34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,
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 is he his son?” 46 And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Arrogance was behind that question, “What is the great commandment in the Law?” We know this was arrogant because the lawyer is asking this question in order to test Jesus. This text is at the end of a conversation Jesus has been having with the religious leaders. If you look back to the beginning in Mt. 22:15, you’ll see that the religious leaders are trying to entangle Jesus in His words. The Pharisees had debated which command was the greatest for centuries, but they couldn’t come up with an answer because picking one would imply that something God commanded isn’t important. Or, at least, not as important. And, of course, that can’t be true. Every word that comes from the mouth of God matters because He is the One whose powerful voice spoke all things into existence.
Imagine a student who is studying to be a heart surgeon. I don’t actually know how heart surgeons are trained, but I see them getting something similar to a recipe. It’s got a list of all utensils and ingredients needed followed by instructions on how to use them. Imagine a student seeing that recipe. Step 1: Scrub up. Step 2: Make the incision. Step 3: Find this artery. And so on, going through the whole process. If one of those students asked which step is the most important, how would the instructor reply? I imagine the instructor saying, “They’re all important! Do everything correctly – from scrubbing up to closing. You have to get it all exactly right. Don’t leave anything out, or you’ll kill your patient!”
Basically, that is what Jesus says here. Everything God has commanded is important. All the Commands are good, right, and true. That’s what Jesus communicates when He summarizes God’s Law as, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself”(Mt. 22:37-39). Everything command of God is important, and everything He requires falls into two categories of either loving God or loving neighbor. In Ro. 13:10, the Law is summarized even further, “Love is the fulfilling of the Law.”
But sadly, this summary the Law is twisted. The devil has used countless false teachers say that the word ‘love’ is God’s only command. And when they do that, those false teachers utterly corrupt love. Yes, the command to love summarizesGod’s Law, but it doesn’t replace God’s commands. Today, to combat that devilish twisting, I want to make six points about God’s Law. I’ve done this before, but it’s been seven years since I last did it. So, it’s worth reviewing again.
First, while the command to love summarizes the Law, the word ‘love’ doesn’t replace the Law. We sinners will do all sorts of things that go against what God has commanded in the name of love. But you don’t get to steal food from a store because you love your children and want to feed them. Instead, loving your children requires you to keep the Command against stealing by getting a job to buy food for them. Committing adultery is not suddenly ok just because you love someone. That leads to the second point.
Second, the Law defines how to love your neighbor. There’s a 4th Command love that honors parents. There’s an 8th Command love that does not bear false witness and tells the truth. In each Command, God is telling us, “Here is how you love Me and love your neighbor.”
The third point about the Law is closely related to that. While the Law shapes how you love your neighbor, the needs of your neighbor also shape your love for them. The 7th Command about stealing will take one shape if you are an employee. It looks like working hard, not wasting time, and doing good work. But if you own a business, the 7th Command takes a different shape. It means that you are generous and pay a fair wage that rewards the work and skills of your employees. Same with the 4th Command to honor parents. When you are a child, honoring parents means obeying them. When you’re an adult, honoring parents means respecting them.
Fourth, you show love for God by showing love for your neighbor. 1 Jn. 4:20 says, “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.” If you want to demonstrate love for God, you do that by loving your neighbor, according to the commandments and according to your neighbor’s need.
And with this fourth point we see that there is an order to your love. You are to love the people God has placed closest to you first, then love everyone else. 1 Tim. 5:8 says that a person needs to provide for all his relatives, but especially the members of his household. And Gal. 6:10 says, “As we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” So, it is loving to give to the Feed My Starving Children offerings, but it is not loving for you to put your entire paycheck in there and not be able to feed your family or to let your brothers and sisters in Christ go hungry while you feed people you haven’t met.
Fifth, and this is the most important one: The Law always accuses. There’s no time in your life where you can say that you have kept God’s Law perfectly. As long as you have a pulse, you can’t check off the boxes to love God and your neighbor because you still have strength. Those boxes are always on your to-do list. And you and I are sinners and always fall short when it comes to the command to love. So, the life of a Christian is always filled with repentance and receiving the forgiveness that comes only through Christ.
