The Messiah's Two Core Value's
Text: Matt. 22:34-40
Introduction
1. Illustration: Here are some questions you can ask to zero in on your core values.
a. If I knew that tomorrow would be the last full day of my life, how would I spend the day?
b. At the end of my life, what do I want to look back and say I’ve accomplished?
c. If a list of adjectives were compiled to describe my life, what words would I like on that list?
d. If I were to die tomorrow, what would I want people to remember as my most important achievement?
e. Am I investing myself in those things that matter to me?
f. Is there any person or cause I would be willing to die for?
g. What is vitally important to me, what has some importance, and what is a complete waste to me?
h. If I were to write a letter to my children about what was most important in my life, what would I tell them?
i. If only a single word could be written on my tombstone, what would that word be?
2. According to Jesus, there are only two core values that really matter...
a. Love God
b. Love People
3. Let's stand as we read Matt. 22:34-40.
Proposition: When we stand before God on two things about us will matter: did we love God and did we love people.
Transition: Jesus said our first core value should be to...
I. Core Value # 1: Love God (34-37).
A. You Must Love the Lord
1. Well one thing you got to say about the Pharisees, they may be a bunch of Bozo's but at least they are a persistent bunch of Bozo's.
a. They had tried numerous times to try and trick Jesus into saying something they could use to arrest him.
b. Then they watched their enemies the Sadducees try and fail miserably.
c. But they were not about to let things rest and they decide to go after Jesus one more time.
2. However, this time they take a different approach. Matthew tells us, "But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again."
a. When Jesus answered the absurd question about the seven brothers by showing that even Moses taught the resurrection, He had put the Sadducees to silence.
b. The verb translated "silenced" literally means to muzzle, to forcefully restrict the opening of the mouth.
c. The Sadducees were verbally incapacitated by the Lord, rendered utterly speechless.
d. The Pharisees doubtlessly had mixed feelings when they heard the news.
e. They must have been pleased that the Sadducees had been proved wrong about Moses not teaching resurrection.
f. But that feeling was far outweighed by a sense of dismay and frustration at still another failure to discredit their common enemy, Jesus (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 16-23).
g. Yet they couldn't just quit. They had to do something about Jesus.
h. So they devise a better plan.
3. We are told "One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question..."
a. After seeing how Jesus had easily handled the Sadducees the Pharisees were not going to send a novice.
b. Instead they chose a lawyer, not in the modern sense of defending someone in trouble with authorities, but in the sense of an expert in the Law of Moses.
c. He was probably the most learned and astute expert on scriptural and rabbinical law in their ranks, and if anyone would be a match for Jesus, they thought, this man would be (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 16-23).
4. So this lawyer asks Jesus this question, “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”
a. Some Pharisees ask a question they had probably practiced before, since their own teachers debated among themselves which commandment was the greatest.
b. Although all commandments were equally weighty in one sense, rabbis had to distinguish between "light" and "heavy" commandments in practice (Keener, 329).
c. Judaism taught that there were 613 commandments in the Law, one for each of the letters in the Ten Commandments.
d. These 613 commandments consisted of 248 positive commands and 365 negative commands.
e. They were divided into major and minor commands, or more and less important (Horton, 485).
f. Although the scribes and Pharisees considered the whole Old Testament to be authoritative, and not just the five books of Moses as did the Sadducees, they nevertheless considered Moses to be the supreme human figure in Scripture.
g. Moses had spoken with God face to face, was the humblest man on earth, and had taken the engraved tablets of the law directly from the hand of God, as it were.
h. He was also the great deliverer whom God called to lead Israel out of Egypt to the Promised Land.
i. In their eyes there was no one greater than Moses.
j. The Pharisees were convinced that He must be teaching a message He considered to be greater than that of Moses.
k. They now hoped Jesus would contradict Moses, and therefore, contradict God and be guilty of heresy.
l. Their purpose was to expose Him as a heretic, and as a result turn the people against Him (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 16-23).
5. As usual, however, Jesus was equal to the task. He replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’"
a. The command, You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind, was part of the Shema (Hebrew for "Hear"), so named because it began with, "Hear, O Israel!"
b. Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (NLT)
4 “Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.
5 And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
c. The Shema by far the most familiar, most quoted, and most copied Scripture passages in Judaism.
d. In Jesus' day, every faithful Jew recited the Shema twice a day (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 16-23).
e. The verb translated "you must love" is in the future tense but is used as an imperative or a command - it's not optional!
f. The terms heart, soul, and mind are overlapping categories, requiring love from the whole person (Rogers and Rogers, 50).
g. God desires all of us, not just what we possess. God loves us with His whole being and we are to return that same kind of love back to Him.
h. The word "all" speaks of total submission and dedication; it excludes any half-heartedness.
i. The heart is the seat of the emotions, the soul is the center of the personality, and the mind is the place of reason (Horton, 485).
j. The Shema first points to God and affirms His unity and uniqueness.
k. As Lord He is the God who is the covenant keeper and who has revealed himself in great deliverance.
l. He has demonstrated his love and care, and therefore, deserves the believers love.
m. He has given everything to us and now we must offer our entire selves to Him.
6. Jesus says unequivocally, "This is the first and greatest commandment."
a. There is nothing that is more important than this.
b. There is nothing that rivals this.
c. It is our greatest core value.
