By Pastor Dave Farmer
The third day in this final week is filled with arrogant debate. The best minds in Israel are commissioned to confront and discredit our Lord Jesus Christ publicly. It is the Pharisees' turn.
The text for this study is Matthew 22:34-40
They Conspired Together
34) But when the Pharisees heard that He had put the Sadducees to silence, they gathered themselves together.
Gathering together means they called a conference. In this conference, they would develop their own strategy for attacking Jesus. Like the other groups, the Pharisees seek to discredit the Lord in order to break the popularity that He had with the people. The Herodians did not succeed, but instead caused Jesus' ratings to rise for the Scripture says, "and hearing this [His answer] they marveled. . ". The Sadducees made Him look even better for the Word says, "and when the multitude heard this [His answer] they were astonished." Now it is the Pharisees turn. Who are the Pharisees?
"The Pharisees were a party that originated in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes in revolt against his heathenizing policy. The first mention of them is in a description by Josephus of the three sects or schools into which the Jews were divided (B.C. 145). The other two sects were the Essenes and the Sadducees. In the time of our Lord, they were the popular party (John 7:48). They were extremely accurate and minute in all matters pertaining to the law of Moses (Matt. 9: 14; 23:15, Luke 11:39, 18: 12). Paul, when brought before the council of Jerusalem, professed himself a Pharisee (Acts 23:6-8; 26;4, 5).
There was much that was sound in their creed, yet their system of religion was a form and nothing more. Theirs was a very lax morality (Matt. 5120; 1524, 8, 2333, 14, 23, 25; John 8:7). On the first notice of them in the New Testament (Matt. 3 27), they are ranked by our Lord with the Sadducees as a "generation of vipers." They were noted for their self-righteousness and their pride (Matt. 9:11, Luke 7:39, 18:11, 12). They were frequently rebuked by our Lord (Matt. 12:39, 16:1-4). 1
From the very beginning of his ministry, the Pharisees showed themselves bitter and persistent enemies of our Lord. They could not bear His doctrines, and they sought by every means to destroy His influence among the people.
Their Chicanery Exposed
35) And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him,
They could find nothing in His walk, so they tried to trick Him in His talk. The way this is translated could be conceived as a positive question. This is not the case for the Greek word is PEIRAZO which means "to pressure someone in order to bring about something bad." I think "baiting" Him would be a better translation. Dr. Wuest explains word test that is found in this text. He says:
"The Word meant in the first place "to pierce, search, attempt." Then it came to mean "to try or test intentionally, and with the purpose of discovering what good or evil, what power or weakness, was in a person or thing." But the fact that men so often break down under this test, gave PEIRAZA a predominant sense of putting to the proof with the intention and the hope that the one put to the test may break down under the test. Thus the word is used constantly of the solicitations and suggestions of Satan. 2
When you put someone to a test in order to bring out the good or what you can approve of; that is DOKIMAZO. In school you take exams. These are meant to bring out what you have learned in order to pass you to the next grade. PEIRAZO, on the other hand, is a test which is designed to bring out the worst. This is why this word is chosen to describe Satan's temptations. Satan solicits us to sin and disobey God. In fact, Satan is called "The Tempter" in Matthew 4:3. The present participle of PEIRAZO with the article describes the character of Satan. He tempts. God never tempts us (James 1:13-15). PEIRAZO betrays the attitude of this lawyer who approaches Jesus with the intention of tricking the Lord into saying something that would offend the people or cause the people to turn away from Him.
The person who was called upon to lead the attack was a lawyer. Actually, he is a scribe. He was educated in the seminaries of Jerusalem. He was a man of letters, a man of recognition and status, a "Dr. So and So" if you will. Who knows the law better than Mr. Scribe?
Asking the Trick Question
36) "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"
Which one of the commandments in the law was the greatest? It was a question disputed among the various religious groups. Some believe the question that is asked includes the whole Law, which means, which one of the 612 commandments in the law is the greatest. Is the law of circumcision the great commandment, or the laws pertaining to the Sabbath? Or could it be the laws related to the Levitical sacrifices? However, I believe he is asking Jesus which one of the Ten Commandments is the greatest. Another lesson learned in this passage is how we are protected from evil when we walk in the way of righteousness before our God.
Their Core Problem Revealed
37) And He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind."
Notice that Jesus responds without hesitation. The Pharisees gathered together in a conference to discuss what question they could ask the Lord that would stump Him or embarrass Him is some way. After deliberation and from their collective wisdom came this zinger. However, Jesus answers without hesitation. I find that an amazing contrast.
38) This is the great and foremost commandment.
Now the Lord cannot be trapped. He answers by selecting a passage which is not one of the Ten Commandments, yet has everything to do with all of the commandments. He quotes from Deuteronomy 6:5:
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
They were waiting for the Lord to choose between one and ten. Take your pick! He simply disregarded all ten and the thousands of others they had added to the Law. At the same time, He immediately exposes their error. This is what was wrong with the Pharisees and as incredible as this might seem, they didn't love God. They asked, "What Law was the most important?" Jesus said, "The most important thing is LOVE." According to our Lord, they did not love God.
