So Matthew 22, it's conflict isn't it? A conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders of his day.
! We're not sure in verse 33 whether it's the same day as the previous section or whether it happened in one or two days.
But it's pretty soon after. The Pharisees, those religious leaders, they come to Jesus with questions and their questions are designed to trap him.
And that's the aim in these questions. And they want to find a charge against him, to arrest him and have him crucified.
And so within this week of Passover, eventually we're going to see that they managed to do it.
But in this section, Matthew 22, we've seen three areas where they've come and they've tried to set their traps.
They've come with their questions. Sometimes they've come or they've sent their Sadducees to come or they've sent their disciples to come.
But the three questions, the first was political. I do remember it. It concerned, do we pay our taxes for Caesar or not?
The second question was theological to do with God. What about the resurrection, Jesus, that you've been speaking about?
What about people getting married in the resurrection? Isn't that a silly idea?
And the third question is a biblical question. And it deals with the whole question of the law.
The law of God. Do you remember the Pharisees? They were experts.
They were students of God's law.
And the man that they now called upon to be the questioner of Jesus was undoubtedly a skilled Old Testament lawyer.
He was a lawyer.
He was somebody who knew the law of God thoroughly.
He was a man of some intellectual substance.
And the question that he asked Jesus at this point was not really one of those great intellectual questions.
It was an old chestnut.
And for the question he asked Jesus was one that was trundled out again and again in the Sunday schools of the day, the rabbinic schools.
They looked upon the laws of God as being able to be differentiated.
They can be.
The law of God, some laws are weighty.
Others of them are lighter.
And so in chapter 23 and verses 23, he says to the Pharisees,
You have neglected some weightier matters of the law.
I think it's quite important to see that there are certain laws of God which are more weighty than others.
That's how they thought.
Some of the laws weighed more heavily.
Some of them were lighter.
Some of them were more important.
Some of them were less important.
And so they come to Jesus and they say to Jesus,
What is the most important?
And they hoped, of course, that he would give an unorthodox answer.
And that they would be able to trap him.
They'd be able to take him to the Sanhedrin.
And they would say to him,
Here is somebody who's teaching heresy.
He's not orthodox.
Now they were in the midst of this.
When Jesus replied without hesitation.
And his reply is one that no one could take exception to it.
In fact, Mark tells us in his account,
He responded and said,
Master, you have answered well.
Bravo.
Good answer.
He congratulates Jesus.
And the answer is in verses 37 to 40.
Jesus said to him,
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
and with all your mind.
This is the great and first commandment.
And the second is like it.
You shall love your neighbour as yourself.
And on these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.
Now the words come from what is undoubtedly
one of the most familiar parts of the Old Testament to Jews.
Deuteronomy 6,
when they got up in the morning,
they would have talked about it.
They were among the most copied words
in the whole of the Old Testament.
They were among the most frequently spoken words.
Because every single Jew
had to repeat these words twice every day.
Not only so,
but they would write them on tiny little pieces of paper.
Tiny little post-it notes.
They would put them into a little container.
And they would bind the container
around their left wrist.
And then they would get another little container.
And they would have written it down.
And they would put the piece of paper
in that little container.
And then they would bind the container
to their foreheads.
They were called phylacteries.
And you remember Jesus mocked them about this.
He said you go around with these large phylacteries,
large containers over your head,
or your arm,
and yet you ignore the very words.
I've never spoken in them.
I've written on this little post-it note,
this little parchment,
were these words of great significance.
The Shema.
Hear, O Israel,
the Lord your God is one God.
And you shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your mind.
And you shall love your neighbour as yourself.
And so Jesus is setting out these words
as the answer to the question.
What is the greatest commandment?
And then he says these words.
These words which have prior claim
on every man and woman and boy and girl.
Love the Lord your God.
It's the first and the greatest commandment.
So clearly this morning,
if these are,
the great summary,
if this is,
the great and most important words
that God speaks for his people,
we've got to ask,
what does it mean?
And I want to say,
you mustn't imagine
that you will jump immediately
to the right meaning.
When God speaks about loving him,
don't think that you jump
to the right conclusion.
Because as we think about
how the word love is used,
it is used, isn't it,
in the most extraordinarily wide way
in our time.
So we say to somebody
about a TV programme,
I love it.
We see that somebody
after church has got new shoes.
And we say to them,
I love your shoes.
You go to someone's house
for dinner
and they're having
roast beef
and you say,
I love roast beef.
We use the word
in the most extraordinary way,
don't we?
And so the word love
can be on the lips
of somebody
who is about to commit
grave sin
in the eyes of God.
And they will say,
I love you.
And yet what they're about
to do is sinful.
And when they say,
I love you,
what they mean is,
I love me
and I want you.
And it's possible
to distort the language
that God gives you
in a frightening way.
