Old Testament Exposition

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
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Today’s Date: March 5, 2006

Old Testament Exposition
by Dan Trygg

"‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ 37 And He said to Him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.’ 41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42 saying, ‘What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?’ They said to Him, ‘The son of David.’ 43 He said to them, ‘How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, 44 ‘"The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet"’? 45 If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?’ 46 And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask Him any more questions." Matthew 22:36-46

When Jesus dealt so easily with the Sadducees’ riddle, the Pharisees could not help but be pleased that their opponents had been publicly humiliated. One of them spoke up, "Teacher, You have spoken well" (Lk. 20:39). Caught up somewhat in astonishment at His answer, one of the scribes asked Him for His understanding of "What is the great commandment?", or as Mark records it, "Which commandment is first of all?" (Mk. 12:28).
Jesus brought their attention to the Shema, the portion of scripture which was often recited by the Jews (Deut. 6:4-9). It was the portion placed upon the doorposts of their houses, and one of the passages placed within the phylactery boxes which were placed on the forehead or left arm of devout Jewish men, who wore them as a reminder to keep the Law. The Shema begins with a strong declaration of the monotheistic nature of God, "Hear, O Israel, Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one." That was the rallying cry and definitive mark of Judaism in the first century. Most other peoples believed in a pantheon of gods. The Jews, however, had become strongly monotheistic, as a result of the revelation from Yahweh through Moses, and their covenant with Him. Unfortunately, too often the focus had come to rest on this theological difference, and not enough emphasis was given to the next verse, which Jesus cited to His hearers in the temple, "You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, [with all your mind, (Mk. 12:30)] and with all your strength."

The word for "love" is agapao, a verb that means to "have preference for" or "esteem highly" or "consider the interests and serve the welfare of" another. It flows primarily from the will, not the feelings, and is therefore expressed in action. To love God with the heart implies with all one’s inner being, …actually from the very center of one’s being. The Hebrews regarded the heart as like an inner fountain from which all of one’s life flowed (Prov. 4:23). The "soul", both in Hebrew and in Greek, referred to one’s inner self, your individual personhood. To love with one’s soul meant to put your entire self into that choice to prefer, honor and seek the benefit and interests of God. The word translated as "mind" in Mark 12:30 means "perception, thought, attitude and purpose", so to prefer God in all your perceptions and thought processes is a very specific and measurable idea. It means to view reality from God’s perspective, and with an attitude of honoring Him in your thinking and attitudes. To love Him with your strength means to apply your ability, might, energy and life force to honoring and serving Him. If our orientation were there, we would soon discover and apply ourselves to everything that honored and pleased God.

After citing the Deuteronomy verses, Jesus added, "This is the great and first commandment. A second is like it, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." The word translated as "like" here means it is of the same or similar nature. How that applies here is that agape love is the focal point again. Love is the essence of this command, just as it had been in the previous one. The object is different, but the verb is the same. There is an important difference, however. In the first commandment, all of our being, orientation and energy are to be directed to honor and esteem God. That is not required of us in regard to our neighbor. No human being should be on the same level as our focus upon God. He is to be the utmost, the highest value to our hearts. There is a bench mark for our love in Jesus’ statement, however. We are called to love our neighbor "as" or "like" we love ourselves. Jesus used a different word for "as" here. It is a word of comparison, but does not carry that connotation of "sameness" that the earlier word did. This is important because we are not all the same, so it would not necessarily be loving to treat others exactly the same as we treat ourselves. Some of what we might like would not be pleasing or beneficial to others. The important point to see is that we are to esteem God with all of our being, and we are to esteem all humans (including ourselves) equally, …to value everyone as we value ourselves. If we truly esteem ourselves and others, and consider and act on what would be for their (and our) genuine welfare, then we will be doing what Jesus describes here. Of course, if we esteem and value God above all else, then our perception of what would be for the benefit and good of ourselves and others will be conditioned by God’s perspective and desire for them. Furthermore, if we would choose to value and prefer others, we will listen or observe to discover what is meaningful or helpful to them. Love will guide us to express our actions of good will in ways that are appropriate to them in their situation. We will be considerate and kind in our expressions of love.

