A Lamp Unto My Feet Bible Study Website
Matthew 22:34-46
Lesson #55
THE MESSIAH’S GREATEST COMMANDMENT
- Memory verse: John 6:69
- Read Mat 22:34-40 The fourth test question
- The question by the expert in the law:
- “What commandment in the Law is the greatest?”
- The scribe did not ask the question to trap Jesus but Mark indicates he was grateful that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees. (Mar 12:28-34)
- Why do you think this was an important question?
- The scribes and Pharisees were very intent on keeping the letter of the Law.
- Probably they each had their own opinions as to which of the Ten Commandments was the most important.
- The question is important because Jesus’ answer tells us the nature of true religion.
- Religion consists of loving God.
- Jesus quotes Deu 6:5. Every Jewish service opened with this verse and still does today.
- Man adds a lot of extra things to religion so that eventually he sees the tradition and forgets this basic truth.
- How do we love God?
- To love God we must make a total life commitment with a love that dominates our emotions and directs our thoughts and actions.
- Religion consists of loving others.
- Jesus quotes Lev 19:18.
- Notice that a love for God must come first before we can love other people.
- Because man is made in the image of God, he becomes lovable.
- Because Christians have God in their hearts, man is able to love that image of God in other people.
- Notice that true religion is not a choice between these two commandments.
- Religion consists of loving God.
- The question by the expert in the law:
You cannot do one without doing the other.
Does Jesus mean that all the other commandments are not important? No.
Loving God and loving other people covers all the other commandments.
Remember that the Ten Commandments are divided into two groups.
The first four commandments deal with man’s relationship to God. If you love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, you will not break the first four commandments.
The last six commandments deal with man’s relationship to man. If you love others with God’s love, you will not break the last six commandments.
-
-
-
-
- In the Old Testament, they had the 10 Commandments as exterior rules and regulations to keep. They had to keep those rules with their own strength.
- In the New Testament, Jesus gives us two principles, not 2 rules.
-
-
-
We do not have to keep these two principles with our own strength.
We have the Holy Spirit within us to guide us in how we are to love God and love others not just in exterior rules but in the heart.
- Read Mat 22:41-46 Jesus’ difficult question
- “What do you think of Christ? Whose son is He?”
- Jesus’ question was not a personal question that referred to himself but a doctrinal question of what they thought about the Messiah. Remember that they did not acknowledge that He was the Messiah.
- The immediate response of the religious leaders: The messiah is David’s son.
- Background:
- The name, son of David, was the most popular name for the Messiah.
- Behind the name was the expectation that the Messiah would come as a great prince in the lineage of David to destroy all Israel’s enemies and lead Israel to complete victory.
- The Messiah was thought of in nationalistic, militaristic, and political terms. We have seen Jesus constantly attempt to alter that perception.
- Jesus’ lesson from a well-known Messianic text in Psa 110:1:
- “The LORD (Jehovah) said to my Lord (Adonai), sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.”
- The Jewish leaders knew that this passage referred to the Messiah.
- The first “LORD” in the verse is “Jehovah” and refers to God, the Father, who invites his Son,
- “What do you think of Christ? Whose son is He?”
Jesus Christ, the second “Lord” in the verse, to sit at his right hand until the second coming of Christ.
-
-
-
- The word “Adonai” is used for the Messiah here and is also a name for God, the Father. It means sovereign, master.
- Therefore, David in the Old Testament called the Messiah “Lord” (“my Lord”), a name used for God.
- Jesus asks the religious leaders, “If the Messiah is David’s son, how could David call him Lord?”
-
- The religious leaders could not answer him.
- The significance of Jesus’ lesson:
- It is not enough to call the Messiah the son of David and think of Him only as a human descendant of David.
- Even David knew that the Messiah was God.
- Why was this a difficult question for them to answer?
- They would have to change their ancient perception of who the Messiah would be and what He would come to do.
- The Pharisees were traditionalists, who do not easily change their thinking when it means giving up old traditions.
- The religious leaders did not understand all that Jesus meant, but they were uncomfortable because they felt the presence of God with them. They were awed.
- The significance of Jesus’ lesson:
- In the next chapter we will see an extensive and sustained anger by Jesus against the scribes and Pharisees.
- Background on the scribes and Pharisees:
- All Jewish religion was based first on the Ten Commandments, then on the Pentateuch, the Law.
- When the Jews returned to Israel after the Babylonian captivity they committed themselves to becoming a people of the Law nationally. (Neh 8:1-8)
- From that day, the study of the Law became the greatest profession and was accomplished by the scribes.
- The first dedication to the Law was about 450 BC but the Pharisees (separated ones) as a religious group did not emerge until 175 BC.
- The Jewish Talmud says there were seven kinds of Pharisees:
- =1 The shoulder Pharisee
- Background on the scribes and Pharisees:
-
He kept the Law exactly and wore his good deeds on his shoulder.
His motive was a reputation of purity.
-
-
-
-
- =2= The wait-a-little Pharisee
-
-
-
He professed the Law but his practice lagged behind his profession.
He could always produce a valid reason for not doing a good deed.
-
-
-
-
- =3= The bruised or bleeding Pharisee
-
-
-
No strict orthodox Pharisee would be seen talking to a woman in public even if it was his own wife.
These Pharisees went to a greater extent.
They closed their eyes so that they would not look at a woman in public. As a result, they bumped into objects and bruised themselves. That gained them a reputation for piety.
-
-
-
-
- =4= The pestle and mortar Pharisee or the hump-backed Pharisee or the tumbling Pharisee
-
-
-
These were the humble Pharisees.
They bent over when they walked and shuffled their feet.
-
-
-
-
- =5= The ever-reckoning Pharisee or the compounding Pharisee
-
-
-
They always counted up their good deeds.
They believed that every good deed put God further in their debt.
-
-
-
-
- =6= The timid or fearing Pharisee
-
-
-
He was always in dread of divine punishment.
Therefore he continually did the cleansing rituals so that he might appear to be good.
-
-
-
-
- =7= The God-fearing Pharisee
-
-
-
He was the one who truly loved God and found delight in obedience to the Law of God.
Homework
Matthew 23:1-15
- Application of Mat 22:34-46
- How are you doing in keeping the two most important commandments–loving God and loving others?
- How can you improve?
- Many times we see the nature of true religion expressed in the Bible. Sometimes we have to give up our old ideas of tradition to worship God the way He desires. What old traditions have you given up?
- What new ideas have taken their place?
- Preparation for Mat 23:1-15
- Read Mat 23:1-15
- Make the following chart:
| Scripture
In Mat 23: |
The practice of the Pharisees: | What should they have done: |
| Vs. 2-3 | Telling people what the Law said but not living it. | They should have first lived according to the Law and then taught it. |
- Memory verse: Mat 23:12
