THREE TABLES

                                                                    THREE TABLES 

34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:34-40.

Introduction

Jesus had been doing battle with theological legalists and theological liberals. The Pharisees, the theological legalists, had just asked Jesus back in Matthew 22:17, “Tell us then, what is Your opinion? Is it right, [some render this word as “lawful”], is it lawful to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?” In other words, is it in accordance with the Old Testament Scriptures to pay taxes to Caesar? To which Jesus gave His famous reply, Matthew 22:21, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.

Then the Sadducees, the theological liberals, the ones who don’t believe in the Resurrection and angels, also tried to trip Jesus in His words. Matthew 22:28, “Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?” Jesus replied telling them that at the Resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but will be like the angels in Heaven. Yes, you Pharisees, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.”

“When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching” Matthew 22:33. Should we pay taxes? Yes! Should we believe in the Resurrection? Yes! Why? Because the Scriptures and the power of God tell you to.

Verses of Scripture could be piled up about paying taxes, the Resurrection, and the power of God. And it’s all about knowing the Scriptures, including the Old Testament.

But that wasn’t my sermon. That was merely my introduction! With that background, I’d like us to consider Matthew 22:37-40 in particular.     

 

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40.  

A Table for God

Jesus had been dueling with the Pharisees, then the Sadducees who were all trying to trip Him up in His words. Now it’s the turn of an expert in the Law. Notice what Jesus says is the first and greatest commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” That is part of the Shema in Deuteronomy. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children.” Deuteronomy 6:4-6b.

What was the promise that God made in Jeremiah 31:33-34 picked up again in Hebrews 10:16? “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time says the Lord. I will put My laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” God has written His laws on your heart, soul, and mind!

What laws? God’s laws! What are God’s laws? Hint. There’re ten of them. The Decalogue, God’s ten words, i.e., the Ten Commandments, have been written by God the Holy Spirit on every Christian’s heart. Think about that. Paul says, “For we know that the law is spiritual” Romans 7:14a. And we know that spiritual things are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14). Your heart, like the Ark of the Covenant of old, now contains the Ten Commandments! Wow!

God spoke ten commands, i.e., ten times we read, “and God said, ‘Let there be…, Let Us…’” etc. in Genesis 1, as He spoke things into being. No doubt there is a relationship between those ten words spoken by God and the ten words, as in the Ten Commandments.

Are you able to rattle off the Ten Commandments like you can the Lord’s Prayer? Anyway, loving God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind has to do with what we call the first table of the Law. It’s a table for God.

A table, if you don’t know, is a tablet, like the two tablets of stone, upon which the finger of God had written the Ten Commandments, you know, the ones that Moses came down the mountain with.

God, the same LORD who brought Israel out of Egypt the land of slavery, has brought you the Christian out of the world, i.e., the land of slavery to self, sin, and Satan.

Pharaoh was a puppet of Satan. Pharaoh represented the Devil. All of us are in bondage to Satan till the LORD our God sets us free from our captivity to sin. Once He sets you free, then He gives you a new heart, a new nature, and a new record. He writes His laws on your heart and mind.

Now, firstly, you are to have no other gods but God. Secondly, you are not to form any false images of God in your mind or physically by your hands. And you have certainly not to bow down, i.e., submit to any of them. Thirdly, you are not to take the LORD’s name in vain. You are not to misuse His name. And fourthly, you are to work diligently six days a week. But you are to set aside one day out of every seven to Sabbath, i.e., is to rest. Sabbath means rest, i.e., rest in God.

Put God first in everything. Form no idols. Always honour His name. And whether you’re a butcher, baker, candlestick maker, or even retired, honour God by doing stuff for six days, but mind and rest one day in every seven. Go to church on Sunday and rest in the Lord, i.e., rest in the finished work of Christ.

The Lord’s Day, i.e., the Christian Sabbath, is a window through which we glimpse Heaven. Take away the Sabbath and you take away a picture of Heaven, i.e., Christians at rest with the Lord in their midst.

His covenant promise to us, as stated in Jeremiah 30:32 for example, is, “So you will be My people, and I will be your God”. This is God’s Covenant Promise, and is a refrain repeated throughout the Scriptures. And what is God’s Covenant Law? The Ten Commandments including the preamble, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” Exodus 20:1b. Therefore, “You shall have no other gods before Me” etc.

