The Great Commandment

He was kinda troubling at first. But, people started really listening and then Jesus became pretty annoying. Now, Jesus is saying things about you and your friends that are awful. He is also starting to really ruin how you are living

He needs to be stopped

Look at what Jesus has done:

He embarrassed them

He told them that they were unsaved and going to hell:

He shows up in the temple, ruins their business

He starts telling them these parables—

That teach the people they look down on are actually finding God while these Pharisees miss it

That teach how they are guilty of sinning against God and He won’t let them into His Kingdom

That teach how the Pharisees are not chosen for God’s Kingdom

They don’t just want him to stop talking now. They want him dead. They want to trap Him and kill him.

But they couldn’t just walk up and stab him. Not yet. So, they decided to make him look bad.

If Jesus looked like he was starting a riot or a rebellion then the Romans would kill him. So they ask him a real stumpper:

Didn’t work.

If they could make him look like a theological idiot, then the people would stop listening to Him. If people weren’t listening then they could kill him without anyone caring:

Didn’t work.

Astonished, shut-up, amazed— That’s what happened. They need a new plan.

Here is our story

So t

34- Jesus gagged them. He forced them to be quiet

35- This expert is a step above the normal guy. They send in somebody pretty smart. And I think he wants to go. He is sharp and he has a really decent question, he thinks.

Jewish people had laws and some crazy numbers

613 laws for 613 letters

613 law

365 negative laws- Days per year

248 positive laws- parts of the boy

I don’t know why they broke it up— but they had a system. And this guy was an expert in that system. Now, he wants to trap Jesus with all of this.

36- So, which one is it?

37- Without hesitation, Jesus gives him the most basic answer: Love God

From - The Shema. The most popular Jewish thing. The most familiar scripture. They would know this sooo well.

Think about it for a second: they are trying to get Jesus to say something new and different from the law. So, they ask Him the hardest thing they can think and He gives them the most basic, familiar answer: Love God

Heart of Religion

Shema

This is a big deal to give this answer because this was the to them. Except more.

Moses said they should memorize it and write it on their doors.

They should keep it on their minds all the time.

They would write it in a box and keep it on their heads and shoulders and doors to their houses. They would recite it all the time.

This word “shema” meant “to listen”. But, a very rich word.

as hearing, pay attention, understanding, acknowledging, listening, or a hear and also respond

**Kids need to listen— hear, act rightly** (listening the right way is actually obeying)

They want catch Jesus saying something wrong and he hands them the beating heart of what it truly means to have a relationship with God

Jesus is not hear to explain something different than what Moses said- Jesus is not ruining the OT, breaking the Law, forgetting what happened.

Jesus is clarifying, explaining, showing why God has given all of these things.

So everyone in the crowd, all these pharisees have been saying for their entire life: “Shema Israel...” or “hear Israel” or “listen and obey Israel” every time they prayed that prayer for their whole life

Jesus points and says “you haven’t been listening, you’ve been faking it”

I bet that Jesus will point to a lot of people and say “you haven’t been believing it, you’ve been faking it”

People don’t have the real faith because they are playing with something different. They don’t have that real love Jesus says to have.

Love

The Word for love here is a big word: the main use of the word.

The love that is a will, the mind of love, the love of action

Love that is dedicated, will work, will sacrifice, will make changes or even die— not just a feeling.

