"All of the Above" 8-13-23

Overview

The Commandments Are Not Multiple Choice

When a lawyer tested Jesus by asking which of the more than 600 commandments in the Jewish law was greatest Matthew 22:34-40, he was tapping into a familiar debate. Some rabbis championed the laws of sacrifice; others elevated circumcision, Sabbath-keeping, or the dietary codes. The temptation was always the same: pick a "greatest" command and let the rest slide. Jesus refuses the trap. Drawing from the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, He answers, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind"—and then immediately binds a second to it: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." On these two, He says, hang all the Law and the Prophets.

To love God with all the heart is to fix our affections supremely on Him; with all the soul, to devote our whole life and energy to Him; with all the mind, to honor His law above the verdicts of our own thinking. Luther's explanation of the First Commandment captures it: we are to fear, love, and trust God above all things. Every other commandment flows from this one as a "so that"—I fear, love, and trust God so that I will not harm my neighbor but help him in every bodily need; so that I will honor those in authority; so that I will guard my neighbor's reputation and possessions. The commandments are not a buffet. As James 2:10 reminds us, whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.

Honest reflection exposes us. We are often more repulsed by our neighbor than drawn to love him, and our prayers can quietly turn into requests that God change them rather than us—placing ourselves on God's side against the very people He has called us to love. Jesus calls that hypocrisy. And yet here is the gospel: God does not deal with us as we are tempted to deal with one another. "He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities… as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us" Psalm 103:10-12. Christ bore every sin—the murderous thoughts, the indifference, the self-exaltation—on the cross, rose victorious, and emptied the tomb of our guilt.

We love because He first loved us. In Baptism He washes, forgives, and seals us with His Holy Spirit; His active love meets our passive receiving, and then His Spirit moves us outward to actively love our neighbor. Which commandments are we called to keep? Not one or two of our choosing—all of them, and all of them rooted in the love of the God who has already chosen us. Rest in that love this week, and let it overflow toward the neighbor God has placed beside you.

Transcript

If you would please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew, the 22nd chapter, if you're 3s

using a Pue edition of the Bible, it is on page 22 of the New Testament. 10s

Okay, we're going to start with a quiz. 18s

All right, multiple choice. 22s

In the Bible, it says that before there was anything, there was who or what? 24s

A, winter, B, Joseph, C, God, or D, pop-tarts. 31s

What's your answer? 43s

C, excellent. 45s

Excellent. 46s

You chose well. 47s

Okay, second question. 48s

Luther, Martin Luther, posting the 95theese spark to the A, Neolithic Revolution. 51s

B, the Protestant Reformation. 59s

C, the Crusades, or D, the End of Religious Warfare. 63s

B, the Protestant Reformation. 70s

You all are very smart. 72s

I am very, very impressed. 73s

Okay, last question. 75s

We are currently in A, living word Lutheran Church. 77s

B, grapevine. 84s

C, Texas, or D, all of the above. 87s

D, all of the above. 94s

You all pass. 96s

This is an excellent, excellent start. 98s

The whole thing with multiple choice questions, there is a bumper sticker. 101s

That is really fantastic that we get to study together today. 106s

The bumper sticker says that the 10 commandments are not multiple choice. 112s

The 10 commandments are not multiple choice. 120s

Our text for today really, the leaders of the Church of the day, 125s

they're coming to Jesus with a lot of multiple choice questions. 131s

So let's go ahead and begin jumping right in in verse 34 of chapter 22 in Matthew. 135s

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the sadgesties, they gathered together. 141s

Now this is really incredible. 146s

The Pharisees in the Sadgesties were in constant debate and argument. 148s

They did not like each other. 152s

They did not agree with one another. 154s

But here we see that Jesus has silenced the sadgesties. 156s

And so the Pharisees and the sadgesties are now gathering together so that they can test Jesus together. 160s

So they're joining up to present questions to Jesus. 169s

So they gather together and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 174s

Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest. 181s

There's that multiple question that multiple choice question that is presented to Jesus. 187s