God uses covenant language as He covenants with you, His people. In any covenant, generally, there is a preamble stating who the covenanting party is with a bit of history, then the covenant stipulations, which, of course, have certain penalties attached or implied for breaking any of them.

  Therefore, when Jesus says, that the first and greatest commandment is, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”, He is simply summarizing the first table of the Law. And, in accordance with the 1^st Commandment, He is putting God first.

Then He goes on to talk about the second table. Before we look at the second table, i.e., the table for your neighbour, let us summarize. The first four Commandments teach us our duty towards God.

1.     No god but God. 2. No images of God. 3. No misusing His name. And, 4. No forgetting to honour Him by taking one day’s rest every week.

How do you keep the first table? You’ve to do so by using the new spirit that God has given you along with your new heart, i.e., the spirit of love. You keep the first table of the law by loving “the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” out of gratitude for what He has done for you in Jesus Christ.

A Table for Your Neighbour

The second table of God’s Law teaches us our duty towards our fellow human beings. Now, if you’re anything like me, and I know you are, because we’re all fallen human beings, you’ll find some people harder to love than others.

Though not always true because we’re fallen, but it’s usually easiest to love mum, dad, i.e., parents, then sisters, brothers, i.e., siblings, then friends. However, you’ll find as you go through life that there’re some people who bring out the worst in you, maybe the playground bully, some religious nutcase, or some politician, just fill in the blanks.

Anyway, some people seem to have a gift of showing you that, like chips and bashes, and old beer and wine stains on a wooden table, there still remain sin-stains on your heart. There is a residue of sin that can spoil the beauty of the new heart that God has given you, the new fleshly table or tablet with the Law written on it by His finger, i.e., your heart.

However, if you find yourself detesting, i.e., hating another human being, the good news is that, for the Christian, the Holy Spirit will convict your spirit of this wrongdoing, i.e., this breaking of God’s Law. Which of the Ten Commandments specifically teaches us not to hate? Yes, the “You shall not murder” Commandment, i.e., the 6^th Commandment.

Jesus summarizes the last six Commandments, i.e., the second table of the Law by saying, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Where did He get that idea from? Yes, Leviticus 19:18, “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” Leviticus 19:18.

How do you love your neighbour as yourself? By honouring fathers and mothers, i.e., all those in lawful authority, by not murdering other human beings either physically or spiritually, i.e., by hating them in your heart.

By being sexually pure before marriage and during marriage, by not stealing possessions from others, including their good name, by not telling lies, i.e., distorting the truth, and by not sinfully desiring or coveting or lusting after things. Dead easy! Not!

Some people think those signs you see on approaches to motorways are funny, the ones that say, “Wrong Way. Go Back”. The two tables of the Law, or, as summarized by Jesus in these two commandments about loving God and your neighbour as yourself, are a signpost. The Commandments point you to Jesus.

Of the two commandments, i.e., the summary of the two tables of the Law, Jesus says, “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Jesus is speaking of the Old Testament when He says, “the Law and the Prophets”. Another way of saying Old Testament is Old Covenant. The Old Testament or Covenant shows us our need for a new covenant.

In Acts 15:10 Peter calls the old covenant with all its stipulations, “a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear.” The Apostle Paul puts it like this in Galatians 3,

“Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one.

Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.” Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. Galatians 3:19-22.

The administration of the covenant under Moses was very strict. There was the Moral Law, i.e., the Ten Commandments, there was the Judicial or Civil Law that applied to Israel as a corporate body. And then there was the Ceremonial Law. The Ceremonial Law essentially was the Gospel in the Old Testament, wherein everything, from Circumcision to Passover, Tabernacle to Temple, animal sacrifices to High Priests were all signposts pointing to Jesus.

But now that the reality to which the signposts were pointing has come, the Ceremonial Law has been done away with. We can study, gather and apply general principles from Old Testament Judicial or Civil Law, but it has gone with the dissolution of Israel as a Theocratic state with the coming of Christ, and especially at the demolition of the Temple. However, the Moral Law, i.e., the Ten Commandments, remains.

