This is My CommandmentÉ
Exodus 20:1-17; Matthew 22:34-40
ÒThis is my commandment,Ó God
says to us. This is how you are to live, to act, to believe, to be. ÒBe
perfect,Ó God says to us. And to that end He gives us His commandments as we
just heard read in the Exodus passage.
In our Gospel lesson today we
see Jesus putting together a whip Ð similar to the one I have made here (though
I think His was a lot more ÒeffectiveÓ) Jesus came into the Temple and drove
out the people selling animals for the sacrifice and turned over the
moneychangerÕs tables. He used the whip to correct the peopleÕs thinking. How
dare they turn the Temple, a place of worship, into a market?! How dare they
take advantage of those who came from afar to worship?! How dare they not see
that the LordÕs house is to be a house of prayer?!
Jesus demands the people to
conform, to shape up and to fly straight. He throws the Law of God in their
face and basically says, ÒMeasure up!Ó Like the whip Jesus used, the Law comes
to us as a way of beating us up. We donÕt measure up to GodÕs commands. We
canÕt be perfect like He demands. The Law, as we teach in catechism classes, is
a mirror Ð it shows us our faults and failings. The Law is harsh and we need to
realize it. When confronted with GodÕs holy and perfect will we fall short and
often feel like we have been whipped. The Law condemns.
And that is what Jesus was doing
in the Temple in our text. He was showing the full extent of the Law Ð it
condemns. He ÒwhipsÓ the people as they had forgotten what worship was all
about Ð not trade but adoration and praise. Not self-centered or man-centered
but focused on God.
The 10 Commandments in our
Exodus passage lay out GodÕs law in a simple, yet demanding way. We are to keep
God first in everything in our life and we are not to mistreat our neighbor in
anyway. A lot of Òdo notÓ statements to keep us on the straight and narrow. But
again, we feel the whip come down as we realize that we donÕt live up to GodÕs
commands. And even if we think we have followed the commands of God His word
comes and shows us that we havenÕt even come close (Jesus said to the people
that even if you havenÕt murdered, if you hate your neighbor you have broken
that command).
What are we to do? Just lie down
and take our whipping? The Law breaks us down but God doesnÕt leave us there
(Thanks be to God!). You see the Law does whip us but there is one who was
literally whipped for us. As we grow closer to Good Friday we will see again
Jesus as one who was despised, beaten (which included a severe whipping), and
eventually would be crucified for us. God has given us a way out of the weight
of the Law. The Law shows us our sin but the Gospel Ð Jesus Ð shows us our
salvation. There is a way out. We donÕt have to face the eternal beating of the
Law. Jesus has faced it for us. The one who made a whip to drive out the
traders in the Temple is the one who is whipped by Romans soldiers in
Jerusalem. He took on the penalty of our sin. He was whipped for us. He died so
that we could have life! That is the Gospel message Ð a message we long to hear
when the Law has beaten us down and shows us our sin, our brokenness, our
rebellion. The sweet message of the Gospel Ð how great it is that we will
celebrate Easter again this year!
And so we come back to the Law
of God again. Do we disregard it now that the Gospel has come? Is the Law no
longer important because of the Gospel? No. The Law is also a guide to those
who have received the Gospel of God and live in Jesus. ÒThis is my
commandmentÉÓ is only part of the title of a song. The rest of the title and
refrain says, Òthat you love one another.Ó The Law, through the power of the
Gospel, is a guide to how we love God and one another.
Jesus, when asked about what was
the greatest commandment (the Pharisee was looking for an easy way out of
fulfilling the Law), said, ÒLove the Lord your God with all you heart, soul,
and strength. And Love your neighbor as yourself.Ó This was a summary of the
Commandments. The Law of God, because if the Gospel, is much more than a list
of ÒdoÕsÓ and ÒdonÕt.Ó It is a guide to how we can live in right relationship
with God and each other.
The first set of commandments
deals with our relationship with God. How do we love and honor God? By putting him
first, but not misusing His name but using it for praise, and by honoring the
Sabbath day as a time to worship Him! Luther in his explanation to the
commandments begins with the donÕts but always ends with what we should do, the
positives of the commands.
How do we love our neighbor? By
respecting them as individuals needing love and protection and care. Each of
the commands deals with how we can lead loving lives with our neighbor by
respecting their physical body, their marriage relationships, their property,
and their reputation. We are to obey GodÕs commands by loving others and loving
God. By the power of the Gospel the Law becomes a guide for our daily lives.
This is my commandment, that you
love one another and God! The Law whips us as we see that we are sinners in
need of rescue. The Gospel of Jesus comes to our rescue and saves us, forgives
us and restores us. The Law, through the power of the Gospel now becomes a
guide for our lives. This is my commandment that you love one another!
Amen