Raleigh
Bible Study Materials
THE GREATEST COMMANDMENTS
Matthew 22: 15 - 46
03 Sep 2023
Message
THE GREATEST COMMANDMENTS
(Matthew 22:15-46)
“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.”” (vs. 37-39).
In the previous passages, Jesus taught the Jewish religious leaders three parables, the parable of the two sons, tenants, and wedding banquet. He indirectly taught them that he is the Son of God and his authority comes from heaven. But they did not accept Jesus’ authority, nor repent of their pride, greed and worldly desires. Rather, they looked for a way to arrest Jesus. In today’s passage, they try to trap Jesus all the more with some hard questions. While answering their questions, Jesus summarizes the whole Scriptures into the two greatest commandments. The simple summary of the Scriptures is a great privilege for us to know what God really desires from us. May God bless us to listen to Jesus’ teachings and put them into practice in our lives!
I. Give to Caesar, give to God (vs. 15-22)
Look at verse 15. “Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words.” The first attackers to trap Jesus were the Pharisees. They collaborated with the Herodians. While Pharisees objected to Gentile rule, Herodians supported the dynasty of Herod and therefore the rule of Rome. They were enemies to each other, but they became friends to kill Jesus.
They asked Jesus, “Teacher…we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?” (16-17) Paying tax to Rome or not was a very hot and dangerous issue. If Jesus agreed on paying taxes, he would be separated from Jewish populace. If he objected to paying taxes, he would be executed by the Roman authorities. What did Jesus say? Jesus rebuked their evil intent and helped them to bring a Roman coin. He asked, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” (20) They answered, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” (21) They were amazed at Jesus’ wisdom and went away.
Here Jesus shows us how to live as people with dual citizenships. We must give to Caesar what is Caesar’s. This means that we must be good citizens who fulfill all our basic duties for our nation and people. Romans 13:1 says, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” When we live as good citizens, it brings glory to God and strengthens the credibility of our testimony. More importantly, we must give to God what is God’s. What is God’s? As the Roman coin had the image of Caesar stamped on it, we human beings have the image of God stamped on us. We belong to God. We must give ourselves to God in worship and service as our Creator, true Owner and eternal King. This reminds us of Jesus' words, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37) Later, we’re going to think about it more in today’s passage.
II. God is the God of the living (vs. 23-33)
The Pharisees and Herodians were bombed and panicked by Jesus’ divine wisdom and answer. To cover their failure, now Sadducees came to Jesus with a question. Sadducees were one of the religious parties. They were secularists and religious liberals. They tended to be wealthy and held powerful positions, including that of chief priests and high priests. They accepted only the five Books of Moses from the Scriptures. They did not believe angels, spirits, and resurrection. (Acts 23:8) They tried to live in this world as if it were everything. They were afraid of Jesus’ possible political power to hinder their existing worldly positions.
In verses 24-28, they brought up a weird story to discredit Jesus and his teachings about the kingdom of heaven and resurrection. The story was about a widow, who married seven brothers without a child. They picked Deuteronomy 25:5-6 as a basis for their story. This dealt with a man’s duty to protect his brother’s widow without children and maintain the family line of the dead brother. They must have squeezed their heads to invent this story to make resurrection faith seem ridiculous. However, through the story, we can see that their thoughts are dark only bound by earthly things.
How did Jesus reply? Look at verse 29. “Jesus replied, ‘You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.’” Jesus pointed out their basic problem—they did not know the Scriptures or the power of God. This was a strong denunciation of religious leaders. Their Bible study was superficial, so they couldn’t get the true and real meaning and discover the power of God. If they had truly believed in the Creator God, who created the universe with His words, they could have believed resurrection.
In this case, the Scripture they needed to know was Exodus 3:6. This was from the part of the Bible they claimed to believe. It was a great revelation of God to his servant Moses when he met him in the burning bush. It was God’s personal introduction of himself. It was something they should have been eager to study, understand and accept. Look at verses 31-32. “But about the resurrection of the dead—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.” In this verse, God did not say, “I was the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” He said, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” Jesus clearly says that God is the God of the living. This means that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are living and they are with God. It also means that those who believe in God are living in God. God is not the God of the dead but of the living. A person who has a personal fellowship with God is alive and has eternal life. It is the good news of great joy to all human beings who are suffering under the power of death.
