharisees to show the authority of the scripture.

So he asks, how can David say this?

To which they had no answer.

God’s wisdom is more powerful than man’s. He silenced them due to His wisdom and understanding. When we think a certain way sometimes God will come in and mess your thinking up. He will change you day by day if you’ll let Him.

No one dared to answer Him and so from that day forward no one dared question Him either.

Sometimes I think we forget that Jesus is God and should be held in reverence. Often we here that “I am a friend of God” but we have forgot what that means. We are to hold Him in awe and wonder. We must remember that when we handle the Gospel we are handling people’s very eternity.

This is a large responsibility but one that we must take and walk out.

Let us remember that He is Lord of all:

He is our:

Prophet - The one who knows the ending from the beginning. The one who speaks for God.

Priest - The one who makes intercession for us daily to the Father. The one whose sacrifice bore our sins in his body that we might be saved from the wrath of God.

King - The one who rules and reigns over our lives and is the ruler of the universe. I have read the back of the Book and you know what? He wins! He is the ultimate ruler.

Life Principle– When Jesus is recognized as Lord, loving Him and our neighbor stops being a chore and starts being a natural response to His authority.

Call to Action – altar call….