In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

     I hope you appreciate learning, in sermons, as much as I appreciate teaching, in sermons. Because there are times when the faithful preacher must teach, in order to preach. Today is one such Sunday, and as is usually the case, the teaching has to do with context--with placing the Gospel passage in it's real-life context, or sitz im leben, so that we can grasp the meaning of the appointed lesson.

     What most often jumps out at us, when we read Matthew 22:34-46, is, of course, Jesus' assertion that the greatest commandment indeed has two parts--first, "love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind", and second, "love your neighbor as yourself". Certainly, a preacher could preach volumes on this, and never tire. And I have no doubt, sermons are being preached, this morning, on love of God and neighbor. And that's fine. But it kind of misses the point--at least, the point that the Gospel of Matthew is making, through the overall context of activity--the flow of the action in his gospel. Because there, is the real message. Not, necessarily, in the specific words and teachings of Jesus--but in Jesus' interaction, in this instance, with the Pharisees and Sadducees who were trying to trap Jesus. Jesus' teaching about the greatest commandment is important, but really, it's a sidelight in this passage.because the truth is, the Pharisees--the lawyer who was asking Jesus this question about the greatest commandment, couldn't have cared less about Jesus' answer--except in so far as it might get Jesus to incriminate himself. Granted, Jesus' teaching about love of God and neighbor is important to all of us--but in our gospel lesson for today--that's not the central issue in the life of Jesus. What is central, is how people, Pharisees, Sadducees, and we, continue to try to trap Jesus and twist Jesus' words and teachings to fit our own hopes, desires and intentions.

     You realize this, certainly, because we've been seeing this the last few weeks, as our gospel readings have been in a continual flow from Matthew's gospel. Repeatedly, we've heard how the Jewish establishment has been trying desperately, to get Jesus to say something, anything that would enable them to bring him up on charges, so to speak, to finally silence him. Last week, we saw that with their question about paying taxes to Caesar; in the gospel of Matthew it continues with the Sadducees challenging Jesus about the question of the resurrection of the dead, and having silenced the Sadducees, now the Pharisees return with a question aimed at what might be considered a legal technicality. But this was a popular question among Jews, at least, among Jewish scholars. On the face of it, the question appears very honest. The Pharisees taught that there were 613 commandments in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. Two-hundred forty-eight were considered positive, "thou shalt", and three hundred sixty-five were negative, "thou shalt not". The difficulty was how anyone, even Pharisees and scribes, could remember all of them, and keep them faithfully? Some rabbis distinguished between "heavy" and "light" commandments. Other rabbis summarized the 613 commandments into smaller numbers of precepts or statements that could be more easily remembered. King David proposed eleven as a summary; Isaiah suggested six and Micah three. To ask Jesus to summarize all of the commandments, in one, easily understood, easily remembered commandment was to ask a question that was commonly asked of rabbis. Except that in this instance, it wasn't for knowledge, or understanding that Jesus was being asked; Jesus was being asked for devious, underhanded, subversive reasons. Matthew tells us the Pharisees had this one lawyer ask Jesus this question to test him. And Jesus' answer is right on--and rightly summarized the commandments. In St. Mark's gospel, we hear that the lawyer felt Jesus had answered well. But continuing on in Matthew's gospel, what we see is that Jesus is tiring of such attempts to trap and trip him. I mean, how long must Jesus put up with this kind of maneuvering and manipulating? Most of us would've tired long before this--or withdrawn so that we would no longer be a ready target for our enemies. But Jesus stayed with it, until now--surely, hoping that in one of his answers, in one of his explanations, there might be the opportunity for some Pharisee, scribe or Sadducee, to hear the truth, and to come to see and believe, that He is the Messiah. Jesus always desired, worked for, conversion--and He put up with a lot of "stuff" from the Pharisees and Sadducees, as He tried to lead them, too, to the Truth. But they seem not to be getting it at all! They seem so focused on their own desires and wants--they seem to be so set on trapping Jesus, that they seem not to be really listening to Him at all. Which is where we are in the second half of our gospel lesson for today. Now, Jesus asks the Pharisees a question.a question not aimed at embarrassing the Jewish leaders, but aimed at finally, getting them to see Him, as Son of David, and Messiah and Lord. So far, they had seen Jesus as simply a threat--a pretender, a false teacher, a blasphemer, to be destroyed at all costs. So far, they failed to see the truth about Jesus--that He is, Son of God and Christ. So, Jesus' question aims at finally, bringing them along. St. Chrysostom, in the fourth century, wrote, "After so many previous events, Jesus is now quietly leading them to the point of confessing that He is God.setting forth the prophecy that plainly proclaims him to be Lord. For the Pharisees had supposed that Jesus was a mere man, yet they also believed that the Messiah would be the Son of David. Hence, Jesus now brings in the prophetic testimony to His being Lord, and to the genuineness of his Sonship, and his equality in honor with His Father." This is what Jesus' question aims at with the Pharisees--His Lordship, and His divinity, and the prophet's testimony that He is, indeed, Son of David. And--did this have an impact on the Pharisees? Did this bring about conversion of the Pharisees? No, apparently not. Of course, there may have been those who came to believe in Jesus as Messiah. We hear of several who did. But in this instance, Matthew tells us, "No one was able to give Jesus an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions." No, from this point on, there are no more attempts to trap Jesus by his own teachings. Because now, the enemies of Jesus try to trap Jesus by other means. We know the rest of the story, which ends in the Jewish establishment succeeding, not just in silencing Jesus, but in having Him put to death on the cross. And we know the rest of the story, that Jesus, Messiah and Son of David, is raised from death--to be our living Lord. But we also know, that none of that keeps people, even today, from trying to test Jesus and twist Jesus' teachings, and evade the truth of Jesus. Which truly, is the point of our gospel lesson today. That in spite of all the faithful prophecy, in spite of the wonderful teachings we have from Jesus, in spite of the fact that Jesus, who was crucified, has been raised and lives among us, even now--in spite of all that--there are still people who, rather than benefit from Jesus' life and teaching, are trying to get out from under His authority and Lordship. And not just some people--but we--sometimes we are trying to get out from under His authority and Lordship. Take, for example, His teaching about the greatest commandments.

