Lawyers Have Always Been the Same
A couple of thousand years ago, the Pharisees and Sadducees (natural enemies) had the same objective: to show up Jesus, whose grassroots popularity was perceived as a threat to their authority.
On the same day (cf. Matthew 22 and Mark 12), they tried to stump him on taxes - "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's;" on the resurrection (the Sadducees didn't believe in it) - "But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living;" and on the law.
The crowds (populace, rabble) were astonished at his answers.
This prompted a lawyer (what do you call 5,000 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean? - a good start; what's the difference between a lawyer and a bucket of pond scum? - the bucket; what's the difference between a dead dog in the road and a dead lawyer in the road? - skid marks in front of the dog) who was actually an expert in Mosaic law (they specialized even way back then), to try to trip him up by asking him something that was disputed by these types as recreation - namely, which of the 613 mitzvot of the Torah is the most important commandment? I think that, being a lawyer, part of his motivation was to display his erudition in public.
Jesus immediately quoted Deuteronomy 6:5 and gave him a bonus: Leviticus 19:18, as the #2 ranked commandment. In case you don't know, he said, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart (your emotions) and with all your soul (your very being) and with all your mind (your intellect)and with all your strength (and give it everything you've got!). The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
He then followed that up with this remarkable statement: "All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
In other words, if just these two were obeyed, not only the other 611 laws found in the Pentateuch; but everything in all of scripture would be obviated. Think about it: if we were to truly love the Lord with every part of our being, we'd be doing God's will all the time. Sin is the opposite of God's will, so sin would be banished.
As for the second one, as Paul told the Philippians, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves."
This reminds me of an illustration I'm fond of using: Dante dreamed that Virgil came to give him another tour of heaven and hell. While in hell, Dante noticed that there were all manner of good things to eat everywhere and everything was in perfect ripeness and succulence. The people there, however, had four-foot sporks (like the combination spoons and forks you get with your mashed potatoes at KFC) growing straight from their elbows. No matter how they contorted their bodies, they could not get any of this food to their mouths. This truly is a doom worthy of the name "hell", thought Dante.
Upon arriving in heaven, Dante noticed all the same kinds of excellent food, but the inhabitants also had the same implements instead of forearms, wrists, and hands. "What's the deal?" he asked Virgil in my translation of his colloquial Italian. Virgil responded, "In heaven, everyone feeds each other."
If each of us only thought of others, then there wouldn't be a need for any kind of law.
Since we can't even obey these two laws, both by heredity and inclination, there needs to be a different solution: let's call it grace.
On the same day (cf. Matthew 22 and Mark 12), they tried to stump him on taxes - "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's;" on the resurrection (the Sadducees didn't believe in it) - "But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living;" and on the law.
The crowds (populace, rabble) were astonished at his answers.
This prompted a lawyer (what do you call 5,000 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean? - a good start; what's the difference between a lawyer and a bucket of pond scum? - the bucket; what's the difference between a dead dog in the road and a dead lawyer in the road? - skid marks in front of the dog) who was actually an expert in Mosaic law (they specialized even way back then), to try to trip him up by asking him something that was disputed by these types as recreation - namely, which of the 613 mitzvot of the Torah is the most important commandment? I think that, being a lawyer, part of his motivation was to display his erudition in public.
Jesus immediately quoted Deuteronomy 6:5 and gave him a bonus: Leviticus 19:18, as the #2 ranked commandment. In case you don't know, he said, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart (your emotions) and with all your soul (your very being) and with all your mind (your intellect)and with all your strength (and give it everything you've got!). The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
He then followed that up with this remarkable statement: "All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
In other words, if just these two were obeyed, not only the other 611 laws found in the Pentateuch; but everything in all of scripture would be obviated. Think about it: if we were to truly love the Lord with every part of our being, we'd be doing God's will all the time. Sin is the opposite of God's will, so sin would be banished.
As for the second one, as Paul told the Philippians, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves."
This reminds me of an illustration I'm fond of using: Dante dreamed that Virgil came to give him another tour of heaven and hell. While in hell, Dante noticed that there were all manner of good things to eat everywhere and everything was in perfect ripeness and succulence. The people there, however, had four-foot sporks (like the combination spoons and forks you get with your mashed potatoes at KFC) growing straight from their elbows. No matter how they contorted their bodies, they could not get any of this food to their mouths. This truly is a doom worthy of the name "hell", thought Dante.
Upon arriving in heaven, Dante noticed all the same kinds of excellent food, but the inhabitants also had the same implements instead of forearms, wrists, and hands. "What's the deal?" he asked Virgil in my translation of his colloquial Italian. Virgil responded, "In heaven, everyone feeds each other."
If each of us only thought of others, then there wouldn't be a need for any kind of law.
Since we can't even obey these two laws, both by heredity and inclination, there needs to be a different solution: let's call it grace.
posted by Jim at 8:09 AM
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