Scripture: Matthew 22:34–46
Not every question is asked because someone genuinely wants an answer. Sometimes, a question is designed to make a point, expose a weakness, or lead someone into a trap.
Jesus knew this better than most. And in Matthew's Gospel, we find him facing yet another carefully planned attempt to catch him saying the wrong thing.
When a Question Isn't Really a Question
Recently, while researching a sermon, I came across an amusing story about Abraham Lincoln in an 1886 collection of recollections about the president.
Lincoln was known for cutting through complicated arguments with a little common sense and humor. When someone tried to bend the truth, he would sometimes ask a simple question:
"If we call a calf's tail a leg, how many legs does the calf have?"
The expected answer was five. But Lincoln would correct them. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it one.
His question wasn't really about arithmetic. It was designed to expose an assumption.
We've probably all experienced something similar. A relative asks an innocent-sounding question about politics. A neighbor brings up a controversial issue. Or someone at a church meeting asks whether we should be more responsible with our money.
The question sounds reasonable, but sometimes the person asking has already decided what answer they want.
That's precisely what was happening when the Pharisees approached Jesus.
The Question That Was Supposed to Trap Jesus
The Pharisees had already tried to discredit Jesus with a question about paying taxes to Caesar. Their plan failed, but they weren't finished.
This time, they sent a lawyer, someone trained in interpreting religious law, to ask Jesus a question.
"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"
It sounds like a perfectly reasonable question. In fact, religious leaders had debated questions like this for generations. Jewish tradition recognized 613 commandments, and the lawyer wanted Jesus to identify the most important one.
Jesus didn't hesitate.
He quoted Deuteronomy 6:5, calling people to love God with all their heart, soul, and mind.
His audience would have recognized this immediately. These words belong to the Shema, one of the most important prayers in Jewish life. They were familiar, foundational, and deeply respected.
But Jesus wasn't finished.
He continued by quoting Leviticus 19:18:
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
With those words, Jesus did something remarkable. He connected two commandments that people might have been tempted to treat separately.
Loving God and loving our neighbor belong together.
Love Is Harder Than Following the Rules
At first, Jesus' answer sounds reassuring. Of course we should love God. And of course we should love our neighbors.
Well, most of our neighbors, anyway.
But consider what Jesus has actually done. He has placed the weight of religious life on something far more demanding than memorizing commandments or following established practices.
Love.
Not simply believing the right things. Not agreeing with religious teachings. Not checking the boxes that make us feel like faithful people.
Jesus is speaking about love that involves our entire heart, soul, and mind. And that same commitment must shape how we treat the people around us.
That's considerably harder.
It's possible to know Scripture and still overlook someone who needs help. We can participate in worship while holding resentment toward a neighbor. We can speak passionately about faith while remaining unwilling to extend compassion to someone whose beliefs, circumstances, or choices differ from our own.
Jesus doesn't allow us to separate these things.
If we claim to love God, that love must become visible in how we treat others.
Jesus Turns the Question Around
After answering the lawyer, Jesus asks the Pharisees a question of his own.
"What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?"
They confidently answer that the Messiah is the son of David. But Jesus challenges their understanding by asking why David would refer to the Messiah as Lord.
Suddenly, the religious leaders find themselves unable to answer.
They had approached Jesus believing they understood the boundaries of religious truth. Yet Jesus reveals that their understanding of the Messiah is incomplete.
He cannot be neatly contained within their expectations.
And neither can his commandment to love.
Jesus continually challenges us to look beyond the categories, assumptions, and comfortable boundaries we've created. Faith isn't simply about having the correct answers. It's about allowing God's love to change how we live.
What Love Looks Like in Practice
As we enter our Season of Giving at Grosse Pointe Congregational Church, this passage offers us something important to consider.
Stewardship is certainly about how we share our financial resources. But Jesus reminds us that faithful giving reaches much further.
It includes the time we offer, the people we welcome, the compassion we extend, and the ways we care for neighbors who may never walk through our church doors.
Our generosity becomes an expression of our love for God when it serves the people God calls us to love.
And that brings us back to the lawyer's original question.
Which commandment matters most?
Jesus' answer reminds us that loving God isn't something we can separate from the rest of our lives. It is reflected in our relationships, our decisions, our generosity, and our willingness to care for others.
We demonstrate our love for God through the love we extend to our neighbors.
And that's a commandment worth living.
Reflection
Where might loving your neighbor require more of you than simply believing the right things?
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