Jesus concluded this commentary on this subject by saying, "On these two commandments are hung the entire Law and the Prophets." Jesus was indicating that everything in the remainder of the OT, both the content of the Law and the preaching of the prophets, can be traced back to these two principles. They are consistent with love for God and love for people. Everything is meant to honor God, and to benefit people (cf. Dt. 6:24).
Mark’s gospel records the response of the scribe who had asked the question. He agreed with Jesus’ answer, even saying that to love God with your whole being was "more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices" (12:33). When Jesus saw that he answered intelligently (lit., "having perception"), He said to the man, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." The scribe was beginning to see that God did not just want outward religious performance. Having the devotion of the heart was more important to God than keeping a multitude of religious rituals. Performing religious practices without truly valuing and esteeming God, and doing His will in other areas of life, was a sham and mockery in God’s eyes (Isa. 1:11-17; Amos 5:21-24). It is hypocrisy. Such behavior is not truly loving God. It is attempting to manipulate Him. It is trying to "buy Him off" with some religious performance, so that He will not punish you for your sin, while continuing to disregard Him and His will by your ongoing rebellion. God is not fooled by such deception. He will not be mocked (Gal. 6:7). He will punish those who do wrong. He will bring their behavior down upon their heads. But, as this scribe was beginning to understand, someone who truly loves and honors God in his or her heart, will eventually want to comply with what is important to the One he or she loves. God will graciously accept such a person. Religious performance was less important to God than the devotion and commitment of the heart. If a person’s heart was truly devoted to Him, their life will come into agreement with His will (I Jn. 2:4,5).

Before this group of Pharisees moved on, Jesus asked them a question, "What do you think about the Messiah, whose son is He?" They replied, "The son of David." Then Jesus asked, "Then why did David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, call Him ‘Lord’?" Jesus went on to quote from the first verse of Psalm 110, where the underlying Hebrew indicates that David said, "Yahweh says to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.’" It is clear that Yahweh is doing the talking. But who is He speaking to? He is addressing David’s Lord or Master. If David wrote the Psalm, and the text says he did, then who was greater than he was? After all, he was the God-appointed king of Israel. In that society, the father was always thought to be greater than the son. The notion that the Messiah, or Christ, would be "the son of David" came from II Samuel 7. There, God had promised that He would raise up a descendant of David to sit upon his throne. God would establish his kingdom forever (vss. 12,13). So, it became popularly understood that the Messiah would be a son of David. This was confirmed by Psalm 132:11, "Yahweh has sworn to David, a truth from which He will not turn back; ‘Of the fruit of your body I will set upon your throne.’" Now Jesus asks, "If David then calls him ‘Lord’, how is He his son?" That was evidently a question they had never thought about, because it left them speechless.

Jesus was trying to push them to think outside the box of their narrowly-defined preconceptions regarding how God would do things. (Good lesson to observe. We can fall into this same trap. Don’t assume you know. Let the Scriptures challenge you. Don’t try to force them to fit what you think.) They did not have a good answer for His question because who could have imagined that God Himself would come to be born as a human being, …to actually be born of a virgin descended from David’s line. Who would have thought that God would actually become "Immanuel" (God with us), in such a literal way? It was incomprehensible, unimaginable. God actually became a man. He actually became a son of David, and, being God in human flesh, was therefore literally David’s Lord and Master, though descended from his loins.

Mark’s account adds the notation that the crowd enjoyed listening to Him. The members of the Sanhedrin, the disciples of the Pharisees, the Herodians, the Sadducees, and the Pharisees had all come to attempt to get Him to stop teaching the crowds, or to manipulate Him into saying something that would anger the crowds, or get Him in trouble with the Romans. Everything they had tried had failed miserably. He had turned each exchange to His advantage. They had succeeded only in increasing His popularity with the multitudes. Consequently, from that day on, no one dared to ask Him another question (Matt. 22:46).