And love in our culture
is used, isn't it,
for the most sublime
and the most beautiful
of things
in our society,
but also some of the
most appalling things.
And some of the most
degrading things.
And some of the most
damaging things
and hurtful things.
And so five things
I want us to see
about this important passage.
I want you to know,
first of all,
that it's a commanded love.
Isn't that interesting?
A commanded love.
Did you notice that?
Jesus says,
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.
So it's a commanded love.
It's in the imperative.
Jesus is urging
a duty upon you.
And of course,
our reaction to that is,
is this, isn't it?
How on earth
can you command
anybody to love?
How can you command
someone to either
love God
or our neighbour?
And the reason that we think
it's really odd,
isn't it,
is quite simply
because we
immediately
associate the idea
of love
with a romantic feeling
or an emotional experience.
Some people occasionally
come to see me
when their marriage
is in difficulty
and they will say,
I just don't feel
like I love her anymore.
What's our answer to that?
Our answer to that
is what is that
going to do with it?
Because love is not
an emotional experience
or a romantic feeling.
What does the Bible
teach us about love?
The Bible teaches
the biblical emphasis
on love
is not the way we feel
but on the way
that we live.
On how we relate
to God
and to other people
and who is first
in our lives
and how we treat people
in the light of that.
It's rather a way
of living
and it's a question
of whom you are
living for.
Who is indisputably
first in your life?
And when the Bible says
you shall love the Lord
your God
with all your heart
and all your mind
and all your soul
it is really simply saying
God must be first.
He must be first
in your life
and in all your actions
and in all your thinking
and in all your motivation
and in all your planning
everything.
God first.
That is what love
for the Lord your God
really means.
With all your heart
and soul and mind.
And when the Bible
speaks of loving God
that is why
it can be commanded.
I cannot be commanded
to have
a certain emotional
feeling for you.
Can I?
Although I will have it
undoubtedly
but I can't be commanded
to produce it.
But what I can be commanded
to do
is I can be commanded
to put you
before me.
To think about you
before I think about myself.
To live for you
before I live for me.
I can be commanded
therefore
to be
what Paul calls
in 2 Timothy
chapter 3
a lover of God
rather than
a lover of self.
And it's this duty
that Jesus is quoting from
in the Old Testament Scripture.
You shall love
the Lord your God
with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your mind.
So it's a commanded love.
This is the first
and the greatest commandment.
Now notice in the second place
it's a committed love.
It's a committed love.
Loving the Lord your God
the whole of the Bible
is set within the context
of something like
a marriage proposal
from God.
That God makes
to men and women
and boys and girls.
What God does
according to the Bible
is He comes to you
and He says to you
this morning
I want you to be mine.
I want to be your God.
And I want you
to be my people.
And this is the God
of covenant love.
He comes to us
and He makes
His proposal to us
and what He wants
to say to us
is
He wants to say to us
I want to commit
myself absolutely
for eternity
to you.
For richer,
for poorer,
poorer
in sickness
and in health.
and I want you
to commit yourself
for eternity
to me.
It's the love
of commitment.
That's Christianity.
It's the thing
on which marriage
relationships
are modelled on.
And that is why
Paul is able to say
it's the
love your wives
husbands
as Christ
loved the church.
So how did Christ
love His church?
Think about that.
did He feel
emotional
about the church?
I'm sure He did.
But what's the
primary evidence
of Jesus
loving the church?
The primary evidence
of Jesus loving
the church
is that He
denied Himself
and He
offered Himself
up on the cross
to purchase
a people for God.
He loved the church.
What does it mean
by that?
That He had warm
feelings towards
the church?
Well,
yes.
But that's a small
part of it,
isn't it?
He loved the church
by sacrificing
Himself for them.
It's a love
of commitment.
And there never
has been a commitment
like the commitment
that Jesus showed
when He loved the church.
There is,
isn't there,
in our culture,
a love that stops
short of commitment.
And so commitment
is not very popular.
Lots of people
want to step back
from commitment.
I want a relationship
but no commitment.
A lot of people
are saying that then.
They're saying,
aren't they,
that I want the benefits
of a relationship
without commitment.
The commitment
is a price
too high to pay.
I'm not ready
for commitment.
Some people say,
isn't it,
sometimes I'm
in a relationship
but I don't want
anything serious.
I just want us
to be good friends.
Have you heard that?
Maybe you've experienced
that.
There are people
in churches this morning
and they come to
Jesus Christ like that.
It's just possible
that that's you
this morning.
And you've been
living like that
for many,
many years.
And what you're saying
to the Lord Jesus
is,
well listen,
I'm happy to come
to church
but I don't want
anything serious.
I just want us
to be good friends.
Jesus says to you
this morning,
look away
to the cross
and you see
how I gave myself
for sinners.
