Matthew 22:34-46

“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?’

Why is this such a test for Jesus? Couldn’t the Pharisees have asked a more difficult question?

The Pharisees ask this question because they think it is THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION when it comes to understanding the Scriptures.

The Pharisees ask this question because they think it is THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION when it comes to understanding the Scriptures. It is certainly an important question that begs to be answered. This is why Jesus doesn’t avoid it. Jesus answers them, “You shall love the Lord your God 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.”

It is certainly an important question that begs to be answered. This is why Jesus doesn’t avoid it. Jesus answers them, “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.”

Jesus is asked a seemingly non-controversial question and the offers a seemingly non-controversial answer. Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees is a genuine answer. The question is absolutely important. And Jesus’ answer is absolutely true and vital to understanding the Scriptures. Love God with everything you are and have. Love your neighbor as yourself. The Law and Prophets depend on this.

Jesus is asked a seemingly non-controversial question and he offers a seemingly non-controversial answer.

Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees is a genuine answer. The question is absolutely important. And Jesus’ answer is absolutely true and vital to understanding the Scriptures. Love God with everything you are and have. Love your neighbor as yourself. The Law and Prophets depend on this.

Jesus isn’t saying something new here. The Pharisees expect the answer that Jesus gives. Jesus is citing the “SHEMA”, that is, “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” (). The second commandment is from , “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as your self: I am the LORD.”

Jesus isn’t saying something new here.

The Pharisees expect the answer that Jesus gives. Jesus is citing the “SHEMA”, that is, “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” (). The second commandment is from , “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.”

Our Gospel lesson today is also not the first time in Matthew that Jesus has taught the importance of these great commandments in the Law. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven” (). A few chapters later, Jesus says, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (). When the rich young man comes to Jesus asking which commandments he must keep to have eternal life, Jesus says, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (). Obviously, the commandments are important. You must keep them to inherit eternal life.

This is also not the first time in Matthew that Jesus has taught the importance of these great commandments in the Law.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven” (). A few chapters later, Jesus says, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (). When the rich young man comes to Jesus asking which commandments he must keep to have eternal life, Jesus says, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (). Obviously, the commandments are important. You must keep them to inherit eternal life.

In our Gospel lesson today, Jesus sums up the entire moral law, the 10 Commandments, in two categories. We call these the Two Tables of the Law. Commandments 1-3 concern love toward God. Commandments 4-10 concern love toward our neighbor. It is necessary to keep both tables of the Law in order to have everlasting life.

Jesus’ answer to the Pharisee sums up the entire moral law, the 10 Commandments, into two categories. We call these the Two Tables of the Law.

Commandments 1-3 concern love toward God. Commandments 4-10 concern love toward our neighbor. It is necessary to keep both tables of the Law in order to have everlasting life.

The Pharisees see this as the heart and soul of the Scriptures. That is why they test Jesus with this question. By asking this question they reveal their own understanding of God’s Word.

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They aren’t far from the truth. That is why Jesus answers their question the way he does. It is absolutely true that the Law of Love, love toward God and neighbor, is the heart and soul of God’s Word. Everything hangs on this Law of Love. After all, it is Jesus who says that one must keep the Law to enter eternal life. Jesus also says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” ().

(Why does Jesus ask what they think of the Christ? What does this have to do with the first question?)

But why isn’t the conversation over here? What is left to say? Jesus is asked an important question and gives the important and correct answer. Why does Jesus ask what they think of the Christ?

“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.”

The Pharisees are correct, right? The Christ is the son of David.

That is what he is called at the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel account. “The book of the genealology of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” ().

The Pharisees are correct, but are missing an enormous truth. Jesus asks this question about the Christ to expose this glaring error.

The Pharisees are right about the importance of the Law. They are on the right track. They are also correct about whose son the Messiah is. They are on the right track. They are close, but not close enough. And unfortunately for them, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

The Pharisees are right that the Law must be kept to inherit eternal life. The problem is that they think that they are keeping it!

Remember what Jesus said though. “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (). Not even the combined righteousness of all the scribes and Pharisees is enough for ONE PERSON to enter the kingdom of heaven. Our efforts to fulfill the Law will never do.

This is why we need the Messiah.

We need Immanuel, God with us. We need the Messiah, who comes to save his people from their sins. We need a Messiah to come and fulfill the Law in our place. We need his righteousness because our own righteousness will never cut it. Without a Savior we are damned no matter how hard we try to keep the 10 Commandments.

There is another glaring problem with the Pharisees.

After they answer Jesus’ question about the Christ by saying he is the son of David, Jesus says, “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?”

It isn’t enough for a mere man, a son of David according the flesh, to come and live a perfect life and die in our place.

says, “Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life.” It would do no good to have a man try and make satisfaction for the sins of the whole world when he wouldn’t even be able to make satisfaction for the sins of one person. The Messiah must be God and Man.

JESUS FULFILLS THE LAW OF GOD, IN OUR PLACE, AS TRUE GOD AND TRUE MAN.

“For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” ().

“The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” ().

“The righteous shall live by his faith” ().

“[Jesus] entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eteranal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God” ().

This is how our Lutheran Confessions put it: “Neither Christ’s divine nor human nature by itself is credited to us for righteousness, but only the obedience of the person who is at the same time God and man. And faith thus values Christ’s person because it was made under the Law [] for us and bore our sins, and, in His going to the Father, He offered to His heavenly Father for us poor sinners His entire, complete obedience. This extends from His holy birth even unto death. In this way, He has covered all our disobedience, which dwells in our nature, and its thoughts, words, and works. So disobedience is not charged against us for condemnation. It is pardoned and forgiven out of pure grace alone, for Christ’s sake” (FC SD III 58).

This is what the Pharisees don’t understand and, for this reason, are not able to give an answer to Jesus’ question about the Messiah. They think that our righteousness according to the Law is enough for us to enter the kingdom of God and stand in his presence. It isn’t even close. Even if you added the righteousness of every human being on earth together and gave it to one person, it isn’t enough.

The Pharisees also think the Christ is going to be a man and ONLY a man. To be sure, the Christ must be man. He must also be God himself.

Thanks be to God that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is true man AND true God. Thanks be to Jesus for living a perfect life according to the great commandment in the Law and suffering the wrath of God which we deserved. Thanks be to our Father in heaven that we have received the Holy Spirit and have faith which receives the obedience of the true God-man, Jesus Christ, David’s son AND David’s LORD. His perfect and complete righteousness covers us. All of our sins are pardoned. Christ’s perfection is credited to us.