Very few people. Take time to study the Internal Revenue Service income tax regulations. The tax laws are 2,600 pages long. containing one million words and they're constantly changing. It is complex, confusing, and at times can be quite burdensome.
The religious leaders in ancient Israel did the same thing. in their relationship with God. They made it complex with laws. The growing burden of religious regulations had increased to the point where even an expert in Moses' law struggled to understand its core message. Mark chapter 12 verse 28 tells us of a scribe.
Coming to Jesus. with a clarifying question concerning the law. Which is the first commandment of all?
Now the question is not a question of chronology, that is, which was given first. The question is about centrality. Which commandment is at the heart of the law? And what law are we talking about? We're not talking about the law in its totality.
We're not talking about the civil law or the ceremonial law. We're talking about the moral law of God represented in the Ten Commandments. Mark identifies the one asking the question as a scribe. Notice, then one of the scribes came. And having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, that is, asked Jesus, which is the first commandment of all.
Matthew chapter 22 and verse 34 says. One of the Pharisees. A lawyer asked Jesus this question. Testing him, saying, Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?
Now. Is there a contradiction here? No, there's no contradiction. Mark says a scribe asked the question. Matthew says it was one of the Pharisees, a lawyer.
Okay. Listen, not all Pharisees were scribes, but the scribes were primarily Pharisees with very few exceptions.
So Matthew and Mark are in agreement. This is context and is a significant part of context because I think it's important before we get into the the narrative. The scribes were recognized experts in the law of Moses. And in traditional laws and regulations. And of all the people present that day the scribes They knew the Word of God better than anyone except the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, they believe that only the first five books. of the Bible, the Torah were authoritative. And they meticulously combed through the law of Moses, the first five books of the law, and they extracted 613 commandments. 365 were negative, 248 were positive. And they sought to bind people's conscience.
Not just with the law of Moses, the Ten Commandments, but with their traditions. Their views and teaching with a heavy emphasis on their traditions. Was the theological framework for the Pharisaic legalistic works righteousness?
Now, it's important to understand that. They were revered. in that culture. Their views affected every aspect of life. They spoke into all legal matters.
Property The state's contracts. They were revered. It was commonly believed that Moses received the law. Then gave it to Joshua, who gave it to the elders, who gave it to the prophets. Who in turn gave it to the scribes.
That was common. understanding and knowledge.
However, They were the enemies of Christ. They were the enemies of Christ. Matthew records a scathing rebuke and exposure by Jesus. of these very so-called experts. And I won't read everything Jesus said, only give you a taste, but you will see.
very clearly. Jesus didn't speak to them one-on-one, he exposed them publicly. And we have these words in Matthew chapter 23. Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees, they sit in Moses' seat. Therefore, whatever they tell you to observe, That observe and do, but do not do according to their works, for they say and do not do.
For they bind heavy burdens. hard to bear and lay them on men's shoulders. but they themselves will not move them with one of their own fingers. but all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.
And the rest of chapter 23 is just a scathing rebuke. He calls them. Blind guides in verse 16. Fools and blind. Verse 17.
The same in verse 19. Verse 24: Blind guides who strain at a gnat and swallow a camel. Blind Pharisees. Verse 26. Hypocrites, he says, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.
For you are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so, you also outwardly appear. Appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy. and lawlessness. They're the experts in the law.
Jesus said, You're full of lawlessness. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous. Verse 33, serpents, brood of vipers, how can you escape the condemnation of hell? Uh That was a public Declaration. for the multitudes, for the disciples, and addressed to them.
Luke also speaks to this. Just a three verse summary. But again, you'll see the the heart of what Jesus was communicating. Luke 20. Verse 45 to 47.
Again, listen. Then in the hearing of all the people. He said to the disciples, Beware of the scribes. Who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplace. the best seats in the synagogues and the best places at feasts.
Who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive. Greater. Condemnation. That's the context.
That's important to understand. And this one scribe. comes and asks the question. Which is the first commandment? of all And Jesus gives His answer.
in verses 29, 30, and 31. Yeah. Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is here. Oh Israel. The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first. Commandment. And the second, like it is this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.
