In Matthew 22:46 we’re told that ‘from that day on, no one dared to ask [Jesus] any more questions’. So what did Jesus say that so terrified his listeners? It must have been how he answered the last question asked him, which was ‘which is the greatest commandment?’ (Matt 22:36).
The reason the lawyer asked Jesus this question is because he knew on the one hand that rules are necessary. A society that fails to uphold the rule of law ceases to function as a society and descends into chaos. Yet he also knew that following all the rules all the time is quite crushing. So this lawyer was asking Jesus if he could whittle the 613 laws in the OT Law down a little, or at least tell him which are the most important ones, so we can just focus on them.
Yet instead of lightening the load, Jesus adds to it by saying ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ (v. 39). What this means is we are to look out for the needs of others with all the creativity, energy, urgency and resources (e.g. money) that we look out for our own needs. This is even more crushing that 613 laws, which is why people were too terrified to ask him anything else.
Yet Jesus gives his listeners a way to achieve this enormous feat, which is by loving God with all our heart, soul and mind (v. 37). Notice he doesn’t say ‘strength’ here; he is referring to love as an emotion. To develop a deep love for God comes from recognising he gives us all the love, acceptance, salvation and blessing we’ll ever need. The person who already has everything they need no longer has to ‘love their neighbour’ to get something (i.e. love, acceptance, salvation, blessing), we can ‘love our neighbour’ to give. Such selfless service brings healing and health into our lives. So may we love God and love our neighbour as ourselves, for all the law and the prophets hang on them.
