“But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 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. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.
On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son, is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,
“The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”? If then David calls him Lord, how is he, his son?”
And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
Arrogance was behind the Pharisees question, “What is the great commandment in the Law?” This question is at the end of a conversation Jesus had been having with the religious leaders. The religious leaders were trying to snare Jesus in His words.
The Pharisees had debated which command was the greatest for centuries, but they could not come up with an answer because picking one would imply that something God commanded was not as important. Or, at least, not as important. And, of course, that could not be true. Every word that comes from the mouth of God matters because He is the One whose voice spoke all things into existence.
And so, they wanted to show up Jesus in a poor light.
However, Jesus spectacularly summarized God’s Law as, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. And love your neighbour as yourself” (Mt. 22:37-39). In these words, Jesus shows that every command of God is important, and everything God requires falls into two categories of either loving God, or loving neighbour. In Paul’s letter to the early church in Rome [13:10], he summarises that the Law, by saying that “Love is the fulfilling of the Law.”
Although the command to love summarises the Law, the word ‘love’ does not replace the Law. For example, committing adultery is not suddenly ok just because you love someone.
Rather, the Law defines how to love your neighbour. The 4th Commandment calls us to honour our parents, which is a sign of love. The 8th Commandment to not bear false witness and to tell the truth is a sign of love. In short in each Commandment, God is telling us, “Here is how you show that you love Me and love your neighbour.”
We show love for God by showing love for our neighbour. In 1 John. 4:20 we read, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”
If we want to demonstrate love for God, we do that by loving our neighbour, according to the commandments and according to your neighbours’ need.
After Jesus summarized the Law, He asks a question for the religious leaders about the Gospel. “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son, is He?” To their credit, the Pharisees knew the scriptures. They knew that in 2 Samuel. 7, that God had promised that the Christ would come through King David’s lineage, and He would reign as King forever.
However, Jesus wanted them further knowledge of the identity of the Christ by asking, “If the Christ is David’s son, how can David also call him, ‘Lord’?” (Psalm. 110:1).
The Pharisees however could not provide an answer. They did not understand that the Christ would be both fully God and fully Man. Jesus was not trying to trick them rather he was calling them to Himself. Sadly, their only response was silent ignorance.
What is the purpose of the Law?
The purpose of the law is multi-layered: The law serves to restrain sin, mirror God's character, and guide believers in their lives. The law establishes moral and ethical boundaries for society, promoting order and justice. The law reveals our sinfulness and the need for grace, while the gospel offers forgiveness and salvation through faith in Christ.
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”