Because there are over 600 laws in the Jewish law. 195s

Over 600. 203s

And so he's getting set up with a multiple choice question of which one is the greatest. 204s

Now this is a really common question amongst the Jews. 211s

This is a common argument because there was there were some who believed that the law of sacrifices was the greatest. 215s

Because the law of sacrifice was the expiation for sin. 225s

It was also the thanks giving the sacrifices of thanks giving. 229s

So so this was the most important law for some of the Jews. 234s

Another one was the law of circumcision because that was the sign of the covenant between God and his people. 239s

So surely the argument was made that that was the most or greatest. 247s

Most important or greatest law. 253s

Also others argued that the law of the Sabbath was the most important or that the law of meats and cleanliness and keeping. 256s

Keeping pure that those were the most important laws. 266s

The leaders would pick and choose between the 600 plus laws. 271s

And sometimes they would say that because we're following this law and it's more important than these ones don't really count as much. 279s

So if you follow this law, these ones you can slide on. 288s

So they were living and working off of a multiple choice for themselves. 292s

Multiple choice. 303s

Which is the greatest. 306s

You shall have no other gods. 309s

You shall not take the Lord's name in vain. 311s

You shall remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 315s

Honor your father and your mother. 320s

You shall not kill. 323s

You shall not commit adultery. 325s

You shall not steal. 328s

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 330s

You shall not covet your neighbor's house. 333s

You shall not covet your neighbor's wife for his man's servant or his maid's servant or his cattle or anything that is your. 336s

Your neighbor's. 344s

Which is the greatest. 347s

Which of these is right. 351s

Jesus answers that question. 357s

Beginning in verse 37. 359s

He said to them, you shall love the Lord your god with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 362s

This is the greatest and first commandment. 371s

This is taken directly out of due to honor me, the sixth chapter where the Jewish people would proclaim this that they were to love the Lord their god with all their heart, their mind and their soul. 377s

To love with all the heart. 391s

That is to fix the affections to fix all thoughts supremely on on on god. 393s

More than anything else we see this in the explanation of the ten commandments that Martin Luther gives us. 403s

He says that we are to fear, love and trust God more than anything else. 409s

More than anything else. 416s

To love with all the soul is willingness to devote your entire life to the Lord. 421s

Willing to devote all of your energies to the Lord and to love with all your mind is to love his law more than we do the decisions of our own minds. 433s

That's hard. 450s

That's really hard to love the Lord with all your mind, your heart, your soul. 453s

It's really, really hard to do, but Jesus doesn't leave it there with as difficult a job as that is. 464s

He doesn't leave it there. 475s

He continues in verse 39 and a second is like it. 477s

You shall love your neighbor as your self. 483s

Seriously. 489s

Seriously, I have to love my neighbor as myself. 492s

First I'm supposed to devote my whole life to the Lord and then I have to love my neighbor as much as I love myself. 495s

We have to actively work to try to put up with our neighbor. 506s

And now I'm told that I have to actively work to love my neighbor as much as I actively work to love myself. 513s

We are more likely to be repulsed by our neighbor than we are to be loving toward him or her or want to be. 523s

We are loving toward him or her. 535s

So which of the commands am I going to choose to follow today because to follow them all considering my neighbor? 537s

It's not going to happen. 547s

It's just not going to happen. 549s

So if I don't murder him, I'll go ahead and just gossip about her. 551s

If I don't go to church, then I'll go ahead and not use the Lord's name and vein. 563s

And we try to pick and we try to choose between which one of the commands is going to suit me today. 572s

Which one can I bear with doing today? 580s

There's a lot, a lot that we have to do. 588s

Surely we can pick and choose according to our mood according to what the other has done according to what I can put up with today. 595s

James in the second chapter says whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. 613s

We don't get to pick and choose which command we're going to follow depending upon how I'm feeling today. 625s

I don't get to pick and choose how I'm going to follow the commands according to how my neighbor has treated me today. 636s

And so we come to the table, we come to prayer to the Lord knowing that we need to love our neighbor and so we pray. 651s

We pray as good Christian people Lord change my neighbor change my terrible awful stinking neighbor and align him with us Lord and we place ourselves on the same side as the Lord with the Lord against our neighbor. 661s

