“’Which ones?’ the man inquired. Jesus replied, ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’ ‘All these I have kept,’ the young man said.’” – Matthew 19:18-20a (NIV)
Often when discussing the law of God I use the following illustration. Imagine you could take all the laws of the Old Testament and put them into a vice. You then begin to crank down and compress them together. Turn after turn, the laws are “squished” together. After a considerable effort, you finally release the press. In a sense, what you would in up with are the 10 Commandments. The “10 Words” (as they are often called) are a “compression” of, or a summary of, the entire Old Testament code of laws.
The 10 Commandments originally were written on two stone tablets. Roughly speaking, the first tablet contained laws that pertained to our relationship to God (“have no other God’s before me”, etc). The second tablet contained laws that pertained to our relationship to others [a]. Jesus isn’t ignoring or undermining the importance of the first tablet. As Calvin rightly observed, the second tablet (right action) is proof that we have adhered to the first tablet (right belief) [b]. Jesus highlights these commandments because they were the easiest ones to observe in a person’s life. As such, they were a matter of great emphasis among the Pharisees.
When the young man responds “All these I have kept” he is not bragging, he is telling the truth. The Gospel of Mark adds an important detail that Matthew omits. Mark 10:21 states that “Jesus looked at him and loved him”. Jesus recognizes this man to be a devout, good-living, decent citizen—the kind of person who is a credit to any community [c]. The Leviticus command to “love your neighbor as yourself” was typically taken to refer to one’s kindness and generosity towards the poor. As a religiously devout man of great wealth he would have most certainly provided financial relief to the orphans, widows, and poor. He lived honorable and even ethically. More so, he was exemplary and genuine in his religious conduct. Those who are looking for an example of a religious hypocrite must look elsewhere. According to the Pharisee’s code of conduct, he was doing everything required of him.
Yet, in his heart he knew this wasn’t enough. There still was the old, nagging voice that told him he would never measure up to God. Still he would do more, and more, and more—hoping somehow to silence the accusing voice within. Today counselors (even Christian counselors) would try to help the man overcome his sense of worthlessness; Jesus is trying to help him embrace it. Jesus wants this man to search his soul, to consider all the good he has ever done, and to search the motivation of his heart. He wants him to sense that he has done everything humanly possible to live in a manner pleasing to God. And then, most importantly, Jesus wants him to sense the utter uselessness of it all.
It is only when we truly see our weakness that we can see Jesus’ loving strength.
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[a] Exodus 20:12-16; Deuteronomy 5:16-20. Jesus also adds one commandment from Leviticus 19:18 (“love your neighbor as yourself”). Though distinct from the “big 10”, it directly relates to one’s treatment of others.
[b] Institutes 2.8.52-53
[c] Douglass Hare, Matthew – Interpretation (John Knox, 1993) p 226.
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