Thoughts on Matthew 22:37-40

Thoughts on Matthew 22:37-40 by David C. Grabbe

"Jesus said to him, You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.(38) This is the first and great commandment. (39) And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (40) On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

The Ten Commandments can be summarized in two overall principles: love toward God (Deuteronomy 6:5) and love toward neighbor (Leviticus 19:18). The first four commandments deal with our relationship with God, and the last six commandments expound on our relationship with fellow man.

What does it mean to have a relationship with God?

An analogy is frequently used to describe the relationship between Christ and the church is that of a groom and a bride (Revelation 21:1-4). Likewise, Paul writes in II Corinthians 11:2: "For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ."

The word "betrothed" seems somewhat archaic; today, we would say the church is "engaged" to Christ. By making the New Covenant with Him, we have agreed to spend all eternity with Him, but at present, we are within the period preceding the marriage described in Revelation 19:7-9. Following the analogy, we are to be preparing ourselves for this future relationship. During this preparation time, the parties involved are getting to know each other.

God has already established a regular meeting time with us—a "date," as it were. Every week, that part of our schedule is already determined. Amos 3:3 asks, "Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?" In other words, can a person meet with another if they have not determined a unity of mind?

Church attendance has been specially designated as the Bride's time with Jesus Christ. It is the place where believers meet to be edified in the tenets of the faith. This does not mean that we should restrict our interaction with Him to this day; on the contrary, part of each day should be devoted to prayer and Bible study. Nevertheless, this is a primary reason the seventh day has been set apart and made holy.

On a spiritual level, we are commanded to assemble, and part of our Sabbath is intended to be for fellowship with those of like precious faith.

All of our conversation should advance our relationship with God. Nothing else is as important as our focus on Him. Are we demonstrating to God by our actions on this day that we are eagerly looking forward to spending eternity with Him?

If our actions don't demonstrate our focus on Him, are we indeed looking forward to eternity in His presence?