In the Name of the Father, and of the +
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Lord’s encounter with the Pharisees can be seen as a
summary of the Scriptures and an outline of your salvation recorded in three
parts: The Law, The Gospel, and the application thereof.
First, we have the Law. The Pharisees approach Jesus to test
Him. It is not clear if they are trying to boast that they are able to do what
the Sadducees could not do, that is, trick Jesus into accusing Himself; or if
they see Jesus as the enemy of their enemy and thus a friend at least for a
time. The exact motivation of the Pharisees isn’t important. What we do know is
that they are up to no good. It is the week of the crucifixion and they have
been plotting the death of Jesus for some time. They are not now looking to
make amends with Jesus.
A representative comes forward and asks Jesus which
commandment is greatest. This is not a stupid question. It is important. But we
must also understand the question. He is not asking which commandment is so
important that it renders the other commandments unimportant. He is asking
which commandment is the standard by which all commandments are measured.
Scripture tells us that all sin is worthy of death. All sin
is a transgression of the will of God and thus deserving of the same eternal
punishment. However, God shows particular disdain for certain sins, chiefly
murder, adultery, and idolatry. If we insist that all sins are equal in every
way, it will lead us to hell. It leads to hell because it says that having a lustful
thought is the same as physically sleeping with someone other than your wife.
It leads to hell because it says a harsh word about the guy who cut you off in
traffic is the same as cutting his throat. It leads to hell because whether you
choose to spank your child or beat him doesn’t matter.
Our Lord offers the proper response. “You shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your
mind…and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love is the summary of the
Law. Love God and love your neighbor. Love is an action. It is a verb. It is
something you do. It is not an emotion. How then are we to show our love for
God? What actions are we to take to show love for God? By loving our neighbor.
You love God by loving your neighbor. Your actions toward your neighbor
demonstrate the love you have toward God because your relationship to God
necessarily changes who you are and how you treat others.
The problem is that we don’t keep these laws. We do not keep
the commandments to love God and love neighbor. You do not treat your neighbor
as yourself. The fact that you have money in a bank account says that you do
not love your neighbor as yourself. It means that you are storing some money
for yourself that you have not given to someone that is in need. If you were in
their shoes, you would use the money you currently have stored. Thus, you are
not treating them as yourself. You are treating them as a neighbor.
The Law of God is good and wise. It tells us what God
desires for us. It tells us how to live according to the will of God so that we
might begin to please our heavenly Father. Yet even as much as the Law
instructs the Christian, it will always accuse your conscience. You cannot and
will not ever keep the Law perfectly. You are incapable of perfect love—perfect
love toward God or neighbor. It is for this reason the conversation between
Jesus and the Pharisees must continue.
Our Lord asks the Pharisees concerning the Christ and whose
Son He is. They answer this first question rightly. “He is the Son of David.”
Then Jesus intensifies the question. “How then, by the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, does David call the Christ his Lord? No father, let alone a king, would
call his son, ‘Lord’. That is absurd.”
Jesus is teaching the Pharisees concerning His own divinity.
He is confessing that the Christ is True Man and True God. The Christ, the
Messiah, the Savior must be True God and True Man. He must be the son of David
and the Son of God. He must be these things because He must keep the Law to
love God and love His neighbor perfectly. He must keep these commandments perfectly
so that the Law would be fulfilled in totality.
There is a promise of salvation in the Law. However, this
promise is conditional. For the Law to give you salvation, you must keep it
perfectly, with every breath you take. With man, this is impossible. From the
moment of your conception, you are created in iniquity, bearing the sin of your
fathers. You are born in the image of your fathers, all the way back to Adam.
The Christ, however, bears the image of His Father. He bears the original
righteousness of God Himself. This purity then allows Him to lead a perfect
life, fulfilling the Law in a way that man cannot.
Yet if the Christ were only some demi-god, born of the union
between a divine father and a mortal mother, his death would only save himself.
Your salvation required the death of a True Man because God cannot die. Your
salvation also required the resurrection of the True God because God is life.
The Christ took the Law and the prophets and hung them on a cross. He nailed
your sin to the foot of the cross, making you and all sinners His footstool.
In doing this, He fulfilled the Law of God. There are no
more demands for the salvation of man. Everything necessary for you to sit in
heavenly glory has been accomplished. This is the Gospel. It is a man. It is
God. It is the Christ, fulfilling the Law and dying in your place. It is Jesus,
rising victorious over the grave so that death would no longer have a claim on
your soul.
The Holy Spirit concludes this section of Scripture with a
summary statement. “No one was able to answer Jesus a word, nor from that day
on did anyone dare question Him anymore.” These two statements are an
invitation for you to do what no one was able to do during that first Holy
Week. You are now called by the Holy Spirit to answer Jesus’ question. You are
being called to confess who the Christ is. You are being called to confess whose
Son the Christ is.
We do this every Sunday morning when we confess the Nicene
Creed. Hopefully, you do this every day as you recite the Apostles’ Creed. But
you are also being called to confess the Christ in your life by loving God and
loving your neighbor. You are being called to make the bold confession of your
faith in word and action, every day of your life.
You have been freed from the bondage of the Law because it
has been fulfilled. You are now free to strive to obey the Law because it no
longer carries the punishment of eternal death for those who are in Christ. You
are free to love God and love your neighbor because you have no need to fear the
Law. You can now love the Law as we pray in Psalm 119.
The Holy Spirit is also calling you to dare to question
Jesus. By this, the Holy Spirit is calling you to prayer. What are you praying
for? Are you praying for wisdom? Are you praying for a fervent faith? Are you
praying that God would not let you fall away from the faith? Are you praying
for strength in the face of temptation, that you would never have need to fear
the law of God, so long as you breathe?
You are a Christian. You have the freedom to boldly approach
God’s throne and ask him as dear children ask their dear Father. You have this
freedom because the Son of God took your flesh. The Son of God loved His
Father’s will and loved you as His neighbor such that He would obey the
commandments of God unto death, even death on a cross. Use this freedom to love
the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your
mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Use this freedom to loudly confess
the Christ is the son of David and the Son of God.
In + Jesus’
name. Amen.
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