Jesus teaches us that we must study the Bible with a deep spiritual desire to meet God and to know his power. It is interesting that Jesus said to the Sadducees in verse 31, “But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you…” Jesus did not say, “…have you not read what God said to Moses…” God spoke to Moses. But Jesus taught the Sadducees that God was speaking to them through the Scriptures. They should accept the word of God as their own, as God speaks to them. What an amazing truth! God speaks to us through the Scriptures. God does not want us to study the Bible as history only. God wants us to know him and his power personally by listening to him through his words.
When we are ignorant of God and his power, we can be ignorant of resurrection and the kingdom of God. Many Jews who believed in the resurrection thought that their lives would be an extension of the present life. Jesus explains that the resurrection will bring us into a totally new world. Look at verse 30. “At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.” In the coming world, there will be no need for marriage. God instituted marriage for human’s need for companionship and reproduction. In the new world, however, there will be no death, and no need for reproduction. Human’s companionship and love-bond with God and among brothers and sisters will be so perfect. Our resurrection body will enjoy more satisfaction than a marriage relationship. There will be no birth pain, babysitting problems, wars in home, or divorce.
Moreover, we will be immortal beings like angels, free from the infirmity of the present life. We can understand this transformation better through 1 Corinthians 15:42-44a. It says, “So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable, it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body…” Resurrection in the kingdom of God is glorious beyond our present understanding. We live in a world under the power of death. But our God is the God of the living. The living God speaks to us in the Bible. God transforms people’s lives through Jesus Christ and gives them a living hope of resurrection. Let’s listen to him by faith through Bible study, experience the power of God and live for the glorious hope of the resurrection and the kingdom of God.
III. Love God, love your neighbors (vs. 34-46)
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they got together. (34). They should have recognized Jesus’ divine wisdom and believed him, but they got together to test Jesus. Look at verses 35-36. “One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’” The question of this expert in the law was challenging. It was to summarize the entire law of God into one main point. The experts loved to debate such questions to display their knowledge, yet reaching no conclusion.
Look at verses 37-38. “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.’” Jesus gave them a clear answer from Deuteronomy 6:5. This summarizes the first part of the Ten Commandments. Heart is the center of total personality, soul is our life, and mind is the totality of mental process. These three are not different, rather they refer to the whole person. So Jesus teaches that we have to love God with total devotion and as of first importance without undivided hearts, souls and minds. Why must we love God with total devotion?
First, God is one LORD. Deuteronomy 6:4-5 say, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with your strength.” The word “The LORD” in Hebrew is “YHWH.” This is God who created the heavens and the earth. This is the God who gave us life and provides the air we breathe, the food we eat, our family, and everything. He is God our Creator and Provider. He is the Owner of our lives. He is the only LORD whom we should worship and glorify. He needs our full devotion with an undivided heart, soul and mind.
What happens when we don’t love God? In Matthew 6:24, Jesus says, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” God does not seek our whole-hearted love to control or burden us. In fact. It is to give us freedom and rest. When we love God with a whole devotion, we can have a right relationship with God and enjoy him fully. On the contrary, when we don’t give our hearts to God, we give it to the world. When we give our hearts to the world, we give ourselves to idols. We lose supreme purpose in life and become slaves of idols. The worst is that we lose eternal life. All human problems arise when we lose our love relationship with God.
Second, God first loved us. 1 John 4:19 says, “We love because he first loved us.” God is love— “Agape.” God decided to love us, no matter who we are. In Matthew 5:44-45, Jesus said, “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” God daily blesses people who are hardhearted, indifferent, and even rebellious. Martin Luther once said, “If I were God, I would judge the world twice a day.” Even the holy man of God couldn’t endure the wickedness of men in the world, but God loves people unconditionally and universally.
