Participants:
Series Code: IIWSS
Program Code: IIWSS025012S
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00:12 ♪♪♪ 00:13 >>Eric Flickinger: Welcome to "Sabbath School," 00:15 brought to you by It Is Written. 00:16 We're glad that you could be with us today. 00:18 We are continuing our journey, our study 00:21 into "God's Love and Justice." 00:23 What does that look like? 00:25 This is week number 12, lesson number 12. 00:28 We are looking now at 00:29 "Love and Justice: The Two Greatest Commandments." 00:32 We're glad that you're with us. Let's begin with prayer. 00:35 Father, we thank You for being with us now for 11 lessons, 00:39 and we anticipate that You're going to be with us again today. 00:42 We ask that You will bless our time together in Your Word 00:45 and ask also that You will bless us abundantly 00:48 as we learn more about You and Your character. 00:50 We thank You, in Jesus' name, amen. 00:54 Well, we're grateful to have with us, once again, 00:56 the author of this quarter's "Sabbath School" lesson, 00:58 Dr. John Peckham. 00:59 He is an associate editor of the "Adventist Review" 01:02 and also a research professor 01:04 at the Theological Seminary at Andrews University. 01:06 John, thanks for being with us again. 01:08 >>John Peckham: Thank you for having me. 01:09 >>Eric: So we're getting close to the end 01:10 of this journey together, we're not there yet, but we have 01:12 a very significant subject that we're looking at this week, 01:15 "Love and Justice: The Two Greatest Commandments." 01:19 Help us to understand 01:20 how this relationship between love and justice 01:24 reflects God's character. 01:27 And why are these two ideas, love and justice, 01:31 why should we view them as being inseparable? 01:33 >>John: Yeah, yeah, many people think 01:35 of the ideas of love and justice, 01:36 particularly when it comes to God's love and God's justice, 01:39 as kind of like polar opposites. 01:40 You have love and mercy 01:42 and maybe happy feelings over here, 01:44 and over here you have justice, 01:46 and these seem disconnected in some people's minds. 01:50 But in the Bible, these two things are inseparably linked 01:54 because they are central to God's very character. 01:56 The Bible is very clear that God is love, 01:59 and the Bible is also very clear 02:01 that God is entirely good and righteous and just. 02:04 And it's central not only to God's character, 02:07 but it's central to the entire great controversy. 02:09 Because this is what is at stake, 02:11 the question, "Is God really loving? 02:13 "Is God really just? 02:14 Is He really righteous as He says that He is?" 02:17 And in fact, we find in the Bible 02:19 that God is not only loving and just, 02:23 but His justice is an object of His love. 02:25 He loves justice. 02:26 And in the Bible, you can't have true love without justice. 02:29 Love without justice is going to be very deficient. 02:34 But justice without love is also deficient. 02:36 They always go together. 02:37 So I want us to see just a few texts 02:39 that state this very clearly. 02:41 The first one is Isaiah 61, verse 8. 02:43 >>Eric: "For I, the Lord, love justice; 02:45 "I hate robbery for burnt offering; 02:48 "I will direct their work in truth, 02:50 and will make with them an everlasting covenant." 02:53 >>John: This idea, "I, the Lord, love justice." 02:56 You just see the ideas connected so closely there 03:00 in God's own delight that He takes 03:02 in justice and righteousness. 03:04 Jeremiah 9:24 puts it this way: "'But let him who glories 03:08 "'glory in this, that he understands and knows me, 03:11 "'that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, 03:14 "'judgment, and righteousness in the earth. 03:17 For in these I delight,' says the Lord." 03:20 And so you see just how closely they are connected. 03:23 And this is the case all throughout Scripture. 03:25 Then one of my favorites, Psalm 85, verse 10. 03:27 I love the way the psalmist puts this. 03:29 >>Eric: "Mercy and truth have met together; 03:32 righteousness and peace have kissed." 03:34 >>John: It's such a beautiful thought, right? 03:36 Far from being these polar opposites, 03:38 they kiss; they meet. 03:41 And another text in the psalm says 03:43 this is the foundation of God's government, 03:45 His righteousness and His justice, 03:47 and yet also His lovingkindness. 03:49 These things go together in God's character; 03:51 they go together in God's government. 03:53 >>Eric: So we see that righteousness-- 03:55 or that justice and love, 03:57 they should go together; they do go together, 03:59 whether we recognize that or not. 04:01 Let's bring this 04:02 a little bit closer to home for ourselves. 04:05 In what measure or in what manner 04:07 should we as Christians 04:08 be concerned about addressing things like injustice, 04:14 suffering in the world? 