The Greatest Commandment
Opening Prayer
Father, thank You that You sent Jesus, that You gave Your all, to restore relationship. I love You.
Read Matthew 22:34-46
[34] Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. [35] One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: [36] “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” [37] 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 neighbor as yourself.’ [40] All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” [41] While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, [42] “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” “The son of David,” they replied. [43] He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, [44] “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”‘ [45] If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” [46] No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Why did Jesus come?Again the Pharisees and Sadducees are collaborating to trap Jesus. They try to lure him into saying something theologically dubious. What is the greatest commandment? Will his answer uphold the Law of Moses, or will they be able to accuse him of “abolishing” it (Matt. 5:17)? Jesus’ answer is unassailable. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. The whole point of the Law is relationship, first with God, then with people. Get that right and secondary details fall into place.Then Jesus asks them, “What do you think about the Christ?” Their answer, “He is the son of David,” reveals they only thought of him in human terms. It is correct but incomplete. Jesus stretches their thinking, showing that the Messiah must also be divine, the God-Man. He is David’s son, yes, but also David’s Lord (43-45). If you were asked the same question, what would your answer be? Would you be able to say, as Peter had done earlier, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16)? If so, then let us love him with our heart, soul and mind, which includes all that we are.
Apply
Commit Matthew 22:37-39 to memory. Ask God, by his Spirit, to help you live out the law of love.
Closing prayer
God, may I live in wholehearted love that is reflected in my thoughts, attitudes and actions.
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