Finally, the sixth point: Even though the Law always shows you that you are a sinner, don’t fall into the temptation of giving up in your attempt to keep God’s Law. Christian, even though you are going to fail to love perfectly, you need to strive to do it. Pray for strength and wisdom. Pray that God would open your eyes and ears to your neighbors’ needs. Then, be God’s hands and feet to meet those needs.
Changing gears and getting back to Mt. 22. We know that the Law is not the only word God has spoken to you. God also speaks His comforting words of Gospel. After Jesus summarized the Law, He turns the tables. Now, He has a question for the religious leaders about the Gospel. “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”To their credit, these Pharisees know their Bible. They know that in 2 Sam. 7, God promised that the Christ would come through King David’s lineage, and He would reign as King forever and ever.
But Jesus wants to draw them further into the Gospel and into a further knowledge of the identity of the Christ by asking, “If the Christ is David’s son, how can David also call him, ‘Lord’?” (Ps. 110:1). The Pharisees can’t figure out this riddle because they figured the Christ was going to be a man who would set things right and save them. They didn’t understand that the Christ would be fully God and fully Man. But Jesus wasn’t trying to trick them. There He was, the Christ, standing right before them. The God-Man and Messiah, talking with them, calling them to Himself. Sadly, their only response was silent ignorance.
Dear saints, this question from Jesus silences you too, but in a very different way. You aren’t silenced into the shame of the Pharisees; instead, you are silenced in a holy wonder. Your silence is an awe that realizes that, to save you from the condemnation of the Law, God has located Himself in the body of Jesus. Because of Jesus’ birth, part of God’s nature is that He now has a human body. He took on that body so He could suffer for you, shed His blood for you, die for you, rise again for you, and rule as King until all your enemies are placed under His nail-scarred feet. Your Christ, your Savior, and your God has united Himself to you.
Lucy, today, we rejoice with you that you are Baptized. You are now clothed with Christ (Gal. 3:27) and joined to Him in His death and resurrection (Ro. 6:3-4). Remain in Him. Lucy and all you Baptized saints, we will never fully understand the unity that we have with God because of our Baptism. And yet, we, in silent wonder, can bask in the glory that God Himself has loved us in this way.
God came to you. He took on your flesh. He lived a perfect life and died an atoning death. Now, He is risen and rules as the Lord of all creation. Your Savior from sin is David’s Son and David’s Lord. He is your Lord and King, and yet He is your brother Who now invites you to His royal banquet to receive His Body and Blood for the forgiveness of all your sin and failure to love God and neighbor. Come and receive Him. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Php. 4:7). Amen.
He lifts up His hands and blesses them. And while He is blessing them, He is carried up into heaven. The last time Jesus was seen on earth, He is lifting up His hands in blessing. And Jesus continues to lift up His nail-pierced hands in blessing over you, dear saints.
A lord is not simply someone who has the final say or ultimate authority over a situation. A lord is anyone who exercises power over someone at any time. For example, you are a lord when you get into your car and drive 32 mph instead of the posted 30 mph because your time is more important than the safety of others. By the way, you are also a lord when you slow down to 27 mph in a 30 mph in order to teach a lesson to that guy driving 40 mph behind you. You are a lord when you sit down after a long day and your spouse or kids ask you for something, but you don’t feel like giving them the time or attention they desire. You are a lord when you go to the store or click your mouse to spend your money on yourself or family while ignoring the hungry and needy. Kids, you are a lord when you decide that your sibling has done something you don’t like, so you turn around and do something to them that they don’t like. Yes, there are too many lords today.
Jesus, the Son of God, emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant. He was formed and woven together in His mother’s womb, just like you were. Jesus was born just as you were born, but in a stable. The shepherds and wise men saw Him as an infant. As a helpless infant, Jesus entrusted Himself to the care of His parents who had to flee the violent, wicked hands of Herod, the lord of Jesus’ land. Jesus learned to walk, talk, and eat in Egypt. He was even potty trained there. He learned His letters and how to read after His parents moved Him to their hometown of Nazareth. Jesus grew up learning carpentry, the trade of His (earthly) father, Joseph. Lord Jesus made friends with the neighborhood kids, and He had siblings who didn’t always treat Him with kindness (Mk. 3:31-32, Jn. 7:1-5).
Pastorsamwise 
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