“But the Pharisees, when they heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him. Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?" (v. 34-36)
Here in chapter 22 Jesus had been answering questions posed to Him by the Pharisees and the Sadducees designed to, "entangle Him in His own talk" (v. 15). In the beginning of this passage we find our Lord replying to a question of a certain lawyer, who thought for sure he could entrap Jesus into a theological corner of disgrace by asking him, "Which is the greatest commandment of the law?"
The question, was obviously asked in no friendly spirit. But, we have reason to be thankful however that it was asked at all, for it drew an answer full of precious instruction, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang the Law and the Prophets" (vv. 37-40)
The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Lawyers, they all wanted to make religion complicated. And they certainly didn't like the idea of Jesus (the son of a carpenter), one who had no "formal training" in their eyes, winning the hearts of the people through His simple teachings. But Jesus was correct, the heart of the Law and the way to salvation is to love the LORD our God with all our hearts.
The Truth: "We love him because he first loved us." (1 John 4:19)