And you will see
that I just don't
want to be your
good friend,
I want to be
your saviour.
I want to be
the Lord and
master of your life.
I want to be
everything to you.
All that I have
am I give to you.
All that I have
I share with you.
This love
is a commanded love
but it's a committed
love.
And God is wanting
you to say to him
this morning,
you are my everything.
You rule in every
part of my life.
It's a commanded love,
it's a committed love.
Notice in verse 37
it's a comprehensive
love.
It's a comprehensive
love.
And so what could
Jesus have said?
He could have said
couldn't he,
when he comes to
the Old Testament,
he could have said
love the Lord your God.
And he didn't just
say that.
Nor does he say
love the Lord your God
with all your heart.
He could have said that.
We say that,
don't you?
I love you with all
my heart.
What the Bible says
and what Jesus quotes
and singles out
as the most important
commandment is
love the Lord your God
with all your heart
and with all your strength
and with all your minds.
Just notice how the
phrase, the whole phrase
is repeated each time.
Nothing could be more
comprehensive.
So one of the
illustrations that I
think we can use is
that of an insurance
policy if you've
insured a car.
And there's loads of
different insurance
policies out there.
But in my mind,
my simple mind,
there seems to me
there are two options
for insurance.
There's one which is
third party fire and
theft, isn't there?
And that is limited.
You know that if an
accident happens,
well, you're not
insured because all
you're insured are for
is third party fire and
theft.
It's limited.
But the other form of
insurance is what?
It is fully
comprehensive,
isn't it?
And the fully
comprehensive covers
everything, or at least
it should.
That's the difference,
isn't it?
One is limited.
One covers everything.
At this level, what
Jesus is speaking is
fully comprehensive.
He's saying there is
absolutely no area of
your life that may be
excluded from it.
And so your personal
and private life,
your thought world,
your actions,
your motives,
your internet browsing,
your relationships,
your business,
your professional life,
those things that are
said in secret,
those things that are
said in public,
your sex life,
every area of your
life.
You will love the Lord
your God with all your
heart and with all your
soul and with all your
mind.
And again, Bible words
have final meaning.
So we think, how does
the Bible use these
words?
What is the heart?
In the Bible, it is
not primarily the seat
of emotions.
We say, you've broken
my heart.
What is that?
It's kind of feelings of
kind of broken emotions.
It's much more than
that in the Bible.
So we use the phrase,
get into the heart of
the matter.
I think that's helpful.
It's this core of
everything.
It's the core of
someone's life and
being and personality.
It refers to the will
and to the motivation.
So we do use it in this
way.
We say his heart is not
in it.
And so they're not
wholehearted.
It's the core.
It's the citadel of
someone's being.
It includes their will.
Soul.
It's probably nearest in
the Bible's terms to the
emotions we feel.
It's concerned with those
areas with how we
perceive things and how
we understand things with
feelings.
So do you remember how
Jesus used the word?
He says in the garden of
Gethsemane, he says my
soul is deeply troubled
to the point of death.
And it's in that sense
that this word is used.
The mind is used to
convey intellectual life
and the strength of
conviction which put
thoughts into action.
And so when you say,
I've made up my mind,
that's what I'm going to
do, that's biblical.
It's thoughts into action.
So do you see what Jesus
is saying?
There is no area of life
that is untouched by this
love.
It covers everything.
This love is not only a
commanded love, a committed
love, a comprehensive love,
but there's two other
things that we need to
note about it.
They've both got C's in
them but they're not as
good.
Alright, so the first is
this, this love has a
criteria.
And the second is if
any question, the question
doesn't begin with C.
But it sounds the same.
What's the criteria of this
love, fourthly?
There's a criteria of this
love which can tell you
whether your love for God
is genuine or not.
How do you know this
love for God which you
have sung about this
morning and which you
have professed, how can
you tell that it's real?
The criteria is in verse
39.
It's the second commandment
that goes along with it.
It is to love your
neighbour as yourself.
In other words, Jesus is
saying there is a sign and
there is a proof of whether
you really love God.
And it's this, will you
love your neighbour as
yourself?
Let me clarify this for
you.
There's one commandment
there, not two.
Jesus does not say the
second commandment is love
your neighbour and the
third commandment is love
yourself.
It's a comparison, that's
what Jesus is doing.
It's obvious.
And he's saying we all
know what it is like to
love ourselves.
No one needs to teach
us what self-love looks
like.
No one needs to teach
you, whether you're
willing to admit it or
not, what self-interest
is like.
Where you put yourself
first in your sense of
priorities.
That is something that is
ours by reason of our
fallen nature.
But Jesus says the
difference between
biblical love and that
kind of love is that I
replace myself with my
neighbour.
And that I love my
neighbour rather than
loving myself.
