Love Your Neighbor

Matthew 22:39

39 And the second command is like the first: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’

Welcome to the Panhandle and thanks for dropping by. Tonight I am following up on last week's post. If you remember Christ Jesus was asked by a Lawyer, we’re told to test Him; “which is the greatest commandment.” Christ Jesus then quotes Deuteronomy 6:5 ~"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” And then Leviticus 19:18 ~ "You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.” Last week our attention was on the first half of Christ Jesus’ answer found in verse 37, and Christ Jesus said that, “this is the foremost commandment.” But Christ Jesus didn’t stop there, He says that there is a second command similar to the command He has just given. “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:39). So come on in, sit a spell and let's let’s look in God's Word and at this command closer today.

The first thing to notice is the contrast between Pharisaic legalism and the ethic of love for God and one’s neighbor. By fusing the two commandments, Christ Jesus shows the way to fulfill the first commandment, is found in loving our neighbor who we can see. When we do that we give a tangible expression of our love for God whom we have not seen ~ ²⁰ If people say, “I love God,” but hate their brothers or sisters, they are liars. Those who do not love their brothers and sisters, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have never seen. ²¹ And God gave us this command: Those who love God must also love their brothers and sisters. (1 John 4:20-21). The word Christ Jesus used for love is agapao, it is the same word He uses in verse 37. Agapao is to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly.¹

All of the Law is filled by these two commandments in verse 37 and 39. Like the two hinges on a door, the two belong together as the New Law, the new commandment. The order is significant, first the opening of our heart and life to God, followed by the opening of our life to our neighbors. To love is to open our life to that person. To open our life to God means to open our heart or affection to Him, to open our soul to Him, to open our mind or attitudes to Him, to open our strength or activity to Him, and to open ourselves to what God is doing in our neighbor life, friend or not. This is the true righteousness that exceeds the obligatory righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees ~ ²⁰ For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Mattew 5:20).²

In it’s simplest form or as some say, “the bottem line” is this, that all the law is fulfilled in one word, and that word is, love. Romans 13:10 ~ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. All obedience begins with love, and nothing in our relationship with Christ Jesus is done right, that is not done with love first. Love is the leading affection, which gives law, and gives ground, to the rest. Therefore as the main fort, is to be first secured and garrisoned for God. Man is a creature cut out for love; and the law therefore is written in the heart, that it is a law of love. Love is a short and sweet word; and since it is the fulfilling of the law, then surely the yoke of this command is very easy or should be. Love is the rest and satisfaction of the soul; if we walk in this way, we will find rest that only God can provide.³

This command is inclusive of all the precepts of the of the first command. It is like it, because it is founded upon it, and flows from it; and a right love to our brother, again whom we have seen, is both an instance and an evidence of our love to God, whom we have not seen, (1 John 4:20).

It is implied, that we do, and should, love ourselves. There is a self-love which is corrupt, and the root of the greatest sins, and it must be put off because it is unhealthy: but there is a self-love which is natural and it must be preserved and sanctified. We must love ourselves, that is, we must have a due regard to the dignity of our own natures, and a due concern for the welfare of our own souls and bodies.

It is commanded, that we love our neighbor as ourselves. We must honor and respect all, and must not wrong and injure them. We must have a good will towards all, and not wishes them ill, and as we have opportunity, we must try and do good to all.

Thanks for dropping by, I pray our Lord and Savior's blessings over you and yours.

Biblesurfer

1 James Strong, Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon (Woodside Bible Fellowship, 1995).

2 Myron S. Augsburger and Lloyd J. Ogilvie, Matthew, vol. 24, The Preacher’s Commentary Series (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1982), 18.

3 Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1730.