The Holy one Vs the self righteous round three
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Hey guys watch this
Hey guys watch this
Famous last words of many rednecks...
In our study of the chapter, Jesus has been confronted by the disciples of the Pharisees, Herodians, and the Sadducees
All to no avail- Jesus literally looks better in the peoples eyes than he did before
He has silenced the RL but not quite yet
The Pharisees decided to their hand to see what they could do to make Jesus fall
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?” 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. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Vs 34- The word got back to the Pharisees that the Sadducees couldnt trip Jesus up and know the Pharisees are on the move
They decide to gather together and plot against Jesus- this just seems underhanded
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
Wicked men have always sought to go against God and nothing is new here
And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.
So they send up their best shot at causing Jesus to stumble
Literally some one trained in the Law to test him
Thats the purpose
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
The question is an interesting one
Which one is the most important law to keep
The RL have identified 613 commands in the law
So they pose to Jesus which is the most important?
Well, all of them are but some hold a greater significance among the people
Case in point- murdering someone is far more weighty than the command to not boil a goat in its mother milk
Both are commands, both required obedience, but one was far more significant due to the severity and the possibility of this actually being a problem
So where does Jesus go? Makes sense to go to the 10 commandments, the very ones penned by Gods finger on the stone tablets
He does to an extent but he does so by using Deut 6:5
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Jesus point here is for total commitment of the person to God
The aim of every believer should on obeying and pleasing God
We naturally have a tendency to move away from that
To put our desires over Gods desire
God has called you and I to be holy
The Puritans at times have had overwhelming sense of the pending wrath of God but that was because they actually believed God was holy, that he actually does want us to be holy in our pursuit of him and if not the wrath of God remains
Jonathan Edwards quote
This commitment to total obedience does not mean a mere negative avoidance of evil practices. It also means positively obeying God’s commands. We cannot say that someone is a true Christian just because he is not a thief, liar, blasphemer, drunkard, sexually immoral, arrogant, cruel or fierce. He also has to be positively God-fearing, humble, respectful, gentle, peaceful, forgiving, merciful and loving. Without these positive qualities, he is not obeying the laws of Christ.
Its a total commitment and surrender to God and the pursuit of his holiness
Beloved, I have not arrived at this goal but my desire is to be moving to it
Is that yours? Could you say in your heart the great commandment is the desire of your heart?
Are you moving toward it or from it?
But Jesus doesnt just leave us with that one command
He gives the Pharisees one more connected command
And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Jesus says their is another interconnected piece to this command
It literally flows from the first command
Love your neighbor as yourself and that is found Lev 19:18
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.
This is the third time Jesus has quoted this this verse- loving your neighbor as oneself in this Gospel - 5:43, 19:19, and now
In the context of Leviticus, loving one’s neighbor means (and what a corrective the content of this command is for today’s concepts of love) not harboring anger in your heart, or seeking vengeance, or bearing a grudge, and yet frankly reasoning or kindly rebuking him or her if necessary. That’s love in Leviticus.
O’Donnell, D. S. (2013). Matthew: All Authority in Heaven and on Earth. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 659). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
What we see in Jesus is the tying together of the entire Ten Commandments
1-4 deal with out relationship with God
1- no Gods before him, 2- no graven images, 3- Do not profane his name, 4- Keep the Lords Day
Beloved let me ask you, are we really keeping these?
Could it be that we are constant odds with others because we are odds with God?
Commandments 5-10- deal with mans relationship with each other
5- Honor your parents, 6- Do not kill, 7- Do not commit adultery, 8- Do not steal, 9- Do not bear false witness someone, 10- do not covet
Beloved, are we keeping these?
Could it be that we no longer pursue personal holiness and obeying the first 4 in regards to God and that therefore leaves incapable of being in right with others
The 10 commandments represent Gods moral law- all other laws are derived out of them
Jesus takes the trick question and turns it back to them
Many would have have quoted the 1st or 2nd commandment but not the connection to our relationship with others
But that is exactly what the Law has said and what Jesus restates
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Why does Paul pray so fiercely for the churches? because he loves God and loves others
From the overflow of our love in God we are to love others
If we say we love God - but yet do not love others, then we prove ourselves to be unbelievers
If we say we love others but dont not love God- then we prove to unbelievers
The Law and Prophets rest upon Loving God and loving others
I think this is a safe synopsis, If a person sets his heart on the holiness of God, the affects always translate into loving others made in the image of God.
Marks account gives an interesting side the story
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.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.
It appears the scales were beginning to fall from the eyes of the one who set out to trip up the Savior
Oh how many times that has occured?
C.S Lewis, Josh McDowell, Ravi Zacharias all began seeking to discredit the name of God but in their blind battle, God opened their eyes to His goodness and glory
The same is for every child of God- God opened our eyes to see his goodness and grace
And in doing so, we saw our sin and our brokenness
I pray today you will look and see the eternal life that only Jesus gives and I pray he gives you the eyes to see it
Because many dont and many wont
Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question,
They continue plotting but not praising
We had a saying whenever I played baseball- Whenever their was a meeting on the mound- “Huddle, Huddle must be trouble”
Like sand through their fingers, they are losing clout and prestige with the people
And now Jesus ask them a theological question?
saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.”
Every good Jew knew the Messiah was coming from the line of David
So Jesus continues his questioning
He said to them, “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?”
Every Jew would know that David was speaking about the Messiah in Psalm 110
Jesus point is it that David, under the inspiration of the HS would say the Lord
(Yahew) says to my Lord(Adonay) sit at my right hand until I put all your enemies under your feet
Then Jesus says- if David calls him Lord, how is he his son?
The answer the P’s gave the first time concerning the Son of David was only half right
He was not only the Son of David but the Son of God
The Messiah, the Christ, Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world to whom
Every OT saint hoped in, the Savior that Mary and Peter needed
If your not going to come by grace through face in Christ alone their isnt grace for you
All else is hopeless
Pharisees in all their Religious understanding were hopeless without David’s Saviour who was standing in front of them
As in every other controversy in this chapter, the RL will walk away silent
They wont walk away worshipping, repenting or believing in the Living Christ- the Son of David, Son of God in front of them.
And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
The teachers of the Word were overpowered by the Word in Flesh
Instead being overcoming by his grace and glory, they leave quite possibly more hardened than they were
However Chapter 23- will be the line in sand
they wont look to discredit his name after that, they will just look to kill him
Closing application questions?
Do you love God?
Do you love others?