But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered 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?”
Have you stopped beating your wife? This is an example of a loaded question. It is loaded because, no matter how it is answered, it blows up in your face. Here was a classic loaded question to Jesus. If Jesus chose one of the 10 Commandments, he would be accused of denying the other nine. The answer he gave could not be argued with, It was the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4, to love the Lord our God. Then, as Jesus so often did, he raised the bar with a second commandment they were not ready for.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
If they thought they were going to trap Jesus and do harm to him, this reply broke the loaded question. They certainly were not ready to love their neighbor.
Instead, they were ready to reject him and kill him. So many people in the world would agree that it is good to love their neighbor but precious few do so. Instead, they reject Jesus based on things done by Christians that did not love their neighbor. It is time we are able to answer the questions put to us by opponents with the answer Jesus gave. May we love the Lord and love our neighbor today. It will disarm those who would reject Jesus and perhaps lead them to love him as well.
Dear Lord, thank you that you answer the questions of your critics with love. Teach us to be Christlike in this way and love our neighbor. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church