Jesus’ Authority Challenged
Tuesday morning of #HolyWeek, Jesus returns to Jerusalem after spending Monday evening in Bethany. Again, He makes His way to the Temple just one day after chasing out all the money changers, tax collectors, and thieves. While teaching in the Temple, Jesus was confronted and challenged by the chief priests and elders who were clearly only interested in trapping Jesus in His own words for the purpose of humiliating Him in front of the multitudes, having Him arrested, and killed for the chief priests feared the influence He was developing over His flock. At one point, a lawyer among the Pharisees questions Jesus about which is the greatest commandment. The response Jesus gave is one of the most often repeated scriptures from the book of Matthew:
#RadicalWords – Matthew 22:36-40 (ESV)
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
In this response, Jesus took great care in not promoting one command over another and He essentially redefined the essence of the entire law – love the Lord with everything you have and to love your neighbor as yourself meaning that we should have the same care and concern for others as we do ourselves.