Now, you need to understand what's going on here. This is toward the end of Jesus' ministry. Things are winding down. He's moving toward Jerusalem. He soon will be crucified.
But there's a problem in the eyes of the religious establishment because of the popularity that Jesus enjoyed among the people. And they have come to him with all kinds of questions, trying to ensnare him, trying to entrap him, trying to. put him between the horns of a dilemma. And that's what's going on here again. Mark doesn't tell us that this man came to test Jesus, but Matthew tells us that.
And what's the test? Moses is revered. among all the people. And these religious leaders have heard Jesus say things like, You have heard it said. that, but I say unto you.
And what they interpreted was that Jesus was elevating himself above Moses.
So what they're asking here, what he's asking here, is a question to try and get Jesus to disagree with Moses and therefore fall out of favor with the populace. That's what's going on. Jesus gives His answer, and His answer is grounded in the Shema. that's recorded in Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 4. Which says, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. That's the Shema.
Now When you compare Deuteronomy 6:4 with what Jesus said. It's almost identical, except that Jesus adds. another dimension. Jesus says, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul. And he adds with all your mind.
That's not a part of Deuteronomy 6 verse 4. And with all your strength, this is The first commandment. And then The second, like it, is this: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.
And that is rooted in Leviticus chapter 19 verse 18. Again, keep in mind the scribes believed only the first Five books of the Bible, the Torah, were authoritative.
So, Jesus is speaking to this scribe from those five books. Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 4. And Leviticus chapter 19. in verse 18. That tells us you shall Love your neighbor as yourself and then there's a long list of what that looks like.
We won't take the time to do look at that today, but Again. We've looked at the context. We've looked at the question. We're now examining Jesus' answer. in verses 29 through 31.
The Shema. Was recited by every devout Jew morning and evening and affirms the truth of monotheism. The commandment to love God and neighbor. stand together at the heart of the Torah, the law of God. It was recited in the synagogue, that is the Shema, constantly.
It was daily. Recited by every Jew and written on these miniature rolls, these phylacteries, little weed boxes, where they would write these words. From the Shema on parchment paper and wear them on their forearm or wear them on their forehead. I mean Anything important to a Jew, it was the Shema. And that's where Jesus takes this man.
And what is the heart of what Jesus is saying? Jesus is saying, obedience. cannot be merely external, and that was the whole issue. Of his exposure to, well, not the whole issue, but one of the significant issues that he raises there that we looked at there in Matthew. where he renounced them.
Obedience cannot be merely external. It must be internal from the heart, motivated by love for God. When Jesus began his answer. With the Shema prayer, he was acknowledging the Lord God as most important and that complete devotion to him is the most important Commandment. That we are to acknowledge His Lordship.
Our response needs to be To hear, hear. That's called, that's the Shema, that one word here, O Israel, that word here is translated from the Hebrew word Shema. That's where we get the the Shema. We're to hear him. And we're to do what he tells us to do.
Notice. the personal pronoun attached to the commandment. There. You see it there? And you.
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart. The call is to love God. And the call is for each and every individual to love God. And we can only do that. when we are supernaturally enabled.
By God. They're called to love God. It's not natural. I thought I thought of the words of Martin Luther. He was burdened under the weight of the burden and the commandment to love God.
And he said, Love God? I hate God. He was speaking from his adamic nature, his sinful nature. Man has a default born into this world, he is a hater of God. People don't like to hear that.
But that's what the Bible declares. Men, apart from grace, hate God. God haters. And the command is not to hate God, but to love God. What a high calling.
How can we do that?
Well, we know. Because of grace, because of the gospel. We love him because why? He's commended us to? No, we love him because.
He first loved us. And the call is to love God with all of your being here. We're not given here a fourfold Diagnostic psychological analysis of human personality. You know, heart, mind, soul, and strength. That's not why those words are there.
It's to convey that we're to love God with our whole being. Completely. And this world is.
