LAW AND LOVE

LAW AND LOVE “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.” (Exodus 21:5-6)

• Exodus 20:1-17 lists the Ten Commandments. They were written in stone and obedience to the Law was maintained by force!
• In fact, 3,000 were killed at the base of Mount Sinai for breaking the Ten Commandments (Exodus 32:25-29).
• Exodus 21:1-6, the very next chapter, describes two kinds of servants. One servant was bound by law, and the other was bound by love. In this instance love was more demanding than law.
• The law servant was required by law to serve his master only for six years and then was to be set free: “These are the laws you are to set before them: “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything.” (Exodus 21:1-2) Leviticus 25:39-43 explains why some men sold themselves into servitude.
• Against all human wisdom, love, as we have said, is more binding and demanding than law. The love servant does not want to go free! The love servant wants to serve his master as long as he lives. He publicly declares his love for his master before the judges and has his ear pierced as a sign of his love. This was a public and permanent sign of his commitment!
• This story illustrates the kingdom of Christ! Jesus said: “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (John 14:15) Love never fails and will last forever (1 Corinthians 13:8-10).
• It is important to remember that the Kingdom of Christ is based on love, not law!

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT

The Sermon on the Mount is found in Matthew chapters 5-7. Here are a few comparisons Jesus made between law and love. In each instance love is more demanding:

• Jesus taught that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law you will certainly not enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:20).
• The law said “Do not murder” - Jesus said not to be angry with your brother” (Matthew 5:21- 22).
• Jesus said that those who dehumanize their brothers by calling the “Raca” or “Fool” will be in danger of hell fire (Matthew 5:22).
• Jesus taught that being reconciled to your brother takes priority over making an offering (Matthew 5:23-24).
• The law said “Do not commit adultery” but Jesus said not to even lust after a woman (Matthew 5:27-28).
• Jesus said: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your
• enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:38-48)
• Jesus summarized his teaching by saying: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12)
• NOTE THE VERY NEXT VERSE! “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

LOVE IS A NARROW GATE

Please consider that the “narrow gate” that leads to life is the confining commandment to love your neighbor as you love yourself! The word “narrow” comes from the Greek word “stenos” which comes from the root word that means “to groan.” In the parable of the Good Samaritan the priest and the Levite passed by on the other side and refused to help the man who had been wounded by thieves (Luke 10:30-37). If the priest and the Levite were stripped of their clothes, beaten, and half dead they would have wanted someone to help them, but they did not love this stranger as they loved themselves. The Good Samaritan, however, loved the stranger and dared to get involved. He took pity on the man and risked ceremonial uncleanness by bandaging his wounds and pouring in oil and wine. He put the wounded man on his own donkey and took him to an inn. He also left some money with the inn keeper and promised to return and pay any additional expenses. Jesus commanded: “Go and do likewise.”

The story of the rich man and Lazarus is in Luke 16:19-31. Lazarus was a sick beggar who was laid at the rich man’s gate longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Apparently the rich refused to help Lazarus and wound up in hell. “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him. Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” (I John 3:17-18)

Paul expressed it like this to the Romans: “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” (Romans 13:8-10)

And to the Galatians: “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:13-14)

James wrote: “If you really keep the royal law found in the Scripture, ‘love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right.” (James 2:8)

JOB

There are many who believe that the book of Job was the first book of the Bible. We know for certain that it is a very old book. We know that “This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.” (Job 1:1)

We also know that Job was a man who helped those in need: “Whoever heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me, because I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist them. The one who was dying blessed me; I made the widow’s heart sing. I put on righteousness as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy; I took up the case of the stranger. I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth.” (Job 29:11- 17)

This reminds us of Judgement: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” (Matthew 25:31-40)

Love is a central theme throughout all the Bible: “For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.” (1 John 3:11-15)

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” (1 John 4:7-12)

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

After eating the “last supper” with His disciples Jesus predicted that one of them would betray him. Then “They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this. A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. You are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Luke 22:23-30)

When Jesus was born Caesar Augustus rule the world. Remember that Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem because “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.” (Luke 2:1-3) Loyalty to Caesar was enforced with merciless cruelty. Our word “decimate” for example comes from the practice of the Roman army of killing one out of ten of their own soldiers when the army behaved like cowards and failed in an assignment. A cohort was roughly 480 soldiers. When selected for punishment by decimation they were divided into groups of ten. Each group drew lots, and the soldier on whom the lot of the shortest straw fell was executed by his nine comrades, often by stoning, clubbing, or stabbing. The remaining soldiers were given reduced rations and required to sleep outside of the camp until their commanding officer invited them back in.

