Life of Christ 157
It is Tuesday morning.
Jesus will die on Wednesday afternoon. He and His disciples are spending some
time in the crowded Temple taking on all comers. His enemies did not disappoint
Him. Our story today contains the next in a lengthy series of verbal sparring matches.
The Pharisees had
codified the Torah into 248 specific commandments and 365 prohibitions. These
613 precepts were imposed by them on their followers, along with numerous rules
and sub-rules related to all of these precepts. Needless to say, their religious
system was cumbersome in the extreme. Often, keeping one of these precepts
meant, in practical terms, coming into conflict with a different one. It was
necessary then, in their system, to determine the order of priority of these
613 precepts so that they could be followed correctly. This was the only way to
ensure that the more important of the two conflicting precepts was kept.
The ranking or order of
these 613 precepts became something of a theological Hundred Years War
continuing endlessly amongst rabbinical students and their teachers. One
particular Pharisee, a lawyer, launched this idea at Jesus during a break in
the flow of the conversation. He was, like all the rest, trying to make Jesus
look bad by forcing Him to take a position that might prove unpopular with some
of His supporters.
Mat 22. 34 But when the Pharisees had heard that he had
put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.
35
Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting
him, and saying,
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the
law?
Jesus’ response has
rightly become well known indeed.
37
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38
This is the first and great commandment.
39
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself.
40
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Jesus explains that
contrary to the pharisaic approach there is not a pecking order, per se. Nor
was He saying that the Law only had two commands (as is so popularly and so
awfully believed in American Christianity). He was saying that all the Law is
‘hung’ on the two commandments He mentioned. This implies a connection between
the Law rather than a ranking of separate prescriptions and proscriptions. In
other words, the Law is a living body of connected tissue rather than a stack
of isolated rules. The organism that is the Law is rooted in a belief in a
monotheistic God, a love for Him, and a love for other people.
It is for this reason
that James could say later in his epistle that to break one law was to break
them all. For whosoever shall keep the
whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. (James 2.10)
On the surface such a statement seems completely unreasonable. Yet when we view
the Law as a connected organism violating it brings guilt even if it is only
violated in one area.
For example, let us say
that a nefarious individual comes up to me in a dark alley. He demands my
wallet and threatens me with a knife. When I am too slow to comply he slices my
arm, grabs my money, and runs off. When he is later found and arrested he will
be charged with stabbing me. Yes, he only stabbed me in one place. No, he did
not harm my legs, my stomach, my face, etc. But in slicing my arm he injured me
and thus punishment is appropriately called for.
When we violate just one
area of God’s Law we are guilty of no small misdeed, beloved. We are guilty of
violating the Law, period. It is all connected. The greatest commandment is the
entirety of the Law. It is viewing God’s will for our behavior as a monolith
rather than a stack of Legos. And it is viewing this Law through the prism, or
on the foundation of a belief in God alone combined with a heart love for Him
and for the world around us.
Tov rabah (very good)
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