It’s Tuesday on the last week of Christ’s life. During this week, Jesus stayed in Bethany, only 2 miles from Jerusalem, and traveled daily into the city. On Sunday, He triumphantly entered Jerusalem; on Monday, he had run the money changers out of the temple; on Thursday, He would celebrate Passover with His disciples and institute the Lord’s Supper; and on Friday, He would be crucified.
During Passover, thousands of Jews came to Jerusalem; and religious leaders allowed money-changers and the sale of animals in the outer court of the temple (see diagram). Of course, they took a cut of the profits. So animals brought for sacrifice by pilgrims would be found unclean by the priest, meaning an acceptable animal had to be bought from the temple market. And only temple currency was accepted, so people had to exchange their coins for temple coins; and the religious leaders controlled the exchange rate. Quite a racket!
This happened in the outer court - the court of the Gentiles - the place where the Gentiles were to come and worship God. The reason God had raised up Israel (telling Abraham that through him all the nations would be blessed) was going unfulfilled (Genesis 12:3; Galatians 3:8).
Jesus had done the same thing at the start of His ministry (John 2). He’s back three years later, and does it again. And the religious leaders aren’t happy! So on Tuesday, when He arrived in Jerusalem, He was greeted by religious leaders who sought to trip Him up with questions.
They questioned His authority to do what He was doing. They asked about paying tribute to Caesar. They asked a ridiculous question about the resurrection, wanting to know which of seven men a woman had been married to would be her husband in the after life. These questions were asked in an effort to trip Jesus up, but none did.
In fact, He answered all their questions so well, one of them decided to honor Jesus by asking Him to answer a question that had been debated among the great teachers of Judaism - “Of a1l the commandments, which is the most important?”
Pharisees codified the law into 248 positive & 365 negative commands. There was constant debate over which of the 613 was most important. Some said it was the positive ones and others the negative ones (negative adherents pointed out there was one for each day of the year).
The Pharisees described the law in terms of small and great commands; and if your good deeds outweighed the bad, God would accept you. They taught that people needed to keep the greater commands because with obedience to these they would get more points with God.
Unfortunately, this caused them to be unaware of their utter sinfulness, God’s absolute holiness, and their need of a Savior. This also caused them to misunderstand how one lived life in a God pleasing way. So Jesus turned their world upside down by proclaiming the Good News; and in His answer to this scribe’s question, not only tells how one comes into the kingdom, but how one can see God’s kingdom come. What He says is that the kingdom isn’t about rules, regulations and religion, but relationships; and lays out three kingdom priorities.
Priority #1: Our relationship with God - vs. 29-30
In verses 29 and 30, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:4-5. These verses were part of the Shema, a portion of Scripture quoted both morning and evening by devout Jews and worn in leather pouches called phylacteries on the arm and forehead by the Pharisees. There are two things we are told about our relationship with God.
1. We all need a genuine relationship with God - v. 29
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 is called the Shema because of the first word, “hear,” is the Hebrew word Shema, the imperative form of shama, which means “to hear and obey.” This is significant.
“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one [the only God]!” - Deuteronomy 6:4 (Amplified)
Religious leaders quoted the Shema and wore phylacteries containing the Shema, but most of them never obeyed the Shema. They had never acknowledged the Lord as their one and only God. They still trusted in themselves, their rules, their rituals, and their religiosity; but had never personally acknowledged God as their one Lord and Savior.
The claim made in the Shema was echoed by God in the person of Christ, who said: “I am the [only] Way [to God] and the [real] Truth and the [real] Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me,” (John 14:6 Amplified).
The fact is we can be just like these religious leaders. We can go to church, memorize Scripture, study the Bible, quote Scripture, know a lot about theology, even be involved in ministry, and still never really have trusted Christ alone as our one and only Savior.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” - Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV)
Jesus came to provide the forgiveness necessary to have a personal love relationship with the God of the universe. But we must we willing to acknowledge Him as the only way.
2. We all need a growing relationship - v. 30
Just because two people have a marriage relationship doesn’t mean they have a growing relationship. To have a growing relationship, a couple must commit themselves to working on it daily. It’s the same in our relationship with God. Just because one has a personal relationship with God through faith in Christ, doesn’t mean that they have a growing love relationship with God. This is something we must commit ourselves to every day we live.
I believe Jesus is deliberately describing the path to a growing love relationship with God. He tells us that I need to make a heart-felt
decision that dominates my emotions, direct my thoughts, and is the dynamic of my actions!
Priority #2: Our relationship with ourselves - v. 31
Jesus teaches us that we are to love ourselves. But what He spoke of is not the type of self-love popular in our world today that focuses on self gratification. Rather, He emphasizing loving who we are because of our love relationship with the Father. We who have God as our heavenly Father through faith in Christ have been recreated in Christ Jesus.
“Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” - 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)
You and I need to learn more and more about the new person we are through Christ. For as we learn more about who we are in him, we will love who He has made us to be and aspire to live that new life daily!
Behavioral psychologists contend that most people develop some sort of inferiority complex at an early age and then spend the rest of their life trying to deal with their feelings of inferiority through:
A. Imitation - They imitate lifestyles of others accepted by society.
B. Achievement - They accumulate or accomplish things.
C. Isolation -Whether they are “shy” or an alcoholic who crawls into a bottle, they simply seek to avoid feelings of inferiority by withdrawing from the real world.
God’s answer to the inferiority problem: Acceptance!
Understanding who I am in Christ allows me to reach my God-given potential; it frees me to live life to the full (John 10:10); and it frees me to focus on the third kingdom priority: others.
“God has made us what we are [For we are his handiwork/workmanship/work of art]. In Christ Jesus, God made [created] us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing.” - Ephesians 2:10 (EXB)
Priority #3: Our relationship with others - v. 31
Just as we come to love ourselves by seeing ourselves as God sees us; we come to love others as we learn to see them as God sees them.
1. Believers - I will see them as someone else who is also new in Christ. As such, I will expect them to behave like a new creation in Christ and when they do not, I will seek to encourage them with the message: “In Christ, you are better than this.” No anger, no
bitterness, no unforgiveness, no selfishness, no carnality, no disobedience; no! In Christ, you are better than this.
2. Unbelievers - I will see them as someone for whom Christ died. As such, I will not expect them to behave like a new creation; but will seek to encourage them with the message: “In Christ, things can be better than this.” No guilt, no shame, no downward spiral, no bondage, no brokenness, no! In Christ, things can be better than this.
Conclusion: vs. 32-34 Jesus made it clear that the kingdom of God
isn’t about rules, regulations and religion, but relationships - with God; with ourselves; and with others. The scribe “got it.” Do you?