So bankrupt with the idea and the concept of biblical love. There's more talk about love in our world, but it's all emotion, it's all feeling. I've been fond to tell young people at the At the altar when we're Seeing the married Talked to them about what love is and said, Love is not a feeling you feel when you feel a feeling for someone you've never felt before. That's the way the world thinks of love. It's that fleeting.
I had this feeling.
Well, I say, well, what happens when you have a feeling for some other than the person you just committed yourself to? If that's the heart of a feeling, then you run after that, and you run after that. No. Love is a verb, right? It's not a feeling.
And it's demonstrated by action. Jesus said, if you love me, You're what? Keep my commandments.
So, here's some diagnostic questions. About. love and to think about where we stand in this All important Aspect. Is the Lord the all consuming passion of your life. Or is there something else that's captured your your attention, something else you're more passionate about.
Do I have a deep, intense, and abiding affection for my Lord? How critical was that?
Well, that's what Jesus picked up when he was restoring Peter. Peter. How good are you at fishing? Is that what he asked him? No.
Peter, do you love me?
Okay. That's where Jesus went when he began to interrogate Peter and restore him. Am I loyal to my God with an exclusive love? Do I resist and even oppose anything or anyone that seeks to do my Lord harm? Am I zealous to, with grace, defend my Lord's name and honor?
Do I enjoy? communing with my Lord. Do I do things that please my Lord and increase his joy? Do I express my love to the Lord? Do I tell Him, Lord, I love you?
Because you first loved me. Am I grieved? Over my failure to love God the way He deserves to be loved and the way He's commanded me to love. Am I grieved over my coldness and my indifference at times? Prone to Leave the God I love And we need to understand these aren't things we do in order to earn merit with God.
These are things we do because God has poured merit out upon us. We love Him not to gain favor and merit. We love Him because He first loved us. It's a way of expressing our appreciation. But not just love for God, but love.
For man, Leviticus 19 verse 18. And some read this passage. In error. Where he says The second is like this: verse 31: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. And some say, well, Jesus is commanding us to love ourselves, really.
Like we really need help with that? Like people don't love themselves too much. That's the problem, right? That's what the whole commandment, the whole premise of the commandment is built upon. You love yourself so much, you're gonna love others the way you love yourself.
And how do you love yourself? You're first. You look after yourself first. You see. It's not a commandment to love yourself.
It's an assumption that that's one of our defaults. It was very informative when I realized that the opposite of love is not hate. The opposite of love is selfishness. Because love is giving of yourself sacrificially for the good of another person. And what's the opposite of that?
Selfish. I'm not going to love another person. I'm not going to put them first. I'm going to put me first.
So it's not hate, it's selfishness. And when you get down to it, sin is rooted in selfishness. I do what I do, I say what I say. I move in this world the way I do because I put myself first and foremost. I'm looking out for me.
I don't care about you. I don't care about my wife. I don't care about my Lord. I'm pleasing me. I'm not pleasing my Lord.
That's the heart of selfishness. And that's something we have to war against constantly. Even as believers.
So The context, the question, the answer. And then this interesting commendation. And it's interesting because it's a commendation. From the scribe. to our Lord.
Verse 32 and verse 33.
So the scribes said to him, Well said, teacher. You have spoken the truth. For there is one God, and there is no other but He. Again. affirming the doctrine of monotheism.
And to love him with all the heart. With all the understanding, with all the soul. And with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as thyself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And the question is: did the scribe get it? Did he get it?
Did he understand what Jesus was getting at? Or was this all new to him?
Well, the answer is yes and no. He was a Jew. He was an Orthodox Jew. He wore the phylatry. He understood the Shema.
He understood his responsibility before God and men. He recited it day in and day out. In the synagogue, privately.
So he understood it externally. But he didn't understand it internally. It was all external to him. He failed to realize and acknowledge his inability to keep the law. He missed.
Paul's confession. What was Paul's confession? Listen to it in Romans chapter 7.
Okay. This is what he missed. Paul says this Romans 7 verse 21. I find then he's talking about this wrestling. wanting to do right and not following through with that.
He says, I find then a law. That evil is present with me. The one who wills to do good, for I delight in the law of God according to the inward man, but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin. Which is in my members, O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me? from this body of death.