The Presbyterian Church of Babinda up in Far North Queensland had a huge block of wood with the Ten Commandments written on it standing behind the pulpit, forcing the congregation to view them every Sunday. The church building was demolished in a cyclone during the 1980s. The only thing left standing was the huge block of wood bearing the Ten Commandments!

It’s interesting to note the word “hang” in, “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” These two commandments summarizing the Ten Commandments are the two well-driven nails upon which the whole of the Bible, Old and New Testaments, like a picture hangs.

The Ten Commandments, and as summarized by Jesus in the two commandments, love God and neighbour, are revelation of the character of God, in whose image and likeness we have been made. Christians are being remade into that perfect image.

A Table for Two

Jesus brings the two tables of the Law together. The writer to the Hebrews says,

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1:1-3.

Jesus, the Son, is the “exact representation” of God’s being. Who is Jesus? Jesus is God and Man in one Divine Person forever. Jesus is the One who is answering the question that the lawyer put to Him to test Him, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Then Jesus summarizes the two tables of the Law.

“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.’

If Jesus is truly God, then you are to love Him as God. Jesus first in all things. No false images of Him. No using His name as a swear word. Remembering Him at work, rest, and play, and that we rest in Him.

And if Jesus is truly Man, then we are to love Him as we love ourselves. Honour Him as you would your parents, look out for His wellbeing as in not murdering Him in any way shape, or form. Be faithful to Him as a bride to her Husband, His Church being His bride. Not stealing from Him, including not stealing any of His glory. Not denying or lying about Him. And not coveting anything but Him.

Jesus is the incarnation of God. Isaiah says that He is our covenant. Of Jesus, God says, “I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles” Isaiah 42:6b, (see also Isaiah 49:8). Jesus is God’s Covenant Promise, and He is His Covenant Law. Everyone on Judgment Day will be judged by and against Jesus. As Peter says in Acts 10:42,

“And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead” Acts 10:42.

Jesus is God clothed in the garments of human flesh. He is the Middle Person in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Three Persons, but one God.

Where does the love come from with which you are to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbour as yourself? Love comes from God. God is love. Love is eternal because God is eternal. The eternal Father eternally loves the eternal Son and the eternal Spirit, just as the Son eternally loves the Father and the Spirit, and as the Spirit eternally loves the Father and the Son.

So, we see then that each Person in the Godhead loves the Other Persons. Each Person, therefore, loves God and He loves His Neighbour as Himself. Each Person is looking out for the wellbeing of each of the other Persons, and for the Godhead as a whole. Thus, God loves God and His Neighbour as Himself.

When God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” He did so by writing His Covenant Law, albeit in positive terms, upon his heart. Paul in Romans 2:15 alludes to this when he says that the Gentiles, “have the requirements of the law written on their hearts” and talks about their consciences either accusing them or excusing them.

So, to be made in the image and likeness of God, whatever else it means, means that we were designed by God to reflect Him by loving God and our neighbour as ourselves. But we don’t! How do we know we don’t? God’s Law shows us that we don’t. And the Holy Spirit convicts us. And we look away from ourselves to the Saviour of sinners. i.e., Jesus, for forgiveness.

Jesus is God’s Law as it were with arms and legs. He loved God with all His heart, soul, and mind, and He loved His neighbour as Himself. Indeed, He kept God’s Law in its entirety perfectly! And He did it for love. “For God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” John 3:16.

The Son honoured His Father by being obedient to Him even unto death. And, by dying on the cross to pay for our sins He has reconciled us to God. Jesus Christ is the two tables of the Law in the flesh.

The Gospel is the spirit of the Law. The spirit of the Law is about loving God and your neighbour as yourself. Therefore, not only is Jesus the Law of God with arms and legs, but His also the Gospel of God. The Law convicts us of our sins and the Gospel forgives us of our sins.

Conclusion

Jesus is the perfect picture of God and man reconciled. He has two natures. He is God and He is Man in perfect harmony. And He is the table for two so to speak. He is where we meet with God, just you and Jesus.

Because of Him you now can sit down with God and sup with Him. Because of Him, you the Christian, are no longer at war with God and with your neighbour.

Because of Him you are now able, albeit imperfectly, but, unlike before you were converted, you are now able to love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind, and love your neighbour, including even the unlovable, as yourself.