Matthew 22:34-40
“This Is a Test. This Is Only a Test.
If This Had Been an Actual Emergency . . .”
October 23, 2005
Associate Pastor Doug Forsberg
Do you remember a time when television came to us through the air instead of through cables? If you do then you may also remember the tests of the Emergency Broadcast System that used to interrupt TV viewing. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a piercing ring tone would be emitted from the TV and the screen would turn red, blue and green. After a full minute of the piercing ring tone a serious voice would begin speaking: “This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is only a test. If this had been an actual emergency . . . you would be dead right now.” Okay, that’s not how it ended, but I don’t think we ever expected those annoying ring tones not to be a test. We didn’t expect that those ring tones could signal a real emergency or that important information would be shared with us through the Emergency Broadcast System.
Something similar happens in Matthew 22. When Jesus reveals the greatest commandment, his hearers aren't necessarily ready to receive or to believe this urgent message. Jesus has entered Jerusalem to shouts of acclaim and the religious leaders are nervous. They want to get rid of Jesus, so they try to trap him in his words, hoping that he will say something heretical so that they can execute him. They put Jesus to the test asking three different questions, and they don’t expect him to tell them something they don’t already know. The first two tests are easy to pass. Jesus is asked if taxes should be paid and if people can really believe in the resurrection. Jesus’ answer to that second question silences some of the religious leaders, but others keep trying to trap him. These other leaders put him to the test a third time not thinking that he may actually be able to answer their question. One wonders if they even cared what the real answer was.
Jewish religious leaders counted 613 commandments in the Old Testament. 248 were positive commandments and 365 were negative commandments. The religious leaders enjoyed debating the meaning of these commandments and probably wondered which were more important than others. For instance, is it more important to clean the mold off the walls of our houses or to avoid touching dead things?
The religious leaders thought that they might trap Jesus by asking him to identify the greatest or most important of these 613 commandments. They were surprised by Jesus’ response, for in his response, Jesus sums up the entire Old Testament in two commandments tied together in a common bond: love. If the religious leaders wanted to know what the Old Testament was about, if we want to know what the Old Testament is about, Jesus gives us the answer.
The Old Testament is about love; God’s love for his people. We might go so far as to say that the Old Testament is a love story between God and his people. According to Jesus, the two greatest commandments involve our response to God’s unquenchable love for his people. The two greatest commandments aren’t instructions about what to eat or touch or avoid. The two greatest commandments are relational in content and they compel us to love God and our neighbor. In response to God’s unending love for his people, his people are commanded to return that love to God and to those who bear God’s image – their neighbors.
This probably isn’t the answer the religious leaders were expecting. Given their jealousy and hatred of Jesus, who was both God and man, it certainly wasn’t what they wanted to hear, yet they are unable to respond to Jesus: they are silenced. I wonder if these two commands silence us too. When we think of Christianity, we all fall into the trap of trying to do the right thing as opposed to being in relationship with the living God.
Martin Luther knew the enslavement of always trying to do the right thing. Luther lived from 1483-1546. He, along with John Calvin and others, shaped the Protestant Reformation, a movement within the church to make scripture the final authority in matters of Christian doctrine and practice. Luther lived during a time when it seemed that everyone was concerned with doing the right things in order to avoid God’s wrath. The Church at that time came to understand salvation as a product of human works. It was commonly believed that people became righteous before God as they did good works in this life.[1]
Luther came to a point in his life when he realized that he could not do enough good to earn God’s favor. What is important for us to know about Luther is that as he sought to do the right commandments; he lost sight of God’s love and the need to love God and others. Listen to what Luther wrote: “Though I lived as a monk without reproach, I felt that I was a sinner before God with an extremely disturbed conscience. I could not believe that he was placated by my satisfaction. I did not love, yes, I hated the righteous God . . . and secretly . . . I was angry with God.”[2] Perhaps the religious leaders of Jesus’ day would have said the same thing. Perhaps we might say the same thing.
Do you know that the name Israel means “he struggles with God?” This name was the name given to Jacob after a night in which he wrestled with God. Jacob was the father of twelve sons. The nation of Israel was made up of twelve tribes, the descendants of these twelve sons of Israel: the one who struggles with God.
