The Scripture reading set down in the Common Lectionary for last Sunday (26th October) was from Matthew 22.34-46. 1 The Content of the Law The Pharisees yet again try to 'tempt' or test (Lit. Version) Jesus with a question: which is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus says, 'The first and greatest commandment is: 'Thou [singular, 'you'] shalt love the Lord with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind'. And a second is like it, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself'. The law contained (reportedly) 613 laws and ordinances and I suspect that Jesus' answer (from Deut 6.5 and Lev 19.8) and the authoritative way in which he gave it stunned them into silence. The Purpose of the Law But given that the law's content is summed up in these two commandments, what is the character/purpose of the law? First, no one is able to keep the law. In respect of the great and first commandment, all are guilty
we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen --Paul, Apostle to the Gentiles