GOSPEL READING:
Matthew 22:34-4034 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, to test him. 36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" 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. 38 This is the great and first commandment.39 And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets."
Meditation: What is the purpose of God's law and
commandments? The Pharisees prided themselves in the knowledge of
the law of Moses and the ritual requirements of the law. They made
it a life-time practice to study the 613 precepts of the Torah -
the books of the Old Testament containing the Law of Moses - along
with the numerous rabbinic commentaries on the law. The religious
authorities tested Jesus to see if he correctly understood the law
as they did. Jesus startled them with his profound simplicity and
mastery of the law of God and its purpose.
God's love rules all
Jesus summarized the whole of the law in two great commandments
found in Deuteronomy 6:5 - "You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your
might" - and Leviticus 19:18 - "you shall love your neighbor
as yourself". God's love directs all that he does - His love is
holy, just, and pure because it seeks only what is good,
beneficial, and life-giving - rather than what is destructive,
evil, or deadly. That is why he commands us to love - to accept
and to give only what is good, lovely, just, and pure and to
reject whatever is contrary.
God puts us first in his thoughts
God is love and everything he does flows from his love for us (1
John 3:1, 4:7-8, 16). God puts us first in his thoughts and
concerns - do we put him first in our thoughts? God loved us first
(1 John 4:19) and our love for him is a response to his exceeding
goodness and kindness towards us. The love of God comes first and
the love of neighbor is firmly grounded in the love of God. The
more we know of God's love, truth, and goodness, the more we love
what he loves and reject whatever is hateful and contrary to his
will. God commands us to love him first above all else - his love
orients and directs our thoughts, intentions, and actions to what
is wholly good and pleasing to him. He wants us to love him
personally, wholeheartedly, and without any reservation or
compromise.
The nature of love - giving to others for their sake
What is the nature of love? Love is the gift of giving oneself for
the good of others - it is wholly other oriented and directed to
the welfare and benefit of others. Love which is rooted in
pleasing myself is self-centered and possessive - it is a selfish
love that takes from others rather than gives to others. It is a
stunted and disordered love which leads to many hurtful and sinful
desires - such as jealousy, greed, envy, and lust. The root of all
sin is disordered love and pride which is fundamentally putting
myself above God and my neighbor - it is loving and serving self
rather than God and neighbor. True love, which is wholly directed
and oriented to what is good rather than evil, is rooted in God's
truth and righteousness (moral goodness).
How God loves us
God loves us wholly, completely, and perfectly for our sake -
there is no limit, no holding back, no compromising on his part.
His love is not subject to changing moods or circumstances. When
God gives, he gives generously, abundantly, freely, and without
setting conditions to the gift of his love. His love does not
waver, but is firm, consistent, and constant. He loves us in our
weakness - in our fallen and sinful condition. That is why the
Father sent his only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to
redeem us from slavery to sin and its disordered cravings,
desires, passions, and addictions. God the Father always seeks us
out to draw us to his throne of mercy and help. God the Father
corrects and disciplines us in love to free us from the error of
our wrong ways of thinking and choosing what is harmful and evil
rather than choosing what is good and wholesome for us. Do you
freely accept God's love and do you willingly choose to obey his
commandments?
We do not earn God's love - it is freely given
How can we possibly love God above all else and obey his
commandments willingly and joyfully, and how can we love our
neighbor and willing lay down our life for their sake? Paul the
Apostle tells us that "hope does not disappoint us, because
God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy
Spirit which has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). We do not
earn God's love - it is freely given to those who open their heart
to God and who freely accept the gift of the Holy Spirit. Ask the
Lord Jesus to flood your heart with his love through the gift of
the Holy Spirit.
Love grows with faith and hope
What makes our love for God and his commands grow in us? Faith in
God and hope in his promises strengthens us in the love of God.
They are essential for a good relationship with God, for being
united with him. The more we know of God the more we love him and
the more we love him the greater we believe and hope in his
promises. The Lord Jesus, through the gift of the Holy Spirit,
gives us a new freedom to love as he loves. Paul the Apostle
writes, "For freedom Christ has set us free... only do not use
your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh [sinful
inclinations], but through love be servants of one another"
(Galatians 5:1,13). Do you allow anything to keep you from the
love of God and the joy of serving others with a generous
heart?
Lord Jesus, your love surpasses all. Flood my heart with your love and increase my faith and hope in your promises. Help me to give myself in generous service to others as you have so generously given yourself to me.
Psalm 146:1-2, 5-10
1 Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul!
2 I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have being.
5 Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,
6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith for ever;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free;
8 the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous.
9 The LORD watches over the sojourners, he upholds the widow and the fatherless; but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
10 The LORD will reign for ever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD!
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Loving God with heart, mind, and soul, by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD)
"Worthy is he, confirmed in all his gifts, who exults in the
wisdom of God, having a heart full of the love of God, and a soul
completely enlightened by the lamp of knowledge and a mind filled
with the word of God. It follows then that all such gifts truly
come from God. He would understand that all the law and the
prophets are in some way a part of the wisdom and knowledge of
God. He would understand that all the law and the prophets depend
upon and adhere to the principle of the love of the Lord God and
of neighbor and that the perfection of piety consists in love." (excerpt
from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 13)