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So then, with the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, The law of sin. He misses that. He doesn't understand that law of sin. He confesses his agreement to monotheism that there is one God and there's no other but Him. His answer or his commendation is clarifying.
It is as if Jesus' answer cut through all the fog, all the confusion, all the complexity, and brought some clarity to him. He was like the tax provider who's lost in a million words. Trying to help you Do your taxes. Six hundred and thirty laws and regulations added to the moral law of God. And Jesus says, no, no, no, no.
It all boils down to two. All the law. This can be summed up in this. All the law, all the moral law is summed up in this.
So, what law is he talking about? He's talking about the two tablets. He's talking about the first four commandments that relate to our relationship to God, and then five through ten, the other six that relate to our relationship horizontally with others. Jesus said, all the law. is summed up in these two.
And how easy it is to get away from the main thing. Right? How easy it is to get away from the main thing and focus on some minuscule. doctrine or issue and that divides people and How important is love?
Well, Jesus said By this, all men will know that you are my disciples by your theological precision. By your understanding of this doctrine or that doctrine? No. By this will all men know you're my disciples, by your love one for another. What and There's no room for missing that.
It's absolutely critical.
Well, what do we say about a church that's full of? division and fighting and bickering and splintering. Mon c'est war. How did you miss the main thing? Where is the love?
that's supposed to characterize the church and the people of God. It's ironic, isn't it? This scribe, this sinner, says to Jesus, You've spoken well. You got it right, Jesus. as if he could do anything else.
That was his commendation. Then there's this word. That's a bit Puzzling. Verse 34, now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, You are not far. from the kingdom of God.
You are not far from the kingdom of God. And I've pondered that and thought about that.
So close. Yet so far away.
So close, literally. He's one of few people who have walked the face of the earth and had a conversation one-on-one with Jesus Christ, who said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. You can't get any closer than that. You can't get any nearer than that. Right?
You are not far. from the kingdom of God. And again, I don't know. Um Commentaries are frustrating. Because things you focus on and say, you know what, I want to know the answer to that, I want some insight on that.
And you go and you comb through commentary after commentary after commentary, and they blow right past it. You say, wait a minute. You can't do that. You wrote a commentary. You don't get a pass.
That's what I want to say. I'm not there to... But that's what I think. Close that one up and go look at another one. And oftentimes, repeatedly, they.
They stay away from controversy. They stay away from the hard questions. I think one other thing that's going on here. is this scribe He viewed accurately that love for God and for others is more important than observance of religious ritual. You notice how he said that?
So the scribe said, Well said, teacher, you have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
Okay. His background, his theology, his doctrine taught him that observances and rituals was up here. But now he's got it in its proper place. Love for God and love for others is more important. And he says that, he vocalizes that.
Then whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
Well, you know, it would be easy to go away from this passage. Holding to the very thing Jesus soundly condemns. Which is what? works righteousness. That is trusting your ability to keep God's law.
And let me add a qualifier. Trusting your flawed attempt to keep God's law. The question here isn't try harder, do better. No, the answer here is: look away from yourself and trust the only one who's ever kept the law. Perfectly.
He came and earned righteousness. You say, well, why did he? Why did he need to earn righteousness?
So that can be imputed to you and me. He was righteous. He is the only righteous one who's ever existed. There are three dangers here in misusing the law of God. That is, number one, trusting the law to save you.
And when you talk to people out in the world, There's there's basically a two or three Um Arguments that they will make that they believe will give them standing before God. Number one, Well, I know I haven't done everything right, but God will judge my good against my bad, and I think my good outweighs my bad, right? Don't you hear that? Yeah. Or there are people who think That Keeping the law, keeping the Ten Commandments.
I haven't done this, haven't done that, haven't done the other thing, therefore. The law of God cannot save you from your sin. The law kills, but the Spirit gives life. What is the purpose of the law? The law exposes sin.