04:16 What does that look like for us in tangible ways? 04:19 >>John: Yeah, here again, there's a lot of people 04:21 who think of these things 04:22 as disconnected from their faith, 04:24 disconnected from their Christianity. 04:26 But in fact, if what we just saw is true, 04:28 that God loves justice, that this is His delight, 04:31 if we are followers of Christ-- 04:32 being a Christian means to follow Christ, right? 04:34 To walk in His ways, 04:37 what I would call the way of the Lamb 04:39 versus the way of the dragon, 04:40 and the way of the Lamb is the way of unselfish love, 04:43 and God's concern is about justice. 04:44 That means our concern should be about justice 04:47 and love as well. 04:48 And this again is consistently the teaching of Scripture. 04:52 This is one of the major themes of the prophets 04:56 all throughout the Old Testament, 04:58 these calls for justice among God's people, 05:02 for people to be treated well, for oppression to be relieved, 05:06 for the needy to be fed, for all of these things, 05:09 for us to do what we can do 05:11 to be the hands and feet of the love of God, 05:14 to bring about righteousness in His world. 05:16 And so there are a number of texts that address this. 05:18 One I want to read is in Isaiah, chapter 1, verse 17. 05:23 In Isaiah 1, verse 17, it says this: "Learn to do good; 05:28 "seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; 05:32 defend the fatherless, plead for the widow." 05:36 And then later in Isaiah, in Isaiah 10:1-3, 05:39 Isaiah expands on this. 05:41 >>Eric: "Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, 05:44 "who write misfortune, 05:45 "which they have prescribed to rob the needy of justice, 05:48 "and to take what is right from the poor of my people, 05:51 "that widows may be their prey, 05:54 "and that they may rob the fatherless. 05:56 "What will you do in the day of punishment, 05:58 "and in the desolation which will come from afar? 06:00 "To whom will you flee for help? 06:02 And where will you leave your glory?" 06:04 >>John: So here we see God's great concern 06:07 for unrighteousness, His concern for the needy, 06:10 His concern for the poor. 06:12 And it's very difficult to read the prophets 06:14 and not come across these kinds of themes 06:16 over and over and over again. 06:19 So if God is concerned about these things, 06:20 if the prophets are crying out for these things, 06:22 shouldn't we as Christians 06:23 also be concerned for these things, right? 06:26 And actually act accordingly. 06:28 This is the way John puts it in 1 John 4:20. 06:31 This is by no means just an Old Testament emphasis; 06:33 the same emphasis is found throughout the New Testament. 06:36 But John writes in 1 John 4:20, 06:38 he says, "If someone says, 'I love God,' 06:41 "and hates his brother, he is a liar; 06:46 "for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, 06:50 how can he love God whom he has not seen?" 06:55 So if we say that we love God, then we must also love others 07:00 because everyone is a child of God in some sense. 07:04 Now, God wants to draw everyone 07:06 into an even closer relationship, 07:07 to be a special child of God in Christ, 07:10 but even those who are not yet believers, 07:13 who are not in Christ by faith, they are children of God, 07:16 and God wants us to work to do good for them 07:19 and ultimately to draw them into fellowship with Him. 07:23 And this is part of what it means 07:24 to be a follower of Christ. 07:26 This was part of His mission 07:27 and part of the task that He gives to us 07:29 as well in this world. 07:30 >>Eric: And of course, this is part of what Jesus taught 07:32 through His ministry as well. 07:34 I'm thinking of over in Matthew, where He talks 07:38 about the two great commandments of love God and love others. 07:42 How does that play into what we're talking about here? 07:44 >>John: Yeah, these two great love commandments 07:48 are Jesus's answer 07:50 to, "What is the greatest commandment?" Right? 07:52 And so the greatest commandment is just love-- 07:56 love for God and love for others. 08:00 So I want us to read that together, 08:02 to read Jesus' words in Matthew 22, 08:04 Matthew 22, verses 37 through 39. 08:08 >>Eric: "Jesus said to him, 08:09 "'"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 08:12 "'with all your soul, and with all your mind." 08:14 "'This is the first and great commandment. 08:16 "'And the second is like it: 08:18 "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."'" 08:20 >>John: Yeah, so love is the fulfillment of the law. 08:24 The entire--Jesus goes on to say 08:26 that the entire law and prophets 08:28 hang on these two points. 08:30 And so here, actually, in the New Testament in Matthew, 08:32 He's not giving entirely new commandments. 