     Could Jesus be more clear in saying that the greatest commandments for us, are that we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind--and to love our neighbor as ourselves? Jesus says on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. And yet, we continue to ask Jesus things like, "well, who exactly is my neighbor?" And, "what do you really mean that I am to love God with all my heart, soul and mind?" "Do you mean I'm supposed to put God first, above everything else?" "Do you mean, Jesus, that God is supposed to be my first priority--is that what you mean by loving God with heart, soul and mind?" "And Jesus, does loving God in this way, mean worshiping Him? And does that include Sunday worship? And how do I love my neighbor--my irritating, loud, sometimes obnoxious neighbor?" You see, Jesus has laid out for us, these two greatest commandments, just as God the Father has confirmed Him as Lord and Messiah. But, do we readily do what Jesus calls us to do? Or do we spend more time trying to twist His words to suit us, and to make His commands more palatable and comfortable for us? St. Matthew is not trying to get us to keep from being "Pharisees", rather, he wants us to see, in them, ourselves--and how great is the temptation for us, to want to be Jesus' examiners, and perhaps even Jesus' executioners, as we try, by our own actions and thought processes, to silence Jesus, and keep Jesus from being Lord of our lives. What we see in our gospel lesson today, is Jesus leading, inviting the Pharisees to yield to Him, as Messiah and Lord. What we hear in our Gospel lesson today, is Jesus inviting us, again, to yield to Him, as Messiah and Lord--that we may not be judge over Him--but that we yield to His sovereignty over us--that we kneel before Him, and offer to Him, our lives, our obedience, our service--our love of God and neighbor. So we are left, with that call and that challenge. Will we go away, and no longer try to test him and twist his teachings to our liking, or will we, now, again and anew, receive Him as our Lord and Savior? That's what Jesus is really trying to get at, in our gospel lesson today.

     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.