By contrast, Jesus never forced anyone to follow him! When many turned back and no longer followed Jesus, he asked the twelve if they wanted to leave him too! (John 6:66-69). The apostles followed Jesus because they were constrained by love (2 Corinthians 5:14).

Napoleon Bonaparte is quoted as saying: “Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for him.”

• Earthy kings are often more interested in their own power than they are in people!
• When Rehoboam became king, for example, did not want to serve his people, he wanted them to serve him. He threatened: “My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.” (1 Kings 12:10-11)
• Remember that King Ahab had a poor man named Naboth killed that he might confiscate his vineyard (1 Kings 21:1-16) Such behavior is too often representative of earthly kingdoms.
• Jesus, as you know, was a different kind of a king. His kingdom was built upon love! Jesus washed the feet of His disciples and was among them as one who serves.
• Saul was a bad king and did what God warned the people he would do. He thought more of himself than he did of his people. That’s one reason why God ultimately rejected him (1 Samuel 13:13-14).
• Saul’s sins were many! For example, when his son Jonathan gave Israel a great victory over the Philistines Saul’s pride caused him to want his own son killed. Fortunately the men of Israel rescued Jonathan from the folly of his own father (1 Samuel 14:44-45).
• When Saul disobeyed God in his battle with the Amalekites he was so self centered that instead of giving glory to God he set up a monument in his own honor (1 Samuel 15:12).
• After David saved Israel by killing Goliath Saul became jealous and tried to kill him (1 Samuel 18:8-10).
• When Saul lost communication with God he sought advice from a witch (1 Samuel 28:4-19).
• When Saul was mortally wounded he took his own sword and fell on it (1 Samuel 31:4).
• Saul was a bad king!
• “When the wicked rule, the people groan.” (Proverbs 29:2)
• We repeat! Love is more powerful than law!
• Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8)

THE HOLY SPIRIT AND LOVE

Jesus said: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)

The commandment to love, however, is not a new commandment. Deuteronomy 6:4 commands: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Leviticus 19:18 commands: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus, however, gave a “new” commandment regarding love. He commanded that we are to love one another in the same way that Jesus loves! This is humanly impossible! This kind of love requires the Holy Spirit. That’s why Jesus forbade his apostles to not leave Jerusalem until they received the Holy Spirit. “On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1:4-5) “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

The apostles had been with Jesus for three years. They had heard his teaching about love, but they lacked the power to put it into practice. They not only did not love their enemies, they didn’t even love one another. For months they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. When James and John sought special positions on the right and left of Jesus their request caused the other ten to become indignant (Mark 10:35-45). All of this would change when the Holy Spirit came for “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23) The Jews persecuted Paul throughout the entirety of his ministry for Christ and yet Paul wrote: “I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit—I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises.” (Romans 9:1-4)

MAKE LOVE A PRIORITY

All the commandments of God are important, but some are more important than others. According to Jewish tradition there are 613 commandments in the Torah. The Jews were divided into various sects, like the Pharisees and Sadducees, over which of these commandments was the most important. Hoping to divide the followers of Jesus the Pharisees said: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?” (Matthew 22:36)

All the commandments of God are important, but they are not equally important!

“Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

Note that the two most important commandments in the Bible both involve love!

The church at Corinth did not lack in any spiritual gift (1 Corinthians 1:7). All of their spiritual gifts were important, but love was the most important. Please consider: “Eagerly desire the greatest gifts. And now I show you the most excellent way. If I speak in the tongues, of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self- seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13)