While we were sinners and even God’s enemies, God so loved us and sent his one and only Son as a ransom sacrifice for us. God reconciled us through the death of his Son. Sometimes we wonder if God loves us. But we are assured of God’s absolute love when we remember God’s sacrifice of his only Son. When we accept God’s love, we can love God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind. Here the word “love” in verse 37 is “agape.” God is worthy of our full devotion and worship.
Look at verses 39-40. “And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” This quotation from Leviticus 19:18 summarizes the second part of the Ten Commandments. Love for God cannot be separated from love for our neighbors. We confess that loving our neighbors as ourselves, especially those who are unkind, or even hostile to us is the most difficult thing to do. Yet, here again the word “love” is “agape.”
How can we love our neighbors as ourselves? We must remember God’s love for us. Oftentimes we don’t like or even hate ourselves as we feel ashamed of our mistakes, weaknesses or failures. But we should not see ourselves from our viewpoint. We should see ourselves from God’s viewpoint. God never condemns us or gives up on us due to our mistakes and failures. God’s love toward us is patient; it is kind. It is not easily angered; it keeps no record of wrongs. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) In the love of God, we can always restart with new hope, forgetting what is behind. Likewise, God wants us to see others with God’s mind and heart. When we accept God’s love for us, we can also accept others as they are.
Practically speaking, loving God with all our heart, soul and mind and loving our neighbors as ourselves are not easy, actually impossible with our own power and efforts. What should we do? Should we give up by making an excuse that we are freed from the condemnation of the law through Jesus Christ? Not at all! Rather we uphold the law. (Romans 3:30-31) God already provided us an example of love for God and love for our neighbors. Jesus’ life is the summary of the two greatest commandments. Jesus loved the Father with all his heart, soul and mind until he fulfilled the Father’s will through his humble suffering and death on the Cross. Jesus served sinners until he laid down his life for his neighbors.
Romans 10:4 says, “Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.” Jesus is our perfect example and goal that we can follow and grow. For our salvation, we need faith in Christ. For our sanctification, we still need faith in Christ. Christ is walking with us to guide us in our life’s pilgrimage through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit strengthens and enables us to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and love God with all our heart and love our neighbors as ourselves. Therefore, it’s important for us to live according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:5) To follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we need to live by the word of God daily and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, we can be alert. (Ephesians 6:18) Praise God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit for saving us and blessing us to continually grow in Christ’s image!
After answering all questions of the Jewish religious leaders, Jesus asked the Pharisees one question. Look at verse 42. “‘What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?’ ‘The son of David,’ they replied.” It was well known from the prophecies that Christ would come in the line of King David. Then Jesus continued, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” (43-45) Jesus quoted from Psalm 110 which was well known to the Pharisees as a messianic prophecy. In this Psalm, David calls the Christ, who is his descendant, his “Lord.” It does not make sense humanly. But it is possible if Christ is God in the flesh. And this is exactly who Jesus is. Jesus is God Incarnate.
The Pharisees expected a Christ who would restore David’s kingdom. They longed for a David-like ruler who would liberate them from Rome. In their earthbound hope, they did not know God’s salvation from the power of sin and death through Jesus Christ. They needed to know the love of God who sent his Son, accept Jesus Christ, and be saved. Three days later, Jesus would be arrested by the religious leaders and crucified. In his love, however, Jesus helped them to see in him their Savior King through the word of God.
Today Jesus taught us the greatest commandments. It is to love God with all our hearts, souls, and minds and love our neighbors as ourselves. The greatest commandments give us clear life’s purpose and direction. We cannot obey the commandments with our own power. But when we fix our eyes on Jesus and follow in his footsteps by holding on to God’s words and praying in the Holy Spirit, God enables us to obey his commandments and grow in Christ’s image. Praise God for his unconditional and sacrificial love for sinners and giving us glorious hope for resurrection and the kingdom of God! May God bless us taste the joy of deeper fellowship with him and our neighbors by obeying the greatest commandments!
Attachment: