08.25.10 “Aiming for the heart”
Scripture Reading: Matthew 22:34-40
34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36″Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[b] 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[c] 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
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Reflection Questions
You might describe this question posed to Jesus by the expert in the law as both ridiculous and dangerous. It was a ridiculous question when you consider the vast number of laws that were to be kept by the Jews in Jesus’ day. How exactly was Jesus supposed to synthesis six hundred laws into one core idea? When you consider the difficulty of that process, you see the dangerous trap that the expert in the law had set for Jesus. What really is at the heart of our right living?
- When Jesus is asked to identify the singular greatest commandment, he actually replies with two laws. What are they?
- How do you understand the answer that Jesus gives to the expert in the law? What does Jesus identify as our core value? How would you describe the influence that this core value has on your everyday life?
Weekly Prayer
Lord, I want to grow more and more in love with you every day. I want to honor you with my every thought, my every word and my every deed. Help me, God, to see the places where I may be falling short, to discover the grace you have for the mistakes that I have made in my life and to receive again the courage you give to live a life of love and faithfulness to you. AMEN.
Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.®. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.