Sunday, June 12, 2005
MATTHEW 22:34-40
The Pharisees counted over three hundred commandments of the law. These three hundred commandments were the source of constant discussion: what is allowed and what is not allowed by each of them. As a result, the Jews literally enunciated thousands of regulations and rules that were to govern the behavior of pious people.
Another topic of debate was which of all these laws and rules and regulations was the greatest, the most important, the most binding. A lawyer in today's gospel wants to get Jesus into this sort of a discussion, hoping that he'll be able to trick him, perhaps to make Jesus look foolish in the eyes of the listeners. So he asks Jesus, "which is the greatest of the law's commandments?"
With admirable ease Jesus introduces utter simplicity into the morass of laws and regulations that cluttered up Jewish theology. He reduces all the law to two commandments, "Love God", and "Love the neighbor." As a matter of fact, Jesus makes the two commandments one, two sides of a single coin, if you wish. The one most basic commandment that sums up all the rest is expressed in the word `love.' Clearly Jesus did not want Christianity to become a heartless, loveless matter of conformity to a series of laws.
"Love" is at the core of Christianity. "Love" does not address rules and commandments. `Love' bursts into life in the presence of, and as a response to, persons. The motivation of Christian behavior was not to be a law feared, but a person loved, the person of God, the person of the neighbor.
It was his love for the Father and his love for men and women that moved the Son of God to enter into our world and upon the work of salvation.
Hopefully it will be our love of the Father and of the neighbor that will motivate all our thoughts and actions, forming them into expressions of Christian striving.
Another topic of debate was which of all these laws and rules and regulations was the greatest, the most important, the most binding. A lawyer in today's gospel wants to get Jesus into this sort of a discussion, hoping that he'll be able to trick him, perhaps to make Jesus look foolish in the eyes of the listeners. So he asks Jesus, "which is the greatest of the law's commandments?"
With admirable ease Jesus introduces utter simplicity into the morass of laws and regulations that cluttered up Jewish theology. He reduces all the law to two commandments, "Love God", and "Love the neighbor." As a matter of fact, Jesus makes the two commandments one, two sides of a single coin, if you wish. The one most basic commandment that sums up all the rest is expressed in the word `love.' Clearly Jesus did not want Christianity to become a heartless, loveless matter of conformity to a series of laws.
"Love" is at the core of Christianity. "Love" does not address rules and commandments. `Love' bursts into life in the presence of, and as a response to, persons. The motivation of Christian behavior was not to be a law feared, but a person loved, the person of God, the person of the neighbor.
It was his love for the Father and his love for men and women that moved the Son of God to enter into our world and upon the work of salvation.
Hopefully it will be our love of the Father and of the neighbor that will motivate all our thoughts and actions, forming them into expressions of Christian striving.
# posted by F O O D F O R T H O U G H T @ 5:09 PM 
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"Love" is at the core of Christianity. "Love" does not address rules and commandments. `Love' bursts into life in the presence of, and as a response to, persons.
How can one say that Love does not address rules and commandments, when Jesus Himself in John, Chapter 14 (11-15 and 21) says both in verse 15 and verse 21, "You must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe it on the evidence of these works. In all truth I tell you, whoever believes in me will perform the same works as I do myself, and will perform even greater works, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me you will keep my commandments.
21 Whoever holds to my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me; and whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I shall love him and reveal myself to him.'
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How can one say that Love does not address rules and commandments, when Jesus Himself in John, Chapter 14 (11-15 and 21) says both in verse 15 and verse 21, "You must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe it on the evidence of these works. In all truth I tell you, whoever believes in me will perform the same works as I do myself, and will perform even greater works, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me you will keep my commandments.
21 Whoever holds to my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me; and whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I shall love him and reveal myself to him.'
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