“THE GREAT COMMANDMENT”
“A Love for God and Each Other”
Mt. 22: 34-46
Fr. Christopher M. Nerreau
Introduction:
• Last week we discussed God’s love for us, this week we will discuss our love for God. In our gospel reading today we come to the third of four separate attempts by the religious elites to trap Jesus:
o Paying Taxes to Caesar – 22:15-22
o Marriage and the Resurrection – 21:23-33
o Concerning The Great Commandment – (Today’s Passage) 22:34-46
o Concerning the Son of David – 22:41-46
• The problem with the Pharisees was not one of zeal but of love.
Illustration: Yesterday I attended a wedding and funeral in the same day. At the funeral the children of the man who died did not say – “I will miss my dad because he kept the rules.” NO! They said – “I will miss my dad because he loved us.” In a similar fashion, at the wedding the priest did not say – “here is a ring, now you are married.” No! The priest said – “The ring is a symbol of your love for each other.”
Proposition: The point is that the commandments of God are meaningless without love, but when they are rooted in love they spring to life.
Interrogative sentence: Are you trying to please God today through cold legalism that is lacking in love?
Sermon Preview: Look with me as the scriptures reveal:
1. The Request of the Pharisees – (v. 34-36)
2. The Response of Christ – (v. 37-39)
3. The Requirement of Love – (v. 40)
Transitional Sentence: Firstly, look with me as we see…
I. THE REQUEST OF THE PHARISEES: (v. 34-36)
Explanation: For the Pharisees this exchange with Christ was never about learning from the voice of our Lord, it was about challenging Christ and His divinity.
THE BIBLE SAYS – Mt 22:34 “when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together.”
• The Pharisees had great disdain for the Sadducees who were the religious liberals of Jesus day (denying the resurrection, heaven and the angels.)
• As Such the Pharisees sought to demonstrate their superiority over the Sadducees by putting in effect putting Christ in His place.
• For the Pharisees there request of Jesus was never about learning, it was about embarrassing Our Lord and building upon their own (already puffed up) egos.
The Request Of The Pharisees:
THE BIBLE SAYS – Mt 22:35-36 “One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
o “One of them, a lawyer” – This description tells us two things about the man chosen to challenge the Lord – 1. He was a Pharisee 2. He was well educated and a master of rhetoric.
o “Testing Him” – The question was asked in order to trip Him up and put the authority of the Lord to the test.
o Which is the great commandment – This was a tricky question because from the perspective of the Pharisees the religious life was all about cold legalism. The assumption was that Christ would be unable to distinguish between the “Thus say’s the Lord” commandments.
Illustration: September 11, 2001 was a good example of the kind of thing you can expect from a person whose religion is rooted in cold legalism and not love. For the legalist, the religious life is about being “like me”. They will go to any length to accomplish this, flying planes into buildings and even insulting the Lord to His face.
Application:
• Because the Pharisees came to religious life from the perspective of cold legalism, they could not see Christ standing before them. They only saw a challenge to be overcome and pride to be fed.
• This can happen to us also when we forget about the significant role of love in our religious life. We can see people as objects that need to conform rather than Children of God that need to come home.
• Apart from being changed by the love of Christ, the religious life can become dangerous and abusive.
• Today, what motivates your religious life? Is it the pride of saying – “I am right and you are wrong” or is it the Love of Christ that say’s – “God loves you deeply, come home.”
Transitional Sentence: So we have seen the request of the Pharisees, now lets take a look at…
II. THE RESPONSE OF CHRIST: (v. 37)
Explanation: Christ responds to the challenge of the Pharisees by providing the heart of the commandments of God.
THE BIBLE SAYS – Mt 22:37 “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 foremost commandment.”
• Jesus answers the challenge with stunning insight. At the heart of the laws of God is a love for God. (See Deut. 6:5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
• By doing this Jesus demonstrates the weakness of the Pharisees attempt to confound Him. The religious elites had missed the “foremost commandment” of God’s law.
• Jesus knew love was written on the hearts of the Pharisees but had been actively suppressed. Christ’s response brought it out to the forefront and I imagine the Pharisees were quite embarrassed to have missed it.
Secondly, Love of Neighbor
THE BIBLE SAYS – Mt 22:39 “The second is like it, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”
• Again Jesus schools the Pharisees who were supposed “experts” on the law (see Lev. 19:18 – “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.”)
o Jesus now goes right to the heart of the Pharisees Challenge of Him by saying – If you understood the first thing about the law you would at least respect me the way you desire respect.
o The response of Christ was twofold – 1. You know not the Lord because you do not love God. 2. Had you loved God you would had loved me and shown me courtesy and respect.
Illustration: Have you ever seen a tree? I bet none of you have ever really seen a tree! I myself believe I have only seen a tree at best very superficially. Consider all the incredible things that happen underneath that bark, underneath that ground, through those branches etc. This is how the Pharisees saw the law; it was just a bunch of rules. Jesus challenged them to look deeper, to see the deeper motives of the law, love for God and each other.
Application: Jesus stumps the Pharisees and they never saw it coming. He does this by pointing out how little they actually know about the law of God.
• How much do you know about the law? Does your religious life reflect the challenge of Christ? To love God and each other. If you have a Christian life that is lacking in love you do not have a Christain life at all.
• The heart of Christianity is rooted in love of God and overflows in love for each other.
III. THE REQUIRMENT OF LOVE: (v. 40)
Explanation: Jesus summarized His refutation with these words:
THE BIBLE SAYS – Mt 22:40 “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
• Jesus closes His argument with the Jewish lawyer by in effect saying – “You have missed the entire point.”
• Two Commandments – To love God and each other is not a suggestion but a commandment. Love is a requirement!
• Law and the Prophets – Jesus is saying, Moses teaching on the law and the prophets teaching on the commandments are just commentary on the greater command of love.
• Get love right, get it all right, get love wrong get it all wrong.
Illustration: One of the reasons I really struggled with mathematics is because there is no fudge factor. I could get partial credit for essay answers but in math you either have the right answer or you do not. The same is true with love in the Christian life. You may come up with answers like legalism but in the end the Christian life has only a single answer, love.
Application: Again, Jesus stops the tongue of this lawyer by going to the heart. His refutation was so powerful and undeniable – THE BIBLE SAYS: Mt 22:46 “No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.
• If we have failed in the area of love we also ought have our mouths stopped. Our self righteous acts are completely worthless.
• I don’t care how many times you attend the Holy Mass, Pray self righteous prayers, read the bible, attend bible studies, men’s group, woman’s group etc. Without love you are failing miserably.
CONCLUSION:
Last week we were reminded of the great love God has for us. Today Jesus in answering the challenge of the Pharisees is asking the question – “How much do you love God?”
• In the end the only way to love God and others over ourselves is to have a conversion of heart.
• This conversion of Heart occurs as we receive Christ through repentance and faith and action.
• Finally, the requirement of love for God and each other can only occur as we by our own free will choose daily to remain communion with Christ.
Restate Proposition: The commandments of God are meaningless without love, but when they are rooted in love they spring to life.
Closing Illustration: In America there is a law stating a woman must take care of her child. So, a man comes to a new mother’s home. He says "Are you taking care of your baby? The Law says you have to." The woman, tenderly holding her baby, said, "I don’t need a law to make me take care of my baby." Why? Because she loves her baby! She feeds him, holds him, and changes him because she loves him. I no longer need the Law because I’m under Christ -- a law of LOVE.
Christianity springs to life when it is fed with a love for God and each other.
