What Really Matters

Matthew 22:34–40 NET

Now when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they assembled together.And one of them, an expert in religious law, asked him a question to test him: “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”Jesus said to him, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’All the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Some guys just can’t help showing off, can they? By the time this interaction happens, Jesus has gotten a reputation for being the absolute best at everyone’s favorite passtime: competitive Scripture quoting. He’s already beaten one elite team of Scripture debaters, called the Sadducees, and done it so convincingly that the text describes him as having “silenced” them. He beat them so bad, they don’t even want to play the game any more!

And then here come the Pharisees - the other varsity squad - and their star player makes to challenge Jesus. But the question he asks is so easy, Jesus decides to show off a little.

“Teacher,” the challenger begins. He doesn’t think Jesus is going to teach him anything, but that’s what he decides to call him. “Teacher, which commandment is the greatest?”

Jesus responds with the consensus number one pick “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Everyone nods along with this answer. They all know it’s right. Now, Jesus is either supposed to respond with a question of his own, or wait for his opponent to ask another. Eventually, one of them will give an answer which the other can jump on and say HA! You’re wrong and here’s why! And then a debate will ensue which leaves one the winner.

Instead, Jesus picks option three: he answers a question that hasn’t even been asked. “And the second is like it: love your neighbor as yourself.”

Nobody asked you for the second greatest commandment, Jesus. Show off. You’re like the guy who knows whose home run record Babe Ruth broke.

But what’s important here is not that Jesus gave extra information. It’s how he chose to phrase it.

He didn’t say “here’s the first commandment” and then “here’s the second commandment.” When he introduced the second, he did so by saying “and the second is like it.” For a small phrase, he’s just made a big statement. What he has just said is that showing love to people is connected to showing love to God. That the two are somehow intertwined.

Now, the author of this passage, Matthew, likes to portray the Pharisees as people who only cared about making their own religious piety evident to everyone. Probably not true in real life, but since this is his story, we’ll assume it’s true of his Pharisee characters. By tying love of neighbor to love of God, Jesus has put his Pharisee opponent in a no win situation. If the Pharisee says “you’re wrong, loving people has nothing to do with loving God,” the crowd - and there’s always a crowd at these competitions - will say that the Pharisees don’t love people. On the other hand, if he agrees out loud with Jesus, Jesus will ask him why he doesn’t love his neighbors if he knows how important it is. So instead, at least according to the way the story is written, the expert chooses the only option available to him: he remains silent.

It seems like an easy victory for Jesus. His answers seem too obvious. But how often do we forget those same truths? How often do we fail to let love be the rule by which our lives are judged? With every year that goes by, how are you marking the time? Have you, like T.S. Eliot, measured your life in coffee spoons? Or have you followed Wall Street’s lead and evaluated it by the size of your portfolio? Maybe you smile when you see the bumper sticker that says “the one who dies with the most toys wins.” Or maybe you cringe as you count every new wrinkle or gray hair. None of those things are worth measuring your life by. There’s really only one thing that is.

“Seasons of Love”