08:36 First of all, these commandments correspond 08:38 to the two tables of the Ten Commandments. 08:42 But not only that, these are actually commandments 08:45 that He quotes from the Old Testament. 08:48 They're already there in Deuteronomy and Leviticus. 08:51 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, 08:52 ...soul, [strength] and...mind." That's from Deuteronomy. 08:54 And "love your neighbor as yourself" is from Leviticus. 08:57 And these two commandments actually correspond 09:01 to the two greatest sins in the Old Testament. 09:05 We talked about earlier in this program 09:06 about the great sin of idolatry and how this is 09:09 such a massive theme of the prophets. 09:11 Well, that sin of idolatry, 09:14 it's actually the opposite of loving God 09:17 with one's heart, soul, strength, and mind, right? 09:19 And so the love commandments are the antidote, 09:22 and the idolatry or anything 09:24 that takes one's focus off of God 09:26 with our entire being, right?-- 09:28 this heart, soul, strength, and mind 09:30 is pointing out that God wants all of us. 09:32 He wants our devotion in every way. 09:34 Anything that detracts from that 09:37 is actually to effectively be breaking the commandments 09:41 and effectively to fall into the sin of idolatry. 09:44 And the second great sin throughout the Old Testament 09:47 that is so emphasized-- we've seen just a few texts, 09:50 but it's literally all over the Old Testament prophets-- 09:54 is this great sin of a lack of justice 09:56 among human relationships. 09:58 This oppression of the poor, 10:01 the needy not being well taken care of 10:06 while others are prospering-- 10:08 all of these kinds of issues over and over again, 10:11 the prophets rail against these things. 10:13 And here again, 10:14 that second greatest sin corresponds directly 10:18 to what Jesus identifies 10:20 as the second great commandment, right? 10:22 Which also corresponds 10:23 to the last part of the Ten Commandments, right? 10:25 That you should love your neighbor as yourself. 10:30 And of course, the way to do this 10:32 is summed up in what is called the golden rule, 10:34 which is also from Jesus, right? 10:35 You should do unto others 10:37 as you would want them to do unto you. 10:41 And so ultimately, 10:42 the very carrying out of justice, 10:45 the very bringing good about in the world, 10:49 it actually is the action of love. 10:52 And here again, we see how closely these ideas are aligned. 10:55 Because to love God requires that we love others. 10:58 To love others requires that we do good for them 11:01 and try to bring about justice and righteousness 11:04 and well-being for all of God's children, 11:07 wherever they may be. 11:08 >>Eric: So there is a connection that meets in a very real way, 11:12 or should meet in a very real way, in our lives. 11:15 And so we have that opportunity 11:16 to be the hands and feet of Jesus 11:18 in other people's lives as well. 11:19 If somebody wants to understand this better, 11:21 there's a companion book that goes along 11:23 with this quarter's "Sabbath School" lesson. 11:24 Share with us a little bit about that. 11:26 >>John: Yes, in the companion volume, 11:28 I have an opportunity to go into more depth 11:31 in all of these issues, 11:33 the understanding of what God's love is like, 11:34 what God's justice is like, 11:36 how God can be just 11:37 in light of the suffering in the world, 11:39 and then God's concern and His care 11:41 and what He calls us to do, 11:43 how this relates to God's great plan and design 11:47 and how we can really be followers of the Lamb 11:50 instead of those who ultimately give 11:53 their allegiance to the dragon in the end. 11:56 All of these things are bound up together, 11:57 and I can draw those things out even more clearly 12:00 in the companion volume. 12:02 >>Eric: So make sure you pick up that companion book. 12:04 It's easy to find at itiswritten.shop. 12:07 Again, itiswritten.shop, and you are looking 12:10 for the companion book 12:11 to this quarter's "Sabbath School" lesson 12:13 by Dr. John Peckham. 12:15 If by chance you happen to have 12:17 missed an episode of this quarter's lesson, 12:21 you are not--you're not lost. 12:24 There is hope for you. 12:26 You can find all of the lessons archived at itiswritten.tv 12:31 and on the It Is Written YouTube channel. 12:34 All the episodes from this quarter 12:35 and previous quarters are found there, 12:38 very easy to find. 12:39 You can go back and re-watch them, 12:41 re-study them, dig into them again, 12:43 and you will be able to mine 12:45 more and more out of the lessons. 12:47 We're not done yet. 12:49 This is still lesson number 12. 