Law and Love

Scripture Reading: Matthew 22:34-40

Some have misread what Jesus meant when he said, “On these two commandments [the commandment to love God and the commandment to love your neighbor] depend all the Law and the Prophets.” The mistake some have made is to think that Jesus meant we can ignore the rest of the Law of God and that all that is required is that we love God and other people. In one very limited way, that is true. If a person can pull off the amazing feat of loving God and other people perfectly on a 24/7 basis for 365 days a year during their whole life span…then yes, that would be a way to do what Jesus is saying.

Of course, no one does that and that is one problem. The other problem, the one more directly related to that proposition, is due to our fallen human condition we don’t know that love is supposed to look like in every circumstance. That is the point of all the other commands of Scripture. The rest of the commandments are simply an exposition of the two great commandments.

For example, just looking at the Ten Commandments we can say that the First Table of the Law is an explanation of what it looks like to love God and the Second Table of the Law is an exposition of what it looks like to love one’s neighbor. So, we can’t just throw everything out and assume that if I walk around doing stuff and feel warm and fuzzy about it then I am doing what Jesus instructed here.

I need help to understand what loving God and my neighbor looks like. That is what Jesus meant by the rest of the law and prophets depending on these two commandments.