Title The Greatest Commandment (Matthew 22:34-46)
Contents
Matthew 22:34-46 (Dawn, 070301)
the greatest commandment
If you could describe God's message in the Bible in one word, what would you think it would be? It's love.
Jesus expressed this in two ways. The first is to love God, and the second is to love your neighbor.
Are you living with these values? Paul also said that the greatest of faith, hope, and love is love. It can be said that love tells all of the Christian faith. Even if they speak in human tongues and angels, if they do not have love, they are nothing. Just like that, everything is contained in love.
A lawyer, a representative of the Pharisees, asked a question to test Jesus. “Teacher, which of the laws is the most important commandment?”
To this question, Jesus answered: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your life and with all your mind. This is the most important and supreme commandment.”
Loving God is the most important thing. Do you love God? Do you love with all your heart, life, and mind? Please meditate on whether we really love God that much.
But, how do you specifically love God? Jesus said the first and most important commandment, followed by the second commandment. In verse 39, he said, “So is the second, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The phrase “the second is likewise” seems to be important here. The second commandment is just as important as the first. Loving your neighbor is just as important as loving God. After all, love of neighbor is love of God, and love of God is love of neighbor.
Then He said, “These two commandments are all the law and the prophets.” This means that all the laws and the prophets came from these two commandments. The Code means that it represents everything else.
How are we? There are many cases where we say we love God but do not love our neighbor. To love God is inevitably meant to be expressed as love for neighbor.
Who is my neighbor that I should love? To whom should God's love be expressed concretely? There will be objects that the Holy Spirit applies to each one.
Today is especially verse 3.1. It is the day our ancestors shed blood for the independence and liberation of the nation. Inheriting the spirit of longevity, we are going to hold a noon fasting and prayer meeting for the nation and country at noon today. Praying for someone is perhaps the greatest act of love.
By wisely answering all the questions that put him to the test, Jesus left him speechless. Rather, Jesus now asks a question about the Pharisees. By doing so, he wanted to show them who he was.
At that time, people were waiting for a Messiah like David. As a descendant of David, they were waiting for a Messiah who, like David, would become king of the Jewish nation and liberate them from Roman oppression.
But Jesus did not come as such a political and military Messiah. At that time, the Jewish view of the Messiah was wrong. Jesus wanted to make it right. So Jesus asks them a question. “What do you think of Christ? Whose descendant is he?”
The Pharisees knew the answer to that question all too well. So, without hesitation, I answered, “Son of David.” This very word “son of David” contained a military and political image of the Messiah. So Jesus reveals that it is not. Jesus teaches it through the psalms of David.
Verse 43, “How then, in the Spirit, did David call the Christ Lord, saying, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet? If David calls the Christ Lord, how can he be his descendant?”
Jesus, of course, must be a descendant of David, who was born in the lineage of David. But Jesus is the Son of God conceived by the Holy Spirit. Jesus is far superior to David. He is not a descendant of David, he is the Lord of David.
In this way, Jesus revealed that it was wrong for the Jews at that time to be waiting for the political Messiah, and that he was the Messiah, the Son of God.
Why did we become Christians? Why do you go to church? As with other religions, if we became Christians for the purpose of solving problems and fulfilling our wishes, we may have a wrong belief.
Jesus came as our Savior. He came to solve the problem of our sins. He died on the cross for it. So we do not believe in a political Messiah, but in the Lord of Suffering. I hope that we will be the ones who have the right faith in Christ.
And let us remember the two commandments he taught. It is love of God and love of neighbor. This is the concluding teaching of Jesus.
Let's check our faith. Let's look back at "Who do I believe in Jesus?" He is the Savior of our souls. You are the master of our lives. He is still alive today, and He wants to live His life in us. If we give our lives to Him, He will do wonderful things through us. You will be able to love God with all your heart, life, and will, and love your neighbor as yourself, which was impossible until now.
Let's pray this time. Let's pray that we will love God with all our heart, life and will, and love our neighbors as ourselves. It is impossible with our physical strength, but all things are possible if we are willing to give our bodies to the Lord. Let's pray.