SERMON OUTLINE:
(1). A Controlling Opponent (vs 34).
(2). A Calculated Snare (vs 35).
(3). A Cunning Question (vs 36).
(4). A Comprehensive Answer (vs 37-40):
(5). A Challenging Application (vs 37).
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• I guess you’ve seen their adverts on the TV.
• ‘Claims Direct’ type legal firms, you know the patter…
• “If you’ve been injured in an accident and need legal advice then call…”
• If like me you feel like shouting at the telly;
• “If you’ve been injured in an accident and need legal advice then call…”
• “THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN MORE CAREFUL!”
• Now if the accident is sincere and someone is genuinely at fault;
• Then it is only right and proper that compensation is paid.
• But sadly so many false claims are now being made;
• And it has become a money-making industry.
• False claims, abusing the system is nothing new;
Ill:
• A hundred years ago there was a very clever lawyer called F. E. Smith;
• He was a shrewd brief with a quick wit;
• Who served as the British attorney general from 1915 until 1919.
• On one occasion in court he cross-examined a young man who was claiming damages;
• For an arm injury caused by the negligence of a bus driver.
• F. E. Smith was cross-examining the claimant (who wasn’t the brightest)
• And he asked him:
• “Since you accident how high you can lift up your arm?”
• The young man cautiously raised his arm to shoulder level, his face distorted with pain.
• “Thank you,” said F.E. Smith.
• He then asked him:
• “And now, could you show us how high you could lift it before the accident?”
• Without engaging brain the young man eagerly shot his arm up above his head;
• And said “this high!”
• You will not be surprised to know that the young man lost the case!
• TRANSITION: No-one likes to be tricked, or conned or set up fall a fall!
• But that is the context, the situation surrounding our passage today.
• A group of religious leaders called Pharisees
• Descend on Jesus and try to trick him into giving a wrong answer.
(1). A Controlling opponent (vs 34).
“Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together”
In the gospels you will often come across those two groups of people mentioned:
• The Sadducees and Pharisees,
• Jesus was in constant conflict with them.
(A). THE SADDUCEES:
• The Sadducees were aristocrats, the upper class of society.
• They tended to be wealthy and held powerful positions,
• Including that of chief priests and high priest,
• And they also held the majority of the 70 seats;
• Of the Jewish ruling council called the Sanhedrin.
• So they were people of wealth and power.
• They worked hard to keep the peace by agreeing with the decisions of their Roman occupiers.
• And they seemed to be more concerned with politics than religion.
• Because the Sadducees were more concerned with politics than religion,
• They were unconcerned with Jesus until they became afraid;
• He might bring unwanted Roman attention.
• The Sadducees considered only the written Word to be from God.
• Especially the books of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy).
• One of the key doctrines that the Sadducees denied was any resurrection of the dead;
• The also denied They denied any afterlife, holding that the soul perished at death,
• (that’s maybe why they were sad-you-see!)
(B). THE PHARISEES:
• The Pharisees were mostly middle-class businessmen,
• They were the religious fundamentalists – the guardians of the faith!
• Who prided themselves on strict observance of the Jewish laws, ceremonies & traditions.
• At the time of Jesus there were around 6,000 Pharisees;
• They were not priests more like politicians,
• Many Pharisees were leaders in their local synagogue.
• And it was the Pharisees who held the power over the people.
• (quote: there was a name for anyone who crossed them – victim!)
• Religiously, they accepted the written Word as inspired by God.
• This would have been what is now our Old Testament.
• But they also gave equal authority to oral (spoken) tradition;
• And attempted to defend this position by saying it went all the way back to Moses.
• The Gospels abound with examples of the Pharisees treating these traditions;
• As equal to God's Word
• (Matthew 9:14; 15:1-9; 23:5; 23:16, 23, Mark 7:1-23; Luke 11:42).
Note: verse 34:
“Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together”
• Having silenced the Sadducees in a religious argument;
• The Pharisees now come along and try to discredit Jesus!
• Both groups are anti-Jesus because he will not play according to their rules.
• i.e. He never once broke any Law of Moses,
• But he constantly, at times quite deliberately;
• And in public broke the traditions and man-made rules of the Pharisees
• e.g. The constantly accused him of ‘not keeping the Sabbath’.
• But Jesus did keep the Sabbath as stipulated in the Law of Moses;
• But he purposely at times broke their man made traditions concerning the Sabbath law.
(2). A Calculated Snare (vs 35).
• N.I.V.: “One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:"
• The Message a modern paraphrase of the Bible puts it this way:
“One of their religion scholars spoke for them, posing a question
they hoped would show him up:”
Ill:
• Two taxidermists stopped before a window in which an owl was on display.
• They immediately began to criticize the way it was mounted.
• The first man said to his friend; “Look its eyes were not natural”;
• His friend replied; “Yes and loom its wings were not in proportion with its head;”
• The first man said “Its feathers were not neatly arranged; and its feet could be improved.”