B. Our Number One Priority
1. Illustration: These are Bill Bright’s words to us: "My life’s message is be a slave of Jesus. And all that involves. Love your master, trust your master, and obey your master. Obviously, I’m a son of God, heir of God, joint-heir with Christ, and if He was described as a slave - Paul and Peter and the other apostles were slaves - this to me is the highest privilege any one could know. I evaluate everything I do in light of what He wants me to do. I try to relate every move, every day, in light of how I can help fulfill His great commission and fulfill His commandments."
2. Our number one priority is to love God above all else.
a. Deuteronomy 10:12 (NLT)
“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the LORD your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul."
b. 25% of ourselves will not do it.
c. 50% of ourselves won't do it.
d. There is only one percentage of our lives dedicated to the Lord that is good enough and that is 100%!
e. When it is convenient for us is certainly not good enough.
f. If Jesus isn't Lord of all than He isn't Lord at all.
3. The best way to show this is the priority in our lives is to keep His commandments.
a. John 14:15 (NLT)
“If you love me, obey my commandments.
b. You cannot say you love the Lord and not do what He says.
c. You cannot love the Lord and be unwilling to change.
d. Loving the Lord requires commitment.
e. Loving the Lord requires sacrifice.
f. Loving the Lord means put Him first in you life.
4. Above all, you cannot love God and love the world.
a. 1 John 2:15 (NLT)
Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.
b. The Lord is a jealous God and will not except second place to anyone or anything.
c. He will not accept equal billing with the things of this world.
d. It is impossible to love God and love the things in this world because they are in conflict with each other.
e. He said, "I am the Lord your God and I will have no other god's before me!"
Transition: Jesus second core value is to...
II. Core Value #2: Love People (39-40).
A. Love Your Neighbor
1. Although the lawyer only asked Jesus for one command as the greatest, in Jesus' mind the first and second go hand in hand.
2. He continues saying, "'A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’"
a. Although the lawyer on asked for on command Jesus added a second in order to make a connection between the two that is often overlooked.
b. A persons neighbor is anyone with whom we come in contact.
c. Judaism limited the neighbor to the fellow Jew, even though in the same chapter, Lev. 19:34, God told them to love the foreigners as themselves (Horton, 485).
d. Genuine love for one's neighbor is of the same kind as genuine love for God.
e. It is by choice purposeful, intentional, and active, not merely sentimental and emotional.
f. And it is measured, Jesus said, by your love for yourself.
g. When a person is hungry, he feeds himself; when he is thirsty; he gets himself a drink; and when he is sick, he takes medicine or sees a doctor—all because he is so consumed with caring for himself.
h. He does not simply think or talk about food or water or medicine but does whatever is necessary to provide those things for himself (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 16-23).
i. If you are going to love God you have to also love people.
j. To do otherwise is a contradiction because God loves all people regardless of who they are or where they come from.
3. According to Jesus, "The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
a. The phrase "the law and the prophets" denotes all of Scripture and merely divides them in to two recognizable groups.
b. Jesus is saying that all of Scripture hinges on these two commandments, just as a door hangs on its hinges.
c. They are the heart of Scripture. Every commandment in some way points back to them.
d. The basic requirements both of Judaism and of Christianity are summed up in the same dual command: to love God and to love people.
e. Everything else in the Old Testament that God required of believers hung on those two commands.
f. Likewise, every New Testament requirement of believers is based on them.
B. Jesus People are People Persons
1. Illustration: In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, "Do not waste your time bothering whether you ’love’ your neighbor act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less."
2. God loves people enough to die for them.
a. John 3:16-17 (NLT)
16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
b. Even when we had rebelled against Him, He loved us.
c. Even when we turned our back on Him, He loved us.
d. Even though we didn't deserve it, He loved us.
e. He loved us enough to give up everything to save us.
3. In order to love God you have to love people.
a. 1 John 4:7-8 (NLT)
7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.
8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
b. God loves people, and so we have to love people.
c. God humbled himself to save people, and so do we.
d. God sacrificed himself to save people, and so we have to sacrifice for them too.
4. To say you love God and not love people is a contradiction.
a. James 2:14-16 (NLT)
14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?
15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing,
16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
b. True faith requires action.
c. If we are going to follow Jesus we have to follow His example.
d. If we are truly asking the question, "What would Jesus do?" we have to love people.
5. So who is my neighbor?
a. Luke 10:29 (NLT)
The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
b. Jesus answered this question by telling the story of the Good Samaritan.
c. A man was beaten, robbed and left for dead.
d. Two religious people saw him and kept on walking.
e. A third man, a hated Samaritan, a half-breed to the Jews, stopped, had pity on the man and took care of him.
f. So the answer to the question is...everybody is our neighbor!
Transition: If we want to love God we have to love people...all people!
Conclusion
1. According to Jesus, there are only two core values that really matter...
a. Love God
b. Love People
2. The world tells us to love those who love you back. However, Jesus calls us to a higher standard.
3. Matthew 5:46-47 (NLT)
46 If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much.
47 If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do
4.
5. that.
6. How much do you love God?
7. How much do you love people?
8. Can people tell how much you love by your actions?
9. The entire Bible in a nutshell is love God and love people.
