Half-Truth
Matthew 22:
"34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
A lot of people try to justify themselves by saying "I love my neighbor as I love myself, so I'm okay with God."
But they don't include, and may have never seriously considered, the first part of that two-part commandment:
"Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."
This is what happens when people partially-quote scripture,
Another example is in John 20:
"19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders,
Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit...."
but we ignore the very next verse, which Jesus thought was important enough to place exactly where He put it:
23 "...If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Think about this;
How long ago did Jesus know He would die for our sins and then rise from the dead?
He knew that after He rose from the dead, He would then return to greet His disciples as the overcoming Savior.
He had a lot of time to decide what to say to the group.
Does anyone think these were off-hand, 'Oh, by the way' remarks?
Do we think these four things weren't pre-scripted and rehearsed?
Wow.
This were stupendous remarks, woven together carefully,
crafted more carefully than a potter forms his clay.
Why do we take any of them lightly, much less avoid them?
23 "...If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Shouldn't these be read aloud every Resurrection Sunday?
eric j. rose
ifherepents.com