Jesus is saying you need
to look at the basic
tendency of your own
heart to love yourself
and to serve yourself
and live under your
self-interest and your
self-absorption.
And you want to take
that tendency and you
want to fit it in to
the whole realm of your
attitude to your
neighbour.
The thing I will do for
my neighbour, the way
that I will react to
him, the place that I
will put him or her in
is the place that I
used to keep for
myself.
And so if you think
that your tendency is
not to put yourself
first, let me tell
you, you've not even
begun to understand
yourself.
You've not even begun
to understand yourself.
The Bible is not
telling you, don't
misunderstand this, the
Bible is not telling
you to despise
yourself.
What it's speaking
about is the place
that we give to
ourselves.
And that, says
Jesus, has to be
changed around.
And as we love
ourselves, so we
will love our
neighbour.
And that would be
the criteria of our
loving God.
Let me read you
these words from 1
John 4 verse 19.
Where it says this,
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.
This commandment we
have from him.
Whoever loves God
must also love his
brother and sister.
It's really, really
simple logic.
You can understand
it.
I've not seen God,
have I?
Neither have you.
But I have seen my
brother.
How can I say I
love God whom I've
not seen, but I
don't love my
brother whom I have
seen?
So can you see it?
It's really simple
isn't it?
How brotherly love
and sisterly love
is the criteria of
love for God.
And so that's the
criteria given to us
by Jesus in the
second commandment.
Love your neighbour
as you love yourself.
And so finally let's
finish with a question.
And the question is
this.
How on earth can I
do it?
How on earth can I
do it?
And how can
anyone do this?
How can I love the
Lord my God with all
my heart, with all my
soul and with all my
strength?
And how can I love my
neighbour as myself?
How can anyone live
like this?
Because it's not
native to me, is it?
Or to you.
It's not natural for me
to love God with every
fibre of my being.
And to put him
unreservedly first in
every area of my life.
Because I want to be
first in my life.
You know that battle
don't you?
I've had this discussion
many times.
You discuss with
somebody the demands
of the Lord Jesus
Christ and what does
it come down to?
For some of you this
morning, what is
stopping you from
committing to the
Lord Jesus Christ?
It's really simple
isn't it?
You want to be in
charge of your own
life.
And that is a
natural response.
And so how can we
love, how can we
live this way?
How can we love
this way?
Well there's two
answers to that
question.
And this Pharisee,
this lawyer who
asked Jesus the
question didn't see
any of them, either
of them.
The first is this,
that the Pharisee
who didn't ask,
even ask, how can
this happen?
He needed to look
at his own soul.
And he needed to
see that his
natural tendency was
to love and serve
and worship and
honour himself
rather than God.
There are a
hundred different
areas, aren't
there, where I
want to exclude
him.
And this
comprehensive love
for God is
something that even
when I try to do
it, I cannot do
it.
But you see,
had he just
listened to
Jesus, this is
precisely why Jesus
was standing in
front of him,
isn't it?
this is why the
Lord Jesus had
come into the
world, in order
to take hard
hearts like that,
hard, cynical,
pharisaical,
religious hearts
and break into
them, and bring
into those hearts
an altogether new
dimension of life
which was recreated
by Jesus Christ.
that would enable
him to live for
God.
Paul caught it
when he said to
the Corinthians,
he died, that is
the Lord Jesus,
for all, that they
who live should no
longer live unto
themselves, but unto
him who died for
them and rose again.
He needed a new
heart.
He needed a new
nature, that man.
And he stares, he
says to Jesus, do
you remember, Mark?
Good answer.
Bravo, Jesus, well
done.
If he had been
nearer, he'd have
patted him on the
back and said,
well spoken.
And it's possible
for you to do that
this morning, it's
possible in 2020 for
you to say to Jesus,
very good, excellent
teacher, we need
more of this kind
of thing.
Well spoken, Lord.
And inwardly say,
I will not be moved.
And the revolution
that Jesus Christ was
waiting to break into
that man's life, as
far as we know, never
happened.
And what he needed to
do, and only God
knows whether he ever
actually did it, was
to go to the cross
and learn something
about that love, which
is prior.
The love of Jesus
Christ for him, the
love of God in giving
and not withholding
his son.
The love that caused
him to come down
into this world, to
take upon him the
immense and
immeasurable burden
of our sin.
And to bear it in
his body by dying
on the tree.
Because the
testimony of the
New Testament and
the testimony of this
church is that we
love him.
We love him.
Are you able to say
that this morning?
We love him.
We love God.
But why do we love
him?
Why do we love God
this morning, those
of us who do?
How did that happen?
How did it come
about?
Well, you know, don't
you, we love him
because he first
loved us.
And it is when you
gaze on the dying
love of God in
Jesus Christ
that that love for
him and for others
is born.
Let's pray.