Thursday, April 9, 2009

Today's Passage: Matthew 22

Matthew has always been one of my favorite books to read, and this chapter reminds me why. It is full of great stories about the time of Christ. I love how He not only answers their questions, but then throws one back at them that leaves them speechless. I think my favorite part of this chapter is the greatest commandment section.

I love this section because the answer that Jesus gives them is pretty clear and expected, at first. I mean the Old Testament would be pretty clear that you are to put God above all else. Most of them would have been totally on board with that. It makes perfect sense. 'Love the Lord with all your heart and soul and mind' covers basically all you need to know about your relationship with God. If you are doing that, then you are living right.

It is the second part he throws in that I think probably caught them off guard on so many levels. I mean they just asked for one answer and Jesus goes and adds in a second. It is as if Jesus was saying to them and “when you figure that one out, why don’t you try this one on.” They were probably so shocked that they did not even process what he said. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” What does that even mean? I know I did not really process that for most of my life. But then one day a light just came on and the statement, love your neighbor as yourself screamed out at me!

It took a deep contemporary theologian named Terrell Owens for this passage to finally make sense for me. (Yes that Terrell Owens, and by deep contemporary theologian, I mean self-absorbed football player.) He has a quote that I love for the sheer shock value, “I love me some me!” That just about sums up how we all feel about ourselves, he just has the courage to admit it on national television. I think the word is courage? Anyways, from that point on it made total sense to me.

I love me some me too. I mean I care for myself and do not want any harm to come to me, I do not want to go without a meal, I do not let myself go without clothing, I do not want myself to go without shelter, I do not want to be lonely, and I really did not want myself to spend eternity separated from God. Oh how that light bulb turning on convicted me. I am supposed to love my neighbor just like I love myself!! Everything I would not go without, I should want the same for my neighbor. Everything that I would not want to go through, Hell, I should want the same for my neighbor. So, I should do everything in my power to make sure they don’t. I would never let bad things happen to myself that I could prevent, and I would never go without if I could prevent it. I, we, are supposed to have that same love for our neighbor that we have for ourselves, and by neighbor, Jesus means basically anyone you could come in contact with. How revolutionary would it be if we took this command to love our neighbor as ourselves and made it our life goal? This type of love is the type of love that allows God to do things that only He can do. This type of love is the type of love that only God can help you have. Jesus, as he always is, was spot on with Love the Lord your God having to come first. We are fallen people and cannot sustain a love for our neighbor if the love for God is not the support for it. God is the only one that can break that selfish streak we have and give us a heart for our neighbor. My prayer today is that God breaks my heart and yours for our neighbors and we start seeing things that only God can do. Four little verses rocked my world and the way that I see everything. Today, I hope you look at those verses again, and I pray that they ruin your view on life like they ruined mine a while back.