This name “Israel” is perfect for Jacob and the nation that is born through him and maybe even for us. As we read the Old Testament, we are struck by the fact that time and time again the Israelites struggle against God. By his powerful hand God brings the people out of Egypt and frees them from slavery. Days later these people complain bitterly. God brings Israel through the desert to the very edge of the Promised Land and assures them of his powerful presence, yet they wilt in fear and refuse to take possession of the gifts of God. When they finally do enter the land, they go through cycles of faithfulness and unfaithfulness, pushing God away and then crying out to him. God gives the people kings and these kings continue the same cycle of rebellion, yet God does not give up on this people. They are disciplined, but as they push God away, God continues to come to them in power. To read the Old Testament is to discover that God’s love for his people is unconditional and never ending. It is to discover a love that cannot be broken or thrown away. It is to discover a love that will not let you go. It is to discover a love that is intensely personal, a love that compels a response.
Love is never a to do list that we check off. Imagine trying to prove your love to someone by showing them a list of the things you’ve done for them or a list of the time you spent with them or a list of the things you’ve given up for them. Such a list might show something of your devotion and it might say something of your commitment, but it could never tell the whole story. Love can never be reduced to a list of things done or sweet nothings spoken.
I think that is what the religious leaders were looking for when they tested Jesus. They were looking for a checklist to prove their devotion to God, but Jesus wasn’t interested in their checklist and he’s not interested in our checklists either. What he’s interested in is you. He loves you not your checklist.
How do I know that he loves you? I know this is true because since the beginning of time God has been making his love for you known. He’s made his love for you known in the grace given to Noah and his family during the flood and in the raising up of the people of Israel, a people who testified of God’s goodness and announced the promise of the Messiah. I know God’s love for you is true because Jesus came and lived among us, he died on the cross in our place, and he rose from the grave and ascended into heaven where he lives even now. I know God’s love is true because he has called his people by name and made them citizens of his kingdom which shall have no end.
When the religious leaders ask Jesus what the greatest commandment is he tells them to love God with all of your heart, all of your soul, and all of your mind. Jesus says that the second command is like the first, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Our love for God and for our neighbor originates in God’s love for us. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day weren’t interested in relationships with God or with their neighbors; such relationships are risky and invite vulnerability, you can’t judge your faithfulness in such relationships with a checklist.
If we want to see a model of one who loves God and loves his neighbor, we need look no further than Jesus. In his life, death, and resurrection he put others before himself. He emptied himself and loved us to life, life eternal.
When preaching a sermon on the two greatest commandments, there is a temptation to tell you how to love God and how to love your neighbor. There’s a temptation to fully explain loving with all your heart, soul and mind and to define who your neighbor is. But getting a list from me won’t help you love God or your neighbor any more than you already do. I think that most of the time we know exactly what it means to love God and our neighbor and we simply decide not to. Perhaps we believe that love like that is for the really holy people, the ones who don’t have to worry about mortgages, SAT scores, sick spouses, raising children, Social Security benefits or nasty bosses.
Brothers and sisters, I have news for you; we love God and our neighbor in the nitty, gritty details of life as we struggle to be faithful to our friends, spouses, children, vocation, and in our culture. Do you want to know if you love God? Look at your life and the way you go about the daily tasks you face, for your love for God and neighbor will be demonstrated in these very real relationships and tasks that make up the life that you live.
And when you come to that inevitable point of realizing that you fall short of love for God and neighbor, you will find yourself in the best place you can ever be: in need of a Savior who could care less about your religious checklist and you can fall into Jesus’ arms and be enfolded in his love, experiencing the joy of a relationship that can never be severed, for nothing, not one thing in all of creation can separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ our Lord.
How appropriate it is that we have baptized Emily Anne Toner today, for in baptism we affirm again our love for God as we take hold of his promises. We also proclaim our love for neighbor as we make a covenant to support and to do all that we can to ensure that Emily knows and follows Jesus. Our children will encounter Jesus as they see us living day in and day out in relationship with him and as they see our relationship with Christ bear the fruit of love in our hearts.
May it be Lord. May it be.