November 15, 2001, Vol.1,
No.10.
Two new articles every two weeks.
Bible Question? E-mail
us.
THIS ISSUE: "The
Ten Commandments, Part 2" (see below)
and "The Ten Commandments,
Part 3"
The Ten Commandments,
Part 2:
The Great Commandments
by Keith Sharp
 -----
Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning
together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him,
'Which is the first commandment of all?' Jesus answered
him, 'The first of all the commandments is: "Hear, O 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.' So the scribe
said to Him, '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, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor
as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.'
Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him,
'You are not far from the kingdom of God.' But after that no
one dared question Him. (Mark 10:28-34)
-----
On Tuesday of the week Jesus was crucified, as the Master
taught in the Temple, various Jewish politico-religious parties
sent representatives to try to entrap Him in His words with difficult
questions that they might find something to use against Him.
After a delegation of Pharisees and Herodians (Politics does
indeed make strange bed fellows) had failed (Matthew 22:15-22),
and a group of Sadducees had been rebuffed (Matthew 22:23-33),
the Pharisees held a pow wow and selected a lawyer to ask him
a difficult question (Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34). Having
failed to entrap the Lord with specific debaters' questions,
they tried a favorite legal trick. Throw out a question general
enough and controversial enough that they would be able to use
something He said as evidence against Him - a legal fishing trip.
The Jews had codified the Mosaic covenant into a precise number
of laws and endlessly debated which were the most important.
They thought to embroil Jesus in their own disputes.
The question: Which is the most important law, the law which
stands above all the rest? One might expect the Master to quote
one of the Ten Commandments. No, He quoted Deuteronomy 6:4-5:
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, and with all your strength.'
Then the Lord went beyond their question:
"'And the second is like it: 'You shall love your
neighbor as yourself.'"
(Matthew 22:39; Leviticus 19:18).
The scribe/lawyer, struck by the wisdom of the Master's reply,
candidly acknowledged Jesus had spoken truly and even gave the
reasons. There is only one God. To love Him with all our beings
will lead us to obey with all our hearts His every command (Deuteronomy
10:12-13; John 14:15; 1 John 5:3). To love our neighbors as ourselves
will cause us to fulfill every command involving our relationship
with our fellow men (Romans 13:8-10; 1 John 3:16-18). The purpose
of the law was to make Israel righteous in God's sight that they
might live (Deuteronomy 6:24-25). Had they fully obeyed that
law, the animal sacrifices of sin the law demanded, which brought
only outward purity (Hebrews 9:13-14; 10:4), would have been
unnecessary. Therefore, these two commandments are both the basis
of the law and superior in importance to all animal sacrifices.
This lawyer's honest reply and correct understanding of the
law rendered him close to being ready to enter the kingdom, where
the true righteousness of God is to be found (Matthew 4:23; 5:20;
Romans 14:17). These principles yet apply under the covenant
of Christ. Above all else we must love God and our neighbors
(Romans 13:8-10; 1 Corinthians 13:13;16:14; Galatians 5:14; Colossians
3:14; 1 Timothy 1:5-6; James 2:8; 1 Peter 4:8; 1 John 2:5; 4:8).
Thus, the law has two primary divisions: love God and love
your neighbor. And the Ten Commandments are divided into these
two categories. The first four commandments regulated the Jews'
relationship with God. Commandments six through ten dealt with
human to human relationships. To keep the first four was to be
godly. To keep the latter six was to be righteous (cf. Romans
1:18).
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