I'm going to quote Jesus here when he said you hypocrite. 684s

You hypocrite. We put ourselves on the same side and we expect that Jesus is going to feel the same about our neighbor as we do in that very moment. 690s

But we have a neighbor who is also praying Lord change my neighbor. 709s

Are the commandments multiple choice? Do we get to pick and choose? 724s

Because the commandments are the whole of God's law. 736s

Does Jesus look at us and pick and choose which sins he feels like forgiving today? 743s

Does Jesus deal with us the same way that we so want to deal with our neighbor? 758s

In Psalm 103, we read, he does not deal with us according to our sins. 770s

Nor repay us according to our inequities. 782s

For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him. 786s

As far as the east is from the west so far he removes our transgressions from us. 793s

In his mercy, Jesus does not deal with us in the same way that we want to deal with others. 804s

Instead in his mercy, Jesus deals with us with complete grace and forgiveness. 816s

Bearing all of our sin upon himself upon the cross. 825s

Every sin when we want to murder our neighbor in our head, every sin when we want to just walk by, not caring for our neighbor. 831s

Every sin when we want to put myself above loving my neighbor, put myself above loving the Lord. 842s

Jesus takes all of that, all of our sin upon himself and he dies. 858s

He dies paying the price for the sins of us, for the sins of our neighbor, for the sins of all people in all time and all places. 868s

And he atoned for those sins. 886s

He was the sacrifice that was accepted. 891s

He rose victorious over our sins and the grave is empty. 896s

Our sins are no longer in the tomb because they have been answered for. 904s

There is nothing that we brought to the Lord that made him actively love us. 915s

But out of his own mercy and grace, he actively calls us to be his own. 933s

He actively washes us in the waters of baptism, forgiving our sins, sealing us in his holy spirit. 944s

And we just receive it. 957s

An active love of the Lord, a passive receiving from us. 962s

And he actively fills us with his own holy spirit, which then gives us the strength and the promptings to actively go and love our neighbor. 969s

We can't love our neighbor as our own. 985s

We can't pick which commands to follow because left to our own devices we would pick none of them. 989s

And the beauty of this is that all of the active command to love our neighbors, all of that flows out of the very first command. 1000s

That we shall have no other gods, but even that flows out of the declaration of the Jewish people, the Shema that they speak. 1013s

It's out of Deuteronomy chapter six verse four where it says, 1026s

Here O Israel, the Lord is our god, the Lord alone. 1030s

Loving God is the first thing and we love God because He loved us. 1036s

And we respond and we are filled with His holy spirit and we then move out into the world. 1044s

We are to fear and love and trust God above anything else. 1053s

And each commandment that flows out of that is a so that. 1064s

I fear and love and trust God so that I will not harm my neighbor, but I will love Him. 1073s

I will protect Him. I will help Him in all His needs. 1082s

I fear and love and trust God so that I will honor my father and my mother and respect all in authority. 1090s

I fear and love and trust God so that do you see how everything flows everything is hinged upon the fact that God is God. 1101s

God is our God and God has called us to be His own. 1117s

Loving God is the most important thing. 1128s

And out of that the second flows. 1133s

Loving God means that you also love God's people. 1137s

Jesus finished up in verse 40 saying, on these two commandments, 1144s

hang all the law and the prophets. 1149s

All of God's word. All of God's word draws us right back to Himself. 1155s

Loving Him because we are loved by Him. 1164s

Loving our neighbor because we love Him. 1167s

Which commandments? 1174s

Which commandments are we called to follow? 1178s

A, the first, B, keeping the Sabbath, C, none of them. 1186s

Or D, all of the above. 1201s

You have to answer. 1207s

D, all of the above. All of the above. My brothers and sisters, the Lord loves you. 1209s

He does not pick and choose between your sins. He has forgiven every single one of your sins. 1216s

He loves you with a love that is free and pure and never ending. 1221s

It is this love with which He fills us to go and share His love with our neighbor, 1227s

rejoicing that all can hear the good news that they too are loved by Christ. 1237s