Monday, October 10
The hinge of love
Scripture: Ezekiel 13-14, Matthew 22
Matthew 22:40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”
Observation
When asked which commandment is the greatest, Jesus answered that first we must love God with all we’ve got, and second we must love our neighbor as ourselves. “All the Law and Prophets depend on these two commands.”
The word “depend” is literally “hang,” but most translations render it “depend.” “As a door hangs on its hinges, so the whole Old Testament hangs on these two commands.” (Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich, Danker, Greek English Lexicon). The door depends on the hinges to turn. In the same way, all of God’s commands are only possible if we love God and people. They come from love, express love, and are fulfilled by love. Without love, they are impossible.
St. Augustine put it this way: Love God and do what you want. He believed that if we loved God first, all our other desires would be shaped and conformed to God’s will.
If we love God with all we’ve got and love our neighbor like ourselves, we will do all that the law requires…and more. All the law is summed up in these two commands. (Romans 13:8-10)
There is a well-known story in which a man told Rabbi Hillel that he would become a proselyte if Hillel taught him the whole Torah while he stood on one foot. Hillel replied, “What is hateful to you do not to your neighbor: that is the whole Torah, while the rest is the commentary thereof” (Shab. 31a).
Application
Golfers know that you can’t have more than one swing thought. There were over 600 commands in the Jewish Law, far too many to know, remember and do. Jesus gives us one swing thought to fulfill them all: love. Love God and love people.
Love is doing what is best for another no matter what it costs me.
So today, I want every action and thought and word to be motivated by love, by what is best for God and others. It’s a tall order—but a single swing thought.
Prayer: Lord, help me today to “hang” my whole life—every thought, word, and deed—on the hinge of love!