• When they had finished with all their criticism,
• To their surprise the old owl turned his head...and winked at them!
• TRANSITION: Like those critics the Scribes & Pharisees thought they were right;
• When all the time they were wrong!
• In verse 35 their motive is to test Jesus, to trap Jesus, to set him up for a fall;
• Their test question is not legitimate, they are not concerned with fairness.
• They are not genuinely trying to see if he is the promised Messiah.
• This is a negative situation, they are trying to catch him out and discredit him.
• They have already made up their minds concerning Jesus;
• And they have blinded themselves to the facts and even the truth.
Notice:
• How verse 35 describes this Pharisee:
• “One of them, an EXPERT in the law, tested him with this question:"
• To take on this carpenter turned preacher in verbal debate;
• They bring in the big guns, an expert of the Law.
• To them there is only ever gonna be one outcome – they win!
Ill:
I love the old monologue called ‘One Solitary Life’
“Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman.
He grew up in another village.
He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty,
and then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.
He never owned a home.
He never wrote a book.
He never held an office.
He never had a family.
He never went to college.
never put his foot inside a big city.
He never travelled two hundred miles from the place where He was born.
He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness.
He had no credentials but Himself….
While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him.
His friends ran away.
One of them denied Him.
He was turned over to His enemies.
He went through the mockery of a trial.
He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves.
While He was dying His executors gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth — His coat.
When He was dead,
He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.”
“Nineteen long centuries have come and gone, and today
He is the centrepiece of the human race and the leader of the column of progress.
I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched,
all the navies that ever were built;
all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned,
put together, have not affected the life of man on this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life.”
Ill:
• Sending in an ‘expert on the law’ to try and catch out and trick Jesus;
• Is a bit like you and I fighting a man with a water pistol while he has a machine gun!
• Jesus always had time for genuine seekers, for puzzled people who needed things explained;
• But when people came to him with deceitful motives;
• He very quickly put them in their place!
(3). A Cunning question (vs 36).
‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’
Ill;
• Here’s a bit of trivia for you!
• Did you know that the common English term; “The Ten Commandments”;
• Never actually occurs in scripture.
• I know they might be there in your English translation;
• But that is a paraphrase not an actual translation of the text!
• When we read the expression “The Ten Commandments”;
• The phrase is more accurately translated as; *‘the Ten Sayings, the Ten Statements,
• The Ten Declarations, the Ten Words or even the Ten Things’.
• But not as the Ten Commandments – that is a paraphrase.
(*The words ‘d'varim’ and ‘dibrot’ come from the Hebrew root ‘Dalet-Beit-Reish’,
meaning word, speak or thing; but not as the Ten Commandments, which would be ‘Aseret ha-Mitzvot’.)
• Many a religious Jew is keen to point out that ‘the ten’;
• Are actually only part of a bigger set of laws.
• A religious Jew will tell you that there are 613 commandments in the Torah,
• The first five books of the Old Testament.
• They would accuse you of ‘picking & choosing’
• If you take the 10 commandments but ignore the other laws that surround them.
Now for us there is no reason not to call them the ten commandments;
• And it would be very hard for most of us not to refer to them that way.
• We know that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai;
• Ten significant and important laws for life.
• We are told in the narrative;
• That God inscribed them on two stone tablets, which he gave to Moses.
• These ten commandments are actually listed twice in the Hebrew Bible,
• First at Exodus chapter 20 verses 1-17, and then at Deuteronomy chapter 5 verses 4-21.
Now in verse 36 the question is poised:
‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’
• My guess is that they expect Jesus to pick one of the 10 commandments.
• e.g. “You shall have no other gods before me”.
• And have him say publicly that is the greatest commandment.
• And, no matter which commandment Jesus chooses,
• You can bet that this expert in the Law;
• Will be ready with a list of reasons why he’s wrong.
(4). A Comprehensive Answer (vs 37-40):
“Jesus replied: ‘“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’”
I just love the way Jesus is always one step ahead of the opposition!
• The expert of the Law has built his entire deceptive trap;
• On Jesus replying by quoting one of the ten commandments,
• Form the list as recorded in Exodus chapter 20 verses 1-17,
• Or the list recorded in Deuteronomy chapter 5 verses 4-21.
• But, Jesus fools them!
• Instead, he quotes from Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 4.
“Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”
• So Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 4.
• And he does not quote one of the 10 commandments at all!
• Instead he quotes what the Jews call the Shema.
• The name ‘Shema’ comes from the two Hebrew words that start off this section;
• ("Hear, [O] Israel" – “Shema Yisrael”) of the Torah,
Ill:
• The Shema is the central prayer in the life of every Jew.
• It is the central prayer in the Jewish prayer book (Siddur).
• It is traditional for parents to teach their children to say it before they go to sleep at night.
• It is always the first part of Scripture that a Jewish child learns.
