V34-35 The Pharisees and Sadducees, out of their hate for Jesus because of how He was changing everything, seemed to have ganged to try and put him down. Because of their hate, they came up with ways of trying to catch him in a wrong. And it’s interesting because they themselves were already against him so they had already closed their hearts to him, they were only looking for a way to “convincingly” accuse him before the people and then arrest him.
Matthew 21:46 ESV – And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.
They wanted to poison people’s minds against him. That is why Jesus said to them:
Matthew 23:13 NLT – “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.
While the Lord Jesus was perfect, we are not. We are being perfected so that we become like him. And so, in the process of perfection, we have to be careful not to be like the Pharisees and Sadducees. They are an example from God to us. Sometimes, we may find ourselves in a place where our hearts do not love one another and so because of that, we poison each other’s minds against each other.
If a believer does something which is faulty or says something which is faulty, our role is not to gang up against them. No, we must first have the understanding that all of us are in a journey of being perfected to be like Jesus, and therefore, we must forgive them and pray for them. In fact, Paul told Timothy this:
1 Timothy 2:1 TLB – Here are my directions: Pray much for others; plead for God’s mercy upon them; give thanks for all he is going to do for them.
Let us also remember to always make room for each other’s faults:
Colossians 3:13 NLT – Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
We have a continuous labor of love to carry.
V36-38 – I MUST love the Lord my God with all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind. This is the greatest commandment.
It’s a command, not a recommendation.
How do I love Him with all my heart? – I am reminded of the hymn “Take my heart and let it be consecrated Lord to thee.” Loving the Lord with all my heart is to love him wholeheartedly, with no other affections for any other. There should be no other thing/person/item that I love more than him. One of the things that usually helps to measure Love is how much TIME you spend with someone. How much time in my day to day life do I give to the Lord? to prayer? to the word?
How do I love with all my soul? The soul is the seat of emotions and affections. My emotions must be for him. I must take my joy to Him, same as how I must take my pain to him. I must take my tears to him and my rejoicing. I must also submit my anger to his word and his will. I must also take all my anxiety to him… He is the one who knows the deepest parts of me and therefore I must share my life with Him.
How do I love him with all my mind? This is about me loving him with all my thoughts. Are my thoughts pure and directed or controlled by the Holy Spirit and God’s word? Are my thought patterns directed by God’s word? Are my decisions submitted to God’s word? Do I obey the leading of the Holy Spirit as prompted by my conscience?
1 Timothy 1: 18-19 NIV – Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith.
The Living Bible puts v19 this way:
“Cling tightly to your faith in Christ and always keep your conscience clear, doing what you know is right. For some people have disobeyed their consciences and have deliberately done what they knew was wrong. It isn’t surprising that soon they lost their faith in Christ after defying God like that.”
DON’T BRING SHAME TO THE NAME OF CHRIST BY DOING WHAT YOU KNOW YOU OUGHT NOT TO DO.
V39 – I MUST also love my neighbor as myself.
This is made even simpler by this verse:
Matthew 7:12 AMP – “So then, in everything treat others the same way you want them to treat you, for this is [the essence of] the Law and the [writings of the] Prophets.
Lord, help me to love you and to love my neighbor. I fail so many times. Have mercy in me and cause me to do your will. For these two are the simplest ways of understanding your will ie …what you want me to do.
In verse 40, the Lord says that these two sum up all that the law and the prophets demanded. It’s really as simple as that.