12:51 We have one more to go next week, 12:52 but we still have a little bit more 12:54 to dig into also today 12:56 as we are looking at "God's Love and Justice." 12:59 We're taking a look at how these two are inseparable, 13:03 how these two go together; 13:04 they are the greatest commandments. 13:06 And we're gonna continue looking at these greatest commandments 13:10 in just a moment when we come right back, 13:12 once again, here on "Sabbath School," 13:14 brought to you by It Is Written. 13:16 ♪♪♪ 13:20 >>John Bradshaw: When God created the earth, 13:22 He designed three unique systems: 13:25 the land, the water, and the air. 13:30 These systems functioned in perfect unity, 13:33 and everything in them benefited everything else. 13:37 But if you look at the world now, 13:39 you'll see that each of these systems 13:41 is in significant and accelerating decline. 13:46 Join me for "Earth's Rapid Decline," 13:49 part 4 of It Is Written's series, "Prequel of the Bible." 13:54 The whole planet groans under the weight of sin. 13:58 The Bible says that "the earth will grow old like a garment." 14:02 We'll explore what this means for us today 14:05 and what it means for the future. 14:07 Don't miss "Earth's Rapid Decline," 14:11 part 4 of our 5-part series, "Prequel of the Bible," 14:15 brought to you by It Is Written TV. 14:20 >>John: Thank you for remembering that 14:22 It Is Written exists because of the kindness 14:24 of people just like you. 14:26 To support this international life-changing ministry, 14:29 please call us now at 800-253-3000. 14:33 You can send your tax-deductible gift 14:35 to the address on your screen, 14:36 or you can visit us online at itiswritten.com. 14:40 Thank you for your prayers and your financial support. 14:42 Our number again is 800-253-3000, 14:46 or you can visit us online at itiswritten.com. 14:51 ♪♪♪ 14:55 >>Eric: Welcome back to "Sabbath School," 14:57 brought to you by It Is Written. 14:58 We are taking a look at "God's Love and Justice: 15:01 The Two Greatest Commandments" 15:03 here in lesson number 12. 15:05 John, I want to take a moment 15:07 and look at the story of the rich young ruler. 15:09 It's an interesting story where we see again 15:12 that these broader themes 15:13 of love and justice come together. 15:15 Walk us through this story. 15:17 >>John Peckham: Yeah, so this man comes to Jesus, 15:18 and he has this question, right? 15:20 "What must I do? 15:22 What good thing must I do to inherit eternal life?" 15:25 And Jesus' answer is, first of all, He says, 15:28 "If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments." 15:32 And when the man asks which ones, 15:34 Jesus recounts, "You shall not murder, 15:36 "you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, 15:38 "you shall not bear false witness, 15:40 "honor your father and your mother, 15:42 and love your neighbor as yourself." 15:44 And those, of course, correspond to the great commandment, 15:47 to love your neighbor as yourselves, 15:49 and those specific commandments in the Ten Commandments 15:51 that correspond to that. 15:54 But the man says, "I've done all of these things 15:55 since my youth, so what do I still lack?" 16:00 And it's interesting that he recognizes-- 16:02 even though, at least in his mind, 16:03 he's keeping all the commandments-- 16:05 he's still lacking something, right? 16:06 There's still something missing. He seems to recognize this. 16:11 And Jesus responds to him. 16:13 He says, "If you want to be perfect, 16:16 "go, sell what you have and give to the poor, 16:20 "and you will have treasure in heaven; 16:22 and come, follow me." 16:26 Now, when we think of that story, 16:28 you might be familiar with that story already. 16:30 And we know the answer already, 16:33 but I think that the call that Jesus gives to that man 16:37 is also a call that is for us as well, right? 16:41 And this man has a momentous decision-- 16:43 like, everything is before him. 16:45 Do you want to live with God for eternity? 16:47 Do you want to be with Christ forever? 16:49 And Jesus effectively says this is what is lacking 16:53 in this young man. 16:55 And we know that "he went away sad 16:57 because he had many possessions." 17:00 And I think the point of the story 17:02 isn't necessarily making any kind of claim 17:05 about how prosperous one is or how prosperous they are not. 17:08 But in the case of this man, 17:10 he was clearly wedded to his belongings 17:14 in a way that they ended up taking priority 17:17 over the things of God. 17:19 And maybe he knew this in his heart of hearts. 17:21 Jesus certainly knew it, 17:22 that he was putting something ahead 17:24 of his relationship with God, right? 17:25 Which is, again, another form of this great sin of idolatry. 