Sunday, May 3, 2015

May 10, 2015 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Love God and Love Neighbor



Matthew 28:18-20 – New International Version (NIV) – The Great Commission
18 “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Love God and Love Neighbor

Matthew 22:34-40 – New International Version (NIV)
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.”

Who got together after Jesus “silenced the Sadducees” (verse 34)?

How is the one who tested Jesus described (verse 35)?

What question did he ask to test Jesus (verse 36)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (verse 37)?

How does Jesus describe this commandment (verse 38)?

In your opinion, why does Jesus say that “love your neighbor as yourself” is like the first commandment (verse 39)?

What hangs on these two commandments (verse 40)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 22:34-40 show us about the Great Commission?

Deuteronomy 6:1-12 - New International Version (NIV)
1 “These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
10 When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, 12 be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”

Where were the “commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed” Moses to teach the Israelite people to be observed (verse 1)?
Who is to “fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you” (verse 2)?
How will it go if Israel hears and is “careful to obey” (verse 3)?
In your opinion, why does Moses say “the Lord our God, the Lord is one” (verse 4)?
How should our God be loved (verse 5)?
Where are the commandments to be (verse 6)?
How should the commandments be presented to our children (verse 7)?
When should we talk about the commandments (verse 7)?
In your opinion, what does it mean to tie them “as symbols” on your hands (verse 8)?
What land is the Lord bringing Israel to (verse 10)?
Who did not build the cities, fill the houses with good things, dig the wells or plant the vineyards and olive groves (verses 10 and 11)?
When are the people of Israel not to forget “the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery” (verses 11 and 12)?
In your opinion, how does the emphasis on impressing the children with the commandments and talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” in Deuteronomy 6:1-12 add richness to the commandments that Jesus gave in Matthew 22:34-40?
In your opinion, what does this passage from Deuteronomy show us about the Great Commission?

Leviticus 19:9-18 – New International Version (NIV)
“‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.
11 “‘Do not steal.
“‘Do not lie.
“‘Do not deceive one another.
12 “‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.
13 “‘Do not defraud or rob your neighbor.
“‘Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight.
14 “‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord.
15 “‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.
16 “‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people.
“‘Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the Lord.
17 “‘Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt.
18 “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”
Where should you not reap (verse 9)?
Who should the grapes that have fallen be left for (verse 10)?
In your opinion, why does it say both “do not lie” and “do not deceive one another” in verse 11?
Why should we not “swear falsely by my name” (verse 12)?
What should not be done to the hired worker (verse 13)?
In your opinion, why should we not “curse the deaf” who would not be able to hear the cursing (verse 14)?
What does showing partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great do to justice (verse 15)?
What is the similarity between “spreading slander” and doing “anything that endangers your neighbor’s life” (verse 16)?
In your opinion, why does the commandment say “rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in guilt” (verse 17)?
In your opinion, how does the command to “love your neighbor as yourself” put a stronger emphasis on all the commands in verses 9-18a (verse 18)?
In your opinion, how do you think Jesus reading and understanding the different emphasis that framing the two great commands in Deuteronomy 6:1-12 and Leviticus 19:9-18 in a positive sense helped shape the way that he related to people?

In your opinion, how does having all the commandments listed that are listed in Leviticus 19:9-18 made more complete and full by the commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself” help us understand why Jesus said in Matthew 22:34-40 that “all the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments” ?
In your opinion, what does this passage from Leviticus show us about the Great Commission?
1 John 4:7-21 – New International Version (NIV)
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”

Where does love come from (verse 7)?
How do we know that “whoever does not love does not know God” (verse 8)?
Why did God send His one and only Son into the world (verse 9)?
In your opinion, why does John say “this is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (verse 10)?
Why should we love each other (verse 11)?
How is God’s love made complete in us (verse 12)?
How do we know that we live in God and that God lives in us (verse 13)?
What happens to anyone who “acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God” (verse 15)?
In your opinion, how can we “know and rely on the love God has for us” (verse 16)?
What can we have on the “day of judgment” (verse 17)?
In your opinion, why is there “no fear in love” (verse 18)?
Why do we love God (verse 19)?
Who is a liar (verse 20)?
What command is given (verse 21)?
In your opinion, how is the command of Leviticus 19:9-18 to “love your neighbor as yourself” expanded by the instruction in 1 John 4:7-21 that “since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another”?
In your opinion, how does it enrich your understanding of both our relationship with God when you think that the command to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” was given in Deuteronomy 6:1-12 by the God who makes it possible for us to love Him as shown by the discussion of love in 1 John 4:7-21 which makes it clear that the love begins with God, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins”?

In your opinion, how does the command in 1 John 4:7-21 that “anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister” link the two great commands that Jesus gives in Matthew 22:34-40?
In your opinion, what does this passage from 1 John show us about the Great Commission?


Next, back to Matthew 22:41 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

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