The Parable of the Beaten Jew: Part 2 - The Greatest Commandment(s)

The context in which Christ identifies the great commandment in Matthew 22:37 is actually very interesting. Christ was in Jerusalem for the last time; He was preparing for the Passover, He was preparing to die. He had just come away from an encounter with a group of Sadducees in which He blasted them on points concerning the resurrection. The Pharisees had caught wind of this, got together and conspired to test Christ, to try to find something to accuse Him with, and confronted Him themselves. And so they posed the question, "Which is the great commandment in the Law?". Christ, fully aware of their schemes, answers by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5, " 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first commandment." So far, Christ has given them nothing to argue with. The question is answered, but Christ does not stop their; He continues by quoting Leviticus 19:18, identifying a second great commandment, "And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Christ has given the Pharisees more than they asked for, in more ways than one. See, the Pharisees knew the answer to the question already, but Christ, by going on to the second great commandment, builds up to a qualifier that stabs at the very heart of the Pharisees. In vs. 40 of Matthew 22, Christ says this, "On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." The term "Law and the Prophets" is a reference to the Hebrew abbreviation "TaNaK" (Torah, Nevi'im, Ketuvim - The Law, The Prophets, The Writings), which was used to denote the entire Old Testament. Now, the Pharisees whole thing was that they were the authority on the OT. What Christ is saying here is that the Pharisees know nothing about the scriptures if they do not grasp the true meaning of the great commandment, which He also points out as being inseparable from the second. And, based on how Christ answered the Pharisees elsewhere and spoke of their conduct toward others (the attempted stoning of the prostitute, the example of the Pharisee and the Publican), I believe we can infer that Christ was, at very least, implying that the Pharisees had no grasp on loving their neighbor; that their actions, their "piety" were nothing as they had no foundation of understanding. The Pharisees' "what" had the wrong "why" behind it. What we also see, more explicitly, is that there is an undeniable connection between loving our neighbor and loving God. Notice their is no mention of loving self.

To be Continued....