Paul said, I didn't know sin until the law said, thou shalt not covet. That's the purpose of the law. that does not give life. It kills. I brought it to the middle of the center The words of three hymns with me.
to conclude this message because I love hymnody. I love to be able to sing corporately some of these great truths that we believe. And when you sing these things, it's as if it cements it to your soul. You hang on to it. Oh.
A debtor to mercy alone, of covenant mercy I sing, nor fear. With thy righteousness on, my person an offering to bring. The terrors of law and of God with me can have nothing to do. My Savior's obedience and blood hide all my transgressions from view. I'm not trusting me.
I'm not trusting my law keeping. I'm trusting the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And that alone That's what that hymn underscores. Listen to the the um The movement of this hymn in these four stanzas, Jehovah Sikenu. A stranger?
T uh I photocopied it and The photocopy machine cut off. The first stanza.
So 385. I once was a stranger to grace and to God I knew not my danger and felt not my load. Though friends spoke in rapture of Christ on the tree, Jehovah sit can you was nothing to me. Like tears from the daughters of Zion that roll, I wept when the waters went over his soul. Yet thought not that my sins had nailed to the tree, Jehovah said Canu.
T'was nothing to me. When Free grace awoke me by light from on high. What? Then legal fear shook me. What?
The law! The kills. Exposes sin. Then legal fear shook me. I trembled to die.
No refuge, no safety. Mount Sinai is no refuge. Inself, could I see, Jehovah sit can you, my Savior must be. And then this beautiful stanza. My terrors all vanished before the sweet name, my guilty fears banished, with boldness I came, to drink at the fountain life giving and free.
Jehovah said Can you is all things to me. He better be all things to you.
Well, there's no hope for you. And then Okay. Words penned by a 20, well, he had to be under 29 years of age. He died when he was 29, Robert Murray McShane. When I stand before the throne.
Dressed in beauty not my own. When I see thee as thou art. Love thee. With on sinning heart Then, Lord, shall I fully know Not till then. How much I owe.
Here's a litmus test for you this morning. Mm-hmm. The law has been set before us in its demands. Where's your hope today? They're hoping you, your confidence, your ability to.
to do and keep doing. No, when you when you See the commandment to love God with all your being, all your mind, soul, strength. And to love your neighbor as yourself, the only thing you can honestly say is, Lord, I have failed. I have failed miserably. And Lord, even as a redeemed sinner, My love for you is pales in comparison to what it ought to be.
I should love you better. I should love you more intensely. I should love you more consistently. I should love you more unwaveringly, and I don't. But the litmus test is: are you burdened by that?
Are you grieved by that? And are you longing for the day? When you will love him with an unsinning heart. I'm not. Yeah.
I can't imagine what that's going to be like because, in order to be able to do that, we'll have a new constitution. The old Adamic fallenness will be gone. Our flesh will be finally put to death, mortified. And we will not be able to sin. You say no.
That That's full glorification. That's full salvation. That's what. That is the end of what God is doing. To transport us into His very presence.
With No desire to sin, and no ability to sin, and being able to love Him with an unsinning heart. and to worship him throughout the ages. I don't know what you say to that other than wow. Right? And we overuse that word, but that's...
That's what God has promised his people. That's what God is working towards. And we've got folks that have worship with us here. who have been translated to the yonder place, into glory itself, And they are doing what we are talking about here and hoping for someday in our own life. Let's pray together.
Yeah. Father, how we thank you. For your love for us, that sent your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to this sin-cursed world. on a rescue mission to save us from our sins. He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
Father, I pray today for any who are here. Who have been earning and striving and working and trying to earn favor with you? They've not understood the gospel. That you would remove their blinders. Help them to see that the law is a schoolmaster.
It's there to expose our sin and to Drive us to Christ. Father, thank you for him. Who kept the law perfectly in our stead? And thank you for the imputation of that perfect righteousness being credited to us. that gives us right standing with you.
We rejoice in these wonderful gospel truths. We thank you for our Savior. And for what he endured. The scorn, the hatred. The mockery.
In order to secure the salvation of his people. Cause us to Desire More fully. This Great day when we will be in your presence forever and ever. and able to love you with an unsinning heart. Hurry the day, dear Lord, we pray.
Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.