• Many Jews recite the Shema as a mitzvah (religious commandment).
• Twice a day. Once in the morning and once in the evening.
Notice:
• Jesus then adds, “And, the second is like unto it;
• “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”
• This is a quotation from the Old testament book of Leviticus chapter 19 verse 18.
"'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the LORD.”
• It is a perfect answer!
• You cannot get anything any better that what Jesus said.
• And the expert in the Law and the Pharisees have no answer to what Jesus has said!
Note: Two reasons why it is the perfect answer:
• FIRST: For the Jew it is based on their most important verse in the Old Testament.
• This is their John 3:16 scripture;
• The most important verse in the Law of Moses.
• SECOND: It is the perfect answer because it summaries;
• The whole of the ten commandments.
e.g.:
• The ten commandments are divided into two parts:
• Commandments 1 to 4 are upward (vertical).
• Respect (our love) for God.
• Commandment #1: Respect God by not placing other gods before him.
• Commandment #2: Respect God by not making any idols
• Commandment #3: Respect his name – don’t use it as a swear word etc.
• Commandment #4: Respect his day – make time for God.
• Commandments 5 to 10 are across-wards (horizontal);
• They deal with respect (our love) for other people.
• Commandment #5: Respect your parents
• Commandment #6: Respect the life of others and so don’t murder.
• Commandment #7: Respect marriage – your own and other peoples.
• Commandment #8: Respect other people’s property so don’t steal.
• Commandment #9: Respect peoples reputation so don’t lie.
• Commandment #10: Respect what you and other people own so don’t covet.
So in his answer Jesus perfectly summarised the ten commandments:
• First: Love for God.
• Second: Love for other people.
Ill:
• In London's Westminster Abbey,
• Many great men and women are buried in the floor of the church.
• Visitors walk over their tombs without hesitation...all but one.
• There is one tomb that no one walks over.
• Even the Queen at her Coronation walked around it.
• It is the tomb of Britain's Unknown Soldier.
• TRANSITION: If an unknown soldier deserves such respect,
• Should we not also have greater reverence for the creator God of that soldier;
• And for the human beings that soldier fought and gave his life for?
(5). A Challenging Application (vs 37).
Ill:
• Let’s for a moment play ‘spot the difference’
• I want to quote the answer Jesus gave, first from Matthew and then from Deuteronomy.
• See if you can spot the difference!
Quote: Matthew chapter 22 verse 37:
Jesus replied: ‘“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
Quote: Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 5.
“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
• Question: Anyone spot the difference?
• Answer: Jesus changed a word – he changes the word ‘strength’ to ‘mind’.
• Question: Why?
• Answer: Don’t know – ask Martin Fielder afterwards!
• The more important point is Jesus is asking us to put God first.
• To make him the most important thing in our lives;
• To give to him our whole selves!
• We may not practically achieve that because if we are honest;
• So often our hearts, souls and minds are distracted by selfishness and indifference;
• When they should be focused on love.
Note:
• I thought just as we finish a final challenge and application;
• Would be to just quickly read through the commandments;
• And allow them to challenge us as we use them as a guideline for our love of God.
Question: What Does Loving God Mean?
Answer:
• For devout, righteous Jews loving God meant keeping the commandments;
• The 10 Commandments. And, so here they are:
• (1). Having no other gods.
• Tough question:
• Have I allowed other gods to come between me and my creator?
• (2). Do not make idols.
• Tough question:
• Have I allowed other things or people to be more important to me than my creator?
• (3). Do not take God’s name in vain.
• Tough question:
• Do I blaspheme? Do I misuse the name of the Lord in a trivial manner?
• (4). Remembering the Sabbath day.
• Tough question:
• Do I make time for God by meeting with his people each week?
• Is Sunday worship an essential or an optional extra?
• (5). Honour your parents.
• Tough question:
• Do you? Remember there is no age limit that allows us to stop honouring them!
• (6). Do not murder.
• Easy application: Do not harm and kill another human being.
• Tough application: Jesus said whenever we have hate in our heart towards someone;
• We are subject to judgement! (Matthew chapter 5 verses 21-22).
• (7). Do not commit adultery.
• Tough application: Respect marriage and do not misuse God’s good gift of sex.
• (8). Do not stealing.
• Tough Application: Be honest in all your dealings (even with the tax-man!)
• (9). Do not bear false witness.
• Tough Application: Do not gossip, slander or lie - be truthful and honest!
• (10). Do not covet the things other people have.
• Tough Application: Remember ‘Godliness with contentment is great gain!’
• (1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 6)
In summary:
• The first four commandments have to do with our relationship with God,
• And the remaining six commandments have to do with our relationship with others.
• So, Jesus sums it up - love God, love your neighbour.
• That love is shown not in word but in action and deed!
Sermon audio:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=bGZdKJCHDlzTDCJfLJKJuOPYTMhvCXhk&forceSave
