Digging Deeper Days...are a pretty big deal at GT!
We search God's Word together, ask questions as we read, dig around to find the original intentions at the time of writing, and then make some applications to our everyday lives.
Along the way, we hope you'll pick up some new tools to study Scripture and you'll see truth in a new and accessible way!
Dig In!
The Passage
Looking for yesterday’s Journey Post? Check out The Law of Love!
Matthew 22:34-40 English Standard Version (ESV)
34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
The Questions
1) What was the spirit behind the Pharisee’s question?
2) What kind of love is commanded here?
3) What does it mean that the Law and the Prophets depend on these commandments?
The Findings for Intention
1) What was the spirit behind the Pharisee’s question?
Verses 34-35 give us a clue as to why the Pharisees were asking this question. The Pharisees heard that Jesus had escaped from a logical trap that the Sadducees (another group of religious teachers) had set for Him (see verses 23-33). They were not asking this question because they wanted to learn from Jesus, but because they were critical and skeptical and wanted to test Him.
2) What kind of love is commanded here?
The word for “love” used here is agapáō, the verb form of agápē. This is the kind of unconditional love that is described in 1 Corinthians 13, and is the same kind of love that God Himself has for us. We are to love God and love our neighbor unconditionally. In addition, our love for God should come from every part of us—our heart, soul, and mind.
3) What does it mean that the Law and the Prophets depend on these commandments?
The word translated “depend” literally means “hang.” All of the Old Testament laws and everything said in the prophetic books hang on love for God and love for others. The concept of love does not negate the law, but love supports every command given. As Paul says in Romans 13:10, “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
The Everyday Application
1) What was the spirit behind the Pharisee’s question?
Women, let’s not be like the Pharisees, who didn’t truly want to know Jesus’s heart. When we study the Bible or look for answers to our questions, let’s not go looking for evidence to support our pre-determined ideas, but let’s seek to understand the original intent of the Scriptures, so we can know God better in order to love Him more.
2) What kind of love is commanded here?
Agape love is unconditional and selfless. It is the hardest kind of love, because it is completely unnatural to our selfish, sinful nature. But as believers, we have the Holy Spirit within us to enable and empower us to love as we are commanded. Pray for help with this difficult, but important task!
3) What does it mean that the Law and the Prophets depend on these commandments?
If all the law and the prophets hang on love, then all the law and prophets teach us how love is worked out in daily life. Next time you read a command from the Bible, ask yourself how this demonstrates love for God or love for others, and let that deepen your understanding of how God wants you to work out this agape love.
Share your thoughts from today’s Journey Study!
Can we pray for you?
Sign up to receive every Journey Study!
I Can Do That!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read through it (always more than a verse or two).
3) Write down your questions as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God in your everyday!
The Community!
Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Brave Week Two!
Don’t miss out on the discussion – we’d love to hear your thoughts!
The Tools!
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources. Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom! It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
The Why!
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus.
Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
Tap and hold on your mobile device to save.
Looking for other journeys from this theme?
See all past studies in Remade!