The weakness in their worship of God was now exposed. They had built their relationship with God on the basis of Law-keeping. Jesus said, "God wants to be loved." Jesus is not minimizing the importance of the LAW but wants them to see that keeping the Law should come from a heart filled with a love for God. Love is a word which emphasizes relationship, and it must be first. It is first because our Lord Jesus Christ put it first. It is not first because I say so, but because Jesus stated it authoritatively.
The Pharisees kept the Law meticulously but did not love God. The love of God was not their motivation for keeping the Law. Then why did they keep the law if they did not love God? They were motivated by self-interest (Matthew 23). They sought to meet the legal standards in the law so that they might earn their own salvation. It is this interpretation of the Old Testament that blinded them to the truth about Christ. They did not see Christ in the Old Testament because they saw the Old Testament as a book of regulations to follow in order to be saved. The Law of Moses is the Savior. Following the Law of Moses is the way of Salvation. 3
Whenever you place religion ahead of relationship, the law in place of love, you end up with an impotent and false view of the law. Love must be the motivation. Paul teaches this in 1 Corinthians 13 :1-3:
1) If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2) And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
3)And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
If I do not have love I say nothing; I do nothing, I am nothing. Let me put it plainly. If you do not love God, your motivation is self-oriented. It is either for God's glory or yours. Human behavior is complex, but this principle is not. Did these people love God? Well, they must have. They were devoted to keeping the law. No, they loved the law for what it could do for them. Keep this in mind as we study Matthew 23 together.
They did not love God. They put all their energies into keeping the law, and in their hearts, they had turned away from God. How often in the Old Testament do we find the prophets calling the people to change their hearts; such as Isaiah 1:11-15 and Joel 2:13.
Do you love Jesus? Do you love God? Think about this! Is it not our first inclination to call attention to what we are doing for the Lord? Of course, I love Jesus. I go to church. I serve in the Church. I share my faith with others. I read my Bible. I pray. These are all fine things. But do you love Jesus? I don't want to know what you are doing for the Lord. It is not what you are doing that answers the question. Jehovah Witness do as much. I love the Lord because He is altogether lovely. Let me tell you what He has done for me. It is not about you. It is about Jesus.
Jesus said you could do all those things and not love God. Too many Christians are like this Pharisee. It is all about them. They go to church, and the church is all about what they get or don't get from it. If it meets their needs, then it is a good church. If it is not, then it is a bad church.
The church is not about you it is about Jesus. It is the place where we go to glorify Him, to worship Him, to praise Him, to learn about Him. If you love Jesus then tell me about the hundreds of things He has done for you, is doing for you, and what you are trusting Him to do in the future. Paul would say, "For me to live is Christ, to die is gain." Philippians 1:23. We are so busy looking for the devil we forget "the flesh." Legalism is defined by Dr. Charles Ryrie as " fleshly attitude which conforms to a code for the purpose of exalting self" 4
Is it possible to act, live, and conform outwardly to a legal standard and not love God? The Pharisees illustrate this truth. Jesus did not say to him you are failing to keep the law, rather He said, "you don't love God."
39) The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself
40) On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.
They were plotting how they might kill Jesus. Your relationship with God is going to affect your relationship with others. [1 John 4: 19-21]
The Law and the Prophets tell about the Love of God sending His unique born Son into the world to die for our sins. The Law and the Prophets tell us about God's love for us. The entire Old Testament looks forward to the Cross. Paul would write how "God demonstrated His own love for us that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8. The New Testament
looks back upon the finished work of Christ on the Cross. The Bible is about the Cross. It is about God's love for us. To view the Bible as a book of regulations or requirements to be fulfilled in order to please God and gain salvation is to miss Christ. The Bible was written that we might see Christ and that we might love Him [1 John 3:1; 4:19].
Application: knowing, loving, doing.
The Biblical order of these three concepts is important. If you do not know God, how can to you love Him? Salvation is first, knowing our Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. The point is that the more we know about our Lord Jesus Christ, the more we will love Him, appreciate Him, desire to obey Him.
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. [John 14:15]
Our Lord Jesus Christ linked obedience to love. The more we love the Lord, then we begin to throw off the old habits and put on the new habits that lead to godliness and Christlikeness. If our love for Him does not grow, through a day by day study of the Word of God, ie knowing Him, we will love ourselves more. There will be no room in our hearts and lives for anyone else.
These three concepts are crucial in our Walk of Faith; in that, the incorrect order or the absence of one of these concepts can cause spiritual harm to our spiritual lives. It certainly affected the Pharisees. They know the law, but not Christ. They loved the law, but not God. They kept the law, but they were not doing anything in a way that pleased God. So sad! What about you? 5
Footnotes
1 Easton, M. G., M.A.D.D., Easton's Bible Dictionary, Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc, 1996.)
2 Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest's word studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English reader(Mark, Mk 1:13). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
3 Compare how Jesus saw the Old Testament: Luke 24:44-46, John 5: 45-47.
4 Charles C. Ryrie, Balancing The Christian Life, Chicago, Moody Press, 1969, pg 159.
5 I recommend that after studying this article, you review Topic #201 The Cursing of the Fig Tree. Click Here