Dear Explorer,
So, Jesus has stumped all the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Herodians, but they keep trying!
Read Matthew 22:34-40
And
Read Mark 12:28-34
What was this Jewish leader's question?
What was Jesus' answer?
God had given Moses the Ten Commandments to summarize all that He was teaching them. Now Jesus summarized the Ten Commandments to just two. What was the first one?
Do you realize that if you love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, that you will not be able to break the first 4 of the Ten Commandments? You will not worship other gods or place anything above God in your loyalties. You will not make idols. You won't misuse God's Name, and you will want to set aside a day for worship and rest.
What did Jesus say was the 2nd greatest commandment from God's Law?
The 2nd command is to love your neighbor as much as you love yourself. This summarizes the last 6 of the Ten Commandments. That means that we won't dishonor our parents (if we love them as much as we love ourselves), we won't murder, we won't take someone else's spouse, we won't steal from them, we won't lie about them, and we won't wish we had what they have been given.
Way back on Day 74 we discussed that God had established His Laws (including the Ten Commandments) for one purpose. Please state that purpose here. (If you don't remember, review Day 74's discussion).
God's Laws were designed to prove to the Jews that they were unable to be perfect and keep every single Law, so that they would realize how much they needed a Messiah, a Savior to rescue them. The Laws were part of the cocoon that would prepare for the arrival of Jesus.
Do I really love others - everyone – no exceptions – as much as I love myself? The only way I can do that is with God's help. I can't humanly be that good! Only with the Holy Spirit's help and guidance and encouragement, can I love the way Jesus loved, care the way Jesus cared, and accept the way Jesus accepts.
It's fairly easy to love lovely people. It's much harder to love someone who is not lovely or is not loving to us. Jesus' calls us to walk supernaturally – filled with Him and His love.
I challenge you to examine your own life and see if it is filled with love to ALL those around you, starting with parents, spouse, siblings, close friends and moving out to strangers and outcasts and dirty and sinful and hateful people.
The only way you can follow these 2 commandments is to have a Messiah!
Notice what Jesus says to this teacher of the Law in Mark 12:34. Why did He say this?
I think Jesus said this to encourage him to keep searching the Scriptures for the truth about the Messiah. He wanted him to know he was on the right track by searching the Scripture.
In His service, dale
Next study