Matthew 22:34-40
The Greatest Commandment
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Matthew 23:23-24
There are Some Rules More Important than Others
23 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
Matthew 5:17-20
Jesus Came to Fulfill Bible Scripture
17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 7:1-6
Judging Others
1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
6 “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Nehemiah 9:16-18
God is Forgiving, Gracious, Compassionate, Slow to Anger, and Abounding in LOVE
16 “But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not obey your commands. 17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them, 18 even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies."
The Pharisees were always testing Jesus about the Bible and Mosaic Law...And He knows the Bible, because He is the Bible...The Bible is written about Him and His Father...He inspired the writers of the Bible to write what they wrote...He did not come to abolish any of the rules and laws of the Bible, but to fulfill the laws and rules...Jesus came to earth to show us how to live the Bible...The Bible is not just a set of laws and rules, but as Jesus says in the Two Great Commandments, that they are about LOVE...We are to love God, and the second is much like the first commandment, we are to love our neighbors...
There is importance in rules and laws, but we have to follow the intent of the law...For instance, how good is justice, if there is no mercy?...
The Pharisees followed the detail of the law, but forgot about the Spiritual side of the Bible...Jesus told them that there are more important laws than the detail of the law that the Pharisees were following...And they were neglecting the important parts...The Pharisees while closely following the tithing laws, while they neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness...Following on the tithing laws, which they are supposed to practice and they did was good...But they did not practiced the latter of justice, mercy, and faithfulness...They should not neglect the former law of tithing, but should remember the Spiritual side of the law is more important...Jesus called them blind guides, because they followed the less important matter of the laws, and forgot about justice, mercy, and faithfulness...They were straining out a gnat, but were swallowing a camel...
Man is like that because we like our rules...But our problem is that we like the rules we like...I like the rules that I believe in and think everyone should follow the rules, I believe in...I set in my mind what is important, and think that everyone should know what I have prioritized and they should follow those and in that fashion...Now all of a sudden rules have become an important part of what I believe and what my life revolves around...And as soon as I have done that and expect others to follow the rules and how I have prioritized them, then I am judging my neighbor, and I am judging him unfairly...I have become a hypocrite, when I expect others to follow what I believe and the rules that I believe in...And we can get so caught up in doing what we think is right each day, we neglect our neighbor and in the process neglect loving him, because he is not doing the things the way and what we think he should be doing...For me to replace the love of my neighbor for a set of rules, is neglecting Jesus...Because what He teaches is not about the rules it is about love...LOVE sums up all that Moses and the Prophets wrote...All of what they wrote hang on the Two Great Commandments...
Jesus teaches us about the Greatest Commandments and they are important rules to live by...They are the foundation of the Bible...The Bible is about love of God, and love of our neighbor...And Jesus tells us the two commandments are very much alike, or as He says the second commandment is like the first...Jesus by saying this, says these are the two most important laws and rules of the entire Bible...There are more important teachings of the Bible, and He teaches that...
Jesus revealed and fulfilled and lived out the Bible and its rules...He shows us the true intention of the Bible...If we miss a rule here or a rule there, it is okay, because God is full of compassion, mercy and is forever forgiving, forever full of mercy...But let us not forget to love God and love our neighbor...