The law says love, the prophets say love, Jesus says love

The Pharisees wanted an argument. They majored on the laws of the Old Testament and developed hundreds of other laws to protect those laws. They were strict. They told people that God commanded no work on the Sabbath, but defined that by saying no one could light a fire and Jesus could not heal the sick on the Sabbath. Their rules created burdens that people could not carry.

Jesus upset these lawmakers so they decided to trip Him by asking which is the greatest commandment in the law. His answer is well known. He basically said the first was to love God and the second to love others. Then He said this,

On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 22:40)

Loving others can easily be seen to cover all the laws and commandments, but what about Jesus’ reference to the Prophets? How do they fit into this response?

Most commentaries say that Jesus meant simply that His two points about loving are covered by the entire Old Testament. The first part is historical and contains God’s commandments. The second half contains books of prophecies. The role of God’s prophets is a key concept.

Prophets are people to whom God revealed His will and gave the special charge of preaching that will to the people. They knew the commandments and the prophets cried out for obedience to those commandments. They did this with the same spirit that Jesus demonstrated, meaning obedience must be from the heart because God’s commands were not intended as rules regarding external behavior.

One of my commentaries puts it this way: Without love, “Obedience to commandments degenerates into mere legalism.” That is, if someone really loves God, they will pursue the welfare of others, regardless of race, class, or economic condition. This is the true meaning of a neighbor. Love is not a feeling but sacrificial action on behalf of someone else.

Both the Law and the Prophets called for the kind of love described in the New Testament but the people didn’t get it or refused to obey it. Instead, they turned it into a list of do’s and don’ts which became their foundation for pleasing God.

Jesus came and upset them again, just as the prophets had before Him. They didn’t want anyone telling them that they needed their hearts changed, so they rejected as they had done with the prophets before Him, then crucified Him.

Every day, people reject Jesus for the same reason. They will do good deeds and treat people as well as they can, but Jesus raises the bar. No one wants to be told by the Law, or the Prophets, or by Jesus Christ that they fall short and need a great transformation to attain the righteousness that pleases God.

The Bible is a large and complex book, yet this is the simplicity of it. God commands us to genuinely love Him and others from the heart. The Law gives the command, but also shows me that I fall short. The Prophets cry out and expose my need to love, but also my need to do it from the heart.

Into this scene walks Jesus Christ who offers me His love to covers my shortfall and His life that pours His love into me and through me, a love that pleases God. My part is being willing to receive Him and to pass on what He gives me.

This simple truth tripped up the Pharisees. They wanted a larger role in salvation and when Jesus presented the impossibility of them saving themselves, they went beyond turning their backs and walking away. As the prophet Isaiah said, “He was led as a lamb to the slaughter.”

However, God used that slaughter for our good. He said through Isaiah, “He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.”

This is love, not that I loved God, but that He loved me and gave Himself for me.