Loving God

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. [Deuteronomy 6.4]

and,

“…you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.” [Leviticus 19.18]

I said in a previous post that these two commands, which Jesus said are the greatest, are like “hooks” on a wall upon which the rest of the Law and Prophets hang on.  Jesus says, “On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” – implying that without these two commands the Law and the Prophets are meaningless, and vice versa.  You can read the rest of the post here.

In that post I also suggested that one reason why the Body of Messiah has been so divided over the years is because of a mishandling [to say it nicely] of the Law of God.  The general consensus, especially among Evangelicals, is that the Law [given at Mt. Sinai] is not applicable to those who follow Jesus.  Put in familiar terms, “Jesus did away with the Law.”  The follow is not so much evidence for why I think that the Law is good, for our good, and most definitely for those who follow Jesus [Jew and Gentile alike]; rather, I wish to elaborate a bit on this statement I made:

…if we do not obey God according to what He’s already said we ought to do to love Him and our neighbor, then we are going to have to come up with our own “law” on what to obey in order to do this.

Every people needs a law.  A law-less people live in anarchy, right?  Every child needs laws, at least in order for that child to grow into a descent human being and for their potential to be drawn out, rather than snuffed.  Every employer has rules; every contract has stipulations; every product has instructions; every healthy relationship has boundaries.  Every people needs a law to live by in order for that people to function in a way that is positive rather than destructive. 

God’s Kingdom is no different.  In fact, I would go as far to say that God’s Law [which is meant to govern his subjects] is not simply a viable option among many that one can pick to follow.  No, I would say that his Law is the epitome of Law; the paradigm with no possible way of shifting [cf. James 1.17].  This is not to say that we can literally observe all that exists in it, or even that it all literally applies to me, personally.  I don’t menstruate; I’m not a Levite; I don’t have children, etc.  Just like any law of any land, there are parts that apply to you, and there are some that do not.  The essence and purpose of law is to establish and maintain shalom and righteousness [not a "saving" righteousness, but a righteousness between peoples].

Consider the creation of the Law in America [in the beginning anyway].  It was largely constructed from the principles found in God’s Law.  Granted, it was not word for word; nonetheless they at least saw the beauty and “life” that existed in it.  Why can’t we?

I believe this is where we first go wrong – not recognizing the beauty and life that God’s commandments possess and offer.  And why don’t we?  It seems that more often than not it is because we do not know, or are not familiar with what the Law even says!  [When was the last time you heard a sermon on Leviticus 19?]  Surely James [Jacob] saw God’s commands for what they were, which led him to call it the “perfect law,” and even the “law of liberty” [James 1.25; cf. Romans 7.12]. 

If we ignore God’s commands then we will create our own law, for we need law.  If we, as God’s people, look to our own devices to come up with a law for us to follow, what does that communicate to the King?  If we neglect the Law that our Master followed perfectly and created! – what does that imply?  The traditional arguments employed to say the Law is done away with cannot be accepted simply on the basis of them not being logical, or consistent with traditional doctrine and especially the Scriptures themselves. 

Therefore, the question we must entertain is not “Is the Law applicable to those who follow Jesus,” rather “What was the purpose of the Law?” and, “How can I obey?”

ἀκούω [to hear]

akouō – ak-oo’-o

“No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.” [Luke 8.18; ESV]

What is Jesus communicating here?  What does the imperative “Take care then how you hear” mean?  What is hidden that will be made manifest? 

Just prior to these statements Jesus not only shares the parable of the four soils, but also explains why he teaches in parables.  Immediately following this passage, Luke records the account where Jesus describes the kind of people who are really his “mother” and “brothers” – namely, “…those who hear the word of God and do it.”   

In light of this context we can begin to gather a good understanding of the questions above.

“No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on stand, so that those who enter may see the light.”  Jesus, has lit the lamp that most clearly reveals the Father for who he is [cf. John 14.7].  Through his life and teaching this lamp will continue to shine and Jesus has no intention of covering it or putting it under a bed [cf. John 17.4].  He has it out for those who want to see it.  Jesus intends to not hide everything forever; eventually what is secret or unknown will be made known and known by all [cf. Jer. 31.31-34]. 

“Take care then how you hear…”  This is a very practical imperative.  Said another way – “Choose wisely how you respond to what I am saying.  Those who have the intention of obeying what I say, more understanding and knowledge will be given to them.  But to those who do not intend to respond according to what I say, all they they think they have will be taken from them.” 

To have “ears to hear” [cf. Luke 8.8] means to have the desire to obey.  To shema [hear] means to obey [respond accordingly]. 

“Take care then how you hear” makes much more sense in light of this, huh?        

[For another side to all this reference this post.]

שׁמע ישׂראל [hear/obey, Israel]

“Which commandment is most important of all?” – the man asked him.  Jesus replied, “Hear, O Israel; the LORD is our God, the LORD is one.  You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.”  Jesus continued, “You’ve understood this to be the summarization of the entire Law, and rightly so.  You’ve also understood that the rest of the commandments listed are the details of how one actually walks out “loving God” with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength – and again, rightly so.  But I say unto you, love God how you want to love God and you will do well.”

Whoa! That’s not in the Gospel account!  No, it is not.  However, it sure seems to be what people believe Jesus said.  For this common and unfortunate error I am fearful.  For another place in the Gospels Jesus is recorded saying:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets.  I have not come to abolish them, but to [fill full] them.  For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.  Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. [Matt. 5.17-19; adjustment mine]

Immediately following his response to the man who inquired of Jesus what he thought the greatest commandment was, Jesus said, “The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no other commandment greater than these.” [Mark 12.31] Matthew records the ending of this encounter [or maybe a separate, but similar encounter] with Jesus saying, “On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” [Matt. 22.40]  In other words, Jesus is assuming the observance of “all the Law and the Prophets”, but his answer alludes to and emphasizes that those “parts” are always done in vain apart from the person’s initial intent of loving God while doing them.  [cf. Psalm 51; contrast v.16 and v.19]

Picture the two greatest commandments as hooks on a wall.  Just like you would hang a coat up on a hook to keep it off the floor, so to all the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.  Without these commandments, the rest of the Law and the Prophets are useless.  On the flip side, without something to hang on these “hooks”, the “hooks” are useless!

When Jesus answers the man with the response noted above he undoubtedly had in mind the rest of the Law and Prophets as being the “means” on how one actually does these two.  Another way of looking at it is by admitting that these two commands are more or less about your heart and intent in doing what you do.  [There really is no innate practicality in these commandments.]  With that said, if we do not obey God according to what He’s already said we ought to do to love Him and our neighbor, then we are going to have to come up with our own “law” on what to obey in order to do this.  [This is one reason why the Body of Messiah is so divided and often a poor example of love today.  More on this in a later post.]

Chances are that the “law” you obey, if not God’s commandments in the Torah, are closely aligned with the Torah and you just don’t know it yet.  And for this we give thanks and praise to the Holy Spirit who provokes us to love as God has designed and called us to do!  But, at the same time we must not neglect our call to maturity and true representation of our Savior!