It’s the Law!

“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.                                                                      Matthew 5:17

But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.  Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying,“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”  Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.                                          Matthew 22:34-40

When it came to the law, the Hebrew teachers had it down. They memorized it, interpreted it, and wrote books about how to enforce it. If God said it, you better comply! They were strict enforcers of the law, believing that it was what God wanted. They were, I believe, motivated by right desires. They wanted to please God. The problem, of course here is pride. No one can completely fulfil the law simply by our own heroic efforts of adhering to the strictest standards. The point is, we are unable, in our own power to comply with those laws.  

Jesus said that he did not come to abolish that law, but to fulfill it. He came to explain, by modeling in the flesh, how such laws were to be fulfilled. He explained very clearly what compliance is- “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.   

What the Lord of the Universe wants is for us to love him, and to love our fellow travelers on earth like ourselves. In the words of the recovery community, this is simple- but it isn’t easy. We can only truly fulfill these commandments to the extent that we are submitted to the Holy Spirit, who empowers us to do those simple (but not easy) commandments.

Prayer: Lord, help us to do the simple commands that you gave us, Amen