The command is not “feel close to the lord your God” or “have an emotional experience with the Lord your God”. God is not commanding you “be nice and polite to the Lord your God” or even “be absolutely passionate about the Lord your God when you feel like it”

This is a love that that says “be committed to the Lord your God”, “Do what is right for the Lord your God”

That’s why there are so many descriptors— Your heart, Your soul, your mind, (your strength)

These are not just parts of you, they are way that you love, ways that you shema (or listen)

These overlap each other and point to everything about you

Everything about you and how you live- love God and love others

Every problem in the bible: Not loving God or not loving people

Every solution: Love God, love people

GET THIS

Everything about you finds its full purpose in loving God

Everything you are supposed to be doing is summarized: love God

Everything that the Bible has said so far comes down to this: love God

Everything is about loving God. The love should be absolutely powerful and life-changing, to REALLY LOVE GOD. ---- This is what God is asking of you and of me. This is what Jesus calls the most important, most over arching, above, total, greatest thing: Love God

But we don’t usually say that. If I was to ask you before this sermon, what does it mean to be a Christian you might say “to believe in God” or “to believe in Jesus as your Savior”

Those are important and necessary, but they are not the full truth.

You must not only believe a fact, you must love God

God wants more than just your belief

God said: this is what is most important: that you love me! With a perfect love! With a love that is bigger and better than anything else! With a love that takes every single part of you at 100% to live it out

You won’t ever have a perfect love, or a perfect life, or a perfect faith. You will mess up and you will do the wrong thing--- but you’ll hate it. And you’ll wish you did differently.

Fakes

Not these people though, they didn’t regret their sin

Jesus tells us what is going on with the people that hear what they are supposed to do so often, memorize it, follow along with the normal routines— but don’t really do the basic thing that God wants from them

,, , , , , , - Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

Seek t

- Woe

Hypocrite is someone who looks one way on the outside but is different on the inside

Today’s fakes

Today, in the church of America I am heartbroken about the amount of hypocrites and fakes

Today, in Keokuk, I am broken hearted about how people show up to church to play their part and then go home and keep faking it

Today, in this youth group- I am fearful that some of you are hypocrites, some of you are fakes.

Some of you know how easy it is to “just believe” or act a certain way around me- but guess what? I won’t be in charge of your reputation on judgment day.

Some of you think that believing in Jesus means you don’t believe in evolution or gay marriage or sleeping around or just not arguing about it

Some of you need to REALLY listen, REALLY believe, and REALLY love God

The kind of listening and believing and loving that makes you change everything

The Two Options

Notes

The Jews wanted to kill him, couldn’t because of social/law inhibitors

When Jesus dies, comes back to life, appears to his followers he says “if you love me you will keep my commandments”

But they could try to discredit him.

If the inside love is there, the outside obedience will be there

Launching point for applicability?

Jews approach: make him say something against moses, then people will abandon him.

His answer is FROM moses

Love- Ah

It has always been this way: love me and obey, love me and follow my statutes, love me and keep my commands— THATS WHAT A CHRISTIAN IS

“silence” to gag

- Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the LORD our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

“We love because he first loved us”

You are to Really love God. That is the command

Turn that around “He first loves us so we love him.” That is WHO we are- People who love God

All parts of the verse echo a perfect sense of self

And then the other option is people who love themselves— that is the world

Not a ritual, fake

So, we either love God and that shows itself in obedience to Him or we hate God and that shows itself in disobedience

He wants a full love, like He gave a full love for us

In Mark tells the same story and he gives some extra detail.

He want’s more than just believing

When this expert in the law hears Jesus’ answer and agrees with Him, Jesus says ‘you are not far from the kingdom of God”

You’re almost there, you believe it. Now you have to love me. You have to actually make this the most important thing to you.

The question this leaves us with is “Do we love God?”

Do we REALLY love God?

An actual love that shapes how we act, that shows what is on the inside?

Or have we bought the idea that we can just be close, just believe it, just look a certain way on the outside?

You can believe, and that’s the first step. But now, Jesus invites us all to love God by living a life of obedience.

Does your love of God push you to obey Him?

Love God, Love others: is that your motto? Do your actions reflect Jesus’ heart??

Just believing doesn’t save you

demons believe, people have faith and then walk away, judas believed

A person becomes a Christian when they have a consuming love for God

Not sinless, but love— Paul in says he has this sin in his life, even though he loves God and loves what is right, he sometimes fails to do it.

Related Media

Related Sermons