A work in progress. What do you think?

Introduction

Dwight Robertson, President of Kingdom Building Ministries says, “The greatest gift you can give the world is your intimacy with God.” Surely this concept is not a new one, for Jesus Himself said that the greatest commandment in all of God’s law was to love the Father. Although there is much say in regard to this great command, with this essay I am seeking to put forth a biblical answer to a question that one could and most likely will ask if they desire to be obedient to that which has “like” the greatest commandment. In Matthew 22:39 Jesus said, “You shall Love your neighbor as yourself.” Craig S. Keener, comments on the action of the two great commandments, “Amid the multiplicity of proposals concerning the greatest commandment in antiquity, only Jesus wielded the moral authority among his followers to focus their ethics so profoundly on a single theme.” The phrase “you shall love” in the action commanded in this great teaching, what differs is the object of the action and the means of the action. As is clear in the first commandment the action is “you shall love,” the object of the action is God “the Lord your God,” and the means is “with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” In the second greatest commandment the action is “you shall love,” the object is “your neighbor,” and the means is “as yourself.” The means of the second greatest command is the focus of this essay, for it is saying that the degree to which you love yourself is the degree to which you should love your neighbor.
When considering the implications of command in question it seems as though one could say “the more I love myself, the more I will love my neighbor, for am to love my neighbor as myself; therefore, to better love my neighbor I will pursue a greater love of myself.” This thought seems entirely out of place with that which Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 13, where we learn that “love seeks not its own,” in other words love is not selfish. To further complicate the issues, Jesus, in response to Andrew and Phillips objection said, “He who loves his life will lose it, and He who hates his life in this world will keep it.” The issue now brought to the forefront and again, the issue, which the essay will attempt to answer, is why did Jesus say, “love your neighbor as yourself”? Why did Jesus say that “as yourself” was the means in Matthew 22: 39? Seemingly the means by which the action is accomplished to the object in the second greatest commandment could have been our love for God or better God’s love for us. In fact, Jesus did give a new commandment to the disciples in John 13:34, “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you love one another.” Herein lies a familiar action with a new object and means. Comparing the new commandment to the two greatest commands, the action is again “love,” the object is “one another,” and the means is “even as I have loved you.” The means that Jesus provides in John 13 is His love, Jesus says love each other as I have loved you, with the love I give to you so you love one another. Why is the means of the new commandment not the means of the second greatest commandment? For the means of the former appears to be a much higher standard and therefore a greater ethic than the means of the latter.
I would like to suggest the possible answer to the question, “why are we the standard” in Matthew 22:39 and then defend the obvious objections. The answer is not my own (and I make no guarantee that it is correct), it comes through a synthesis of biblical teaching that I have derived from those who are on a higher level of thinking than I am.

Historical Background and Setting

Before we tackle the question at hand, let us first look to the background of the primary text and then to the context of the stunning reply of Jesus. The book of Matthew was written to Jews in 50’s or 60’s A.D. “prior to the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70” (Macarthur). Elwell and Yarbrough note, “Fundamentally, Matthew wrote his Gospel to preserve what he knew about Jesus’ life and words,” and while this is true John Macarthur provides a much stronger background and setting for the first Gospel. Although “the precise occasion for the writing of this account is not known” (Barbieeri), “the Jewish flavor of Matthew’s Gospel is remarkable” (Macarthur). Ryrie suggests, “Matthew was written to Jews to answer their questions about Jesus of Nazareth who claimed to be their Messiah.” The following comes directly from John Macarthur’s Study Bible: … Luke aiming to show Christ as the redeemer of humanity, goes all the way back to Adam [in his opening genealogy]. Matthew’s purpose [in his opening genealogy] is somewhat narrower: to demonstrate that Christ is the King and Messiah of Israel. […]

Should I continue writing?