Mathew 22 Lesson

ONE QUESTION FOR JESUS

If you were face to face with Jesus and could ask Him any question, what would it be?

In Mathew’s Gospel, he records a question posed by one of the Pharisees to Jesus.

Mathew also records Jesus’ response, which is something we all need to think about and meditate on. 

The Pharisee asked Jesus:

• “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” - Mathew 22:36.

Jesus responded by saying:

1. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” - Mathew 22:37, and 
2. “Love your neighbor as yourself” - Mathew 22:38.

LOVING GOD WITH ALL OUR HEART, SOUL, AND MIND

What does it mean to love God?

According to the Bible, loving God means keeping His commandments. 

That is what Jesus taught when He said:

• “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” – John 14:15.

Pretty straightforward, right? 

Of course, to keep God's commandments, we need to understand what those commandments are.  And the only way to do that is to read the Bible. 

There is a common misconception among some that if we simply do what we think is right then we will please God. 

Granted, that is usually the case.

However, we can sometimes get into big trouble when we do that. 

Consider the following warning from the Book of Proverbs:

• “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” - Proverbs 14:12. 

Once we read and understand this scripture, we can no longer accept that following our gut is how we please God. 

There are things that God commands us to do that sometimes will not make sense to us or are not what we want to do. 

We need to do them anyway.  That's the point! 

That is how we show our love for God, and that is how we demonstrate our faith. 

True faith means believing and trusting God in all things, all the time.

Not just when it is convenient.   

LOVING OUR NEIGHBOR AS OURSELVES

Immediately after teaching about the greatest commandment, Jesus also spoke about what the second greatest commandment is, to “love our neighbor as ourselves.”  (Mathew 22:38) 

Before we consider what it means to love our neighbor, we first need to understand who our neighbor is.

Quite simply, our neighbor is anybody that comes into our lives.  

God brings people into our lives for specific reasons.  He always has a plan! (Jeremiah 29:11)

Sometimes it is to disciplineus (Proverbs 3:12).

Other times, it is for reasons that we may not ever understand (Isaiah 55:8-9).   

One thing is for certain, once God has brought somebody into our lives, our job is to love them!

Of note, Jesus did not simply say, “You shall love your neighbor.”  

No, that is only part of what Jesus said.

The full command that Jesus gave, second only in importance to loving God, was to:

• “Love our neighbor as ourselves.” (Mathew 22:38)

Adding the word “yourself” to the end of that command is significant. 

FORGIVING OURSELVES

God not only wants us to love Him, and our neighbor, He also wants us to love ourselves! 

It does not matter if we feel unworthy, or if we have committed sins in the past that we are ashamed of.

God does not want us to allow that to stop us from doing the two things that we were created to do:

1. Glorifying Him,
2. Serving others.

All of us have done things in our past of which we are not proud. 

The Apostle Paul understood this as well as anyone. 

Earlier in his life, Paul persecuted and arrested the very Christians that he spent the rest of his life trying to save!  

Paul said in his first letter to Timothy:

• “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.” - 1 Timothy 15-16.

Yes, our God is a God of second chances!  And for that, we give Him the glory!  

CONCLUSION

The two greatest commandments in the Bible are to

1. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” - Mathew 22:37, and to,
2. “Love your neighbor as yourself” - Mathew 22:38.

It should not surprise us that the two greatest commandments in the Bible are about love. 

God IS love!  (1 John 4:16)

The way that we show our love for God, is by keeping His commandments.  To do this, we need to commit ourselves to studying the Bible regularly, and then acting on what we have learned. 

To please God, we need to learn what He wants us to do, and then do it.  If we do, our reward in Heaven will be great! 

The second greatest commandment in the Bible, behind loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind, is to love our neighbor as ourselves.

To love our neighbors, we must take the time to get to know them.

We have to open up and let people into our lives!  That is what Jesus did, and He is the example that we are to follow.   

We will end today’s lesson with the following scripture.

It reminds us that when we get scared, or down, or feel vulnerable, God and Jesus are there for us, and their love is unsurpassed!

• “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” - John 3:16-17.