Good evening folks,


Tonight's session focussed on two passages from the Bible: Matthew 22.34-40 which says (in the New Living Translation)

34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again. 35 One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”
37 Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”



And 1 Corinthians 13.1

13 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

In the first passage we see the Pharisees trying to trick Jesus into saying something that would land him in a whole lot of trouble. For instance, if he'd answered that the greatest commandment was to have no other gods but the one true God, the Pharisees could have accused him of condoning (or supporting) murder and stealing as crimes.

But Jesus has an important advantage over the Pharisees: He is God.

This means that he knows the scriptures well -- he ought to, he inspired the writers, he wrote the scriptures himself through men like Moses -- it also means that he understands what the scriptures actually mean. Unlike the religious leaders of the time who have obviously become confused over time.

The first part of the Greatest Commandment, as it is known, comes from Deuteronomy 6.5 and the second part comes from Leviticus 19.18. so why these two?

The answer comes in the word that links the two passages -- Love.

This is then clarified, or strengthened, by Paul in his letter to the church in Corinth. What Paul is saying essentially, is that everything we do in life should be driven by love. If we do things (no matter how wonderful) without love being the driving force we are missing the point.

As Trevor pointed out tonight, that is one bold statement. Even more so in the Message translation:

No matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

Wow. That is a truly challenging viewpoint.

So here's the thing... how much are we driven by love?

How much are you driven by love? And how can you tell?