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Humble Hero
the Creator of the universe, One who commands and performs all
things.
Christ told His hearers that if there were no resurrection of the
dead, the Scriptures that they professed to believe would be of no
value. He said, “But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have
you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not
the God of the dead, but of the living.” God sees the result of His
work as though it were now accomplished. The precious dead will
hear the voice of the Son of God and come out from the grave to
immortal life. There will be a close and tender relationship between
God and the resurrected redeemed. He sees this condition as if it
were already existing. The dead live unto Him.
The Sadducees were left with nothing to say. He had not spoken
a word that they could take the least advantage of to condemn Him.
The Pharisees, however, did not despair yet. They convinced a
certain learned scribe to question Jesus about which of the ten com-
mandments was the most important. They had exalted the first four
commandments, which point out our duty to our Maker, as of far
greater significance than the other six, which define our duty to oth-
ers. Jesus had been charged with exalting the last six commandments
above the first four.
The lawyer approached Jesus with a direct question, “Which is
the first commandment of all?” Christ’s answer was direct: “The
first of all the commandments is ... ‘you shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and
with all your strength.’” “The second is like the first,” said Christ,
“for it flows out of it.” “‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
There is no other commandment greater than these.” “On these two
commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Both of these commandments are an expression of the principle
of love. We cannot keep the first and break the second, nor can
we keep the second while we break the first. Only as we love God
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supremely is it possible for us to love our neighbor impartially.
Christ taught His hearers that the law of God is a divine unit, not
so many separate laws, some of them highly important and others
only slightly important. We show our love to God by obeying all
His commandments.