The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Matthew 22:34-40,
"Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?' Jesus replied: '"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: "Love your neighbor as yourself." All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.'"
Pharisees had come to try to trip up Jesus with a question about taxes. His answer to them, "Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's" left them amazed and so they went away.
Next came the Sadducees who tried to trip him up with a question about the resurrection. Since the Sadducees didn't believe in a literal resurrection of the dead, they attempted to use what they felt was an unanswerable question regarding marriage in the resurrection. Jesus responded with a remarkable use of the Scriptures regarding the tense of the verb in Exodus 3:6, "have you not read what God said to you,'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living." This left everyone astonished.
Next came the Pharisees again with a question to trip him up, "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus answer to this question is provided in our verses above. What I find fascinating about Jesus pointing to these two commands is that these were the very commands these Pharisees and Sadducees were violating in their attempts to discredit Jesus.
The first command, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." was clearly an indictment of them as they were doing anything but loving God as they attempted to discredit him. Whether they recognized who Jesus was or not, they were not loving God enough to realize exactly who it was they were attacking.
The second command, "Love your neighbor as yourself." was another indictment of them in their efforts to discredit Jesus. You can't say you are loving someone as you attempt to destroy that same someone.
"Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?' Jesus replied: '"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: "Love your neighbor as yourself." All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.'"
Pharisees had come to try to trip up Jesus with a question about taxes. His answer to them, "Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's" left them amazed and so they went away.
Next came the Sadducees who tried to trip him up with a question about the resurrection. Since the Sadducees didn't believe in a literal resurrection of the dead, they attempted to use what they felt was an unanswerable question regarding marriage in the resurrection. Jesus responded with a remarkable use of the Scriptures regarding the tense of the verb in Exodus 3:6, "have you not read what God said to you,'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living." This left everyone astonished.
Next came the Pharisees again with a question to trip him up, "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus answer to this question is provided in our verses above. What I find fascinating about Jesus pointing to these two commands is that these were the very commands these Pharisees and Sadducees were violating in their attempts to discredit Jesus.
The first command, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." was clearly an indictment of them as they were doing anything but loving God as they attempted to discredit him. Whether they recognized who Jesus was or not, they were not loving God enough to realize exactly who it was they were attacking.
The second command, "Love your neighbor as yourself." was another indictment of them in their efforts to discredit Jesus. You can't say you are loving someone as you attempt to destroy that same someone.
Following their attempts and Jesus' answers to them, he then challenged them regarding their understanding about the coming Messiah as foretold in the Scriptures, the very person he was!
I just don't think I would ever want to find myself in the position these religious leaders placed themselves in with the Son of God. I am enough of a fool already without troubling the Lord to enumerate the obvious indicators proving that very fact!
A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
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