17:30 And we should ask ourselves as well, 17:32 are we putting anything above God? 17:35 And if we're not, if God has blessed us with prosperity, 17:40 if God has blessed us with well-being, 17:43 then we should actually be using that prosperity 17:47 to love God and love other people, 17:50 which means that we will be doing good for others 17:52 with the blessings that God has bestowed on us. 17:54 We won't have them stop with us. 17:56 We will be a blessing to others in tangible ways. 17:59 >>Eric: You know, you've mentioned a few times 18:00 in our journey together this sin of idolatry. 18:04 It's something that was significant 18:06 in the Old Testament times. It's certainly something significant 18:08 in New Testament times. 18:10 How does this sin of idolatry connect to the idea 18:14 that we are failing to love others 18:17 if we are involved in this sin. 18:20 >>John: One way to understand the great sin of idolatry is 18:22 as a lack of allegiance, 18:24 a lack of loyalty to the true King, right? 18:28 And we've seen over and over again in Scripture 18:30 how that is described, what being loyal, 18:35 having allegiance in God, what that looks like. 18:38 And that is, first of all, to love God, 18:41 but, just as importantly, to love others. 18:44 So if someone claims to be a loyal follower of Christ, 18:49 but they don't love others-- 18:51 and by loving others we don't just mean in our mind, 18:54 but actually love others tangibly in relationships-- 18:57 then that is betraying the fact that we are not really loyal. 19:01 We're not really serving God. 19:04 If you tell me that you love me, and then you mistreat my son, 19:09 you obviously don't love me or my son, right? 19:12 And conversely, if you do something for my son, 19:15 that shows that you love me. 19:16 In a similar way but even much greater-- 19:19 because as much as I love my son, 19:20 and I love him dearly, 19:21 God loves everyone exponentially more than that. 19:26 And we can say all day long we love God, 19:30 but if we don't love His children, 19:32 then we're actually showing that we don't love Him 19:35 with our whole heart, right? 19:36 And so it's not as if idolatry is over here, 19:39 and the second great sin is here. 19:41 These are connected because if we truly love God, 19:44 we won't put anything ahead of Him. 19:45 If we don't put anything ahead of Him, 19:47 then everything we've been given, 19:48 we will actually want to use 19:50 in the service of His great mission, 19:53 which is actually to draw everyone into His love. 19:56 And this is emphasized throughout Scripture. 19:58 I want us to read together 20:00 a couple of texts on the importance of this. 20:03 One of them is in Zechariah 7, verse 9. 20:07 >>Eric: "Thus says the Lord of hosts: 20:09 "'Execute true justice, 20:10 "'show mercy and compassion everyone to his brother. 20:14 "'Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, 20:16 "'the alien or the poor. 20:18 "'Let none of you plan evil in his heart 20:20 against his brother.'" 20:21 >>John: And so this is, again, just one example 20:24 of many texts of the prophets emphasizing this point. 20:28 And I ask myself, how could one read these texts 20:31 and ever think that God doesn't care about the poor 20:34 or the needy or justice among relationships? 20:38 And if God cares about these things so much, 20:40 we also should, right? 20:41 To follow the way of the Lamb means 20:43 that we're also going to be concerned about these things. 20:45 Jesus emphasizes this in His own teaching. 20:48 In Luke 11:42, He says this: "Woe to you Pharisees! 20:52 "For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, 20:56 "and pass by justice and the love of God. 21:01 "These you ought to have done, 21:03 without leaving the others undone." 21:07 So He's not making a claim 21:09 that you shouldn't pay attention to the details. 21:11 He's saying don't pay attention to the details 21:14 in a way that neglects "the weightier matters"-- 21:17 the way it's said in Matthew when He says this, right?-- 21:19 of love and justice and mercy. 21:22 And all of these things are near to the heart of God. 21:24 They should be near to anyone's heart 21:26 who claims to be a follower of the one true God. 21:30 >>Eric: So we're seeing that in New Testament, 21:33 we're seeing it in Old Testament. 21:34 It's a consistent theme throughout the Bible. 21:37 I want to jump to Psalm 82 for a few minutes here. 21:40 In Psalm 82, it shows pretty clearly 21:42 God's concern for justice. 21:45 How does that relate to us 21:46 in our social responsibilities today? 21:49 >>John: Yeah, this is really a profound passage. 21:52 It's actually one of the passages 21:53 that many scholars identify also 21:55 as a passage that relates to the heavenly council 21:58 that we've talked about before. 22:00 And so in this passage, you have God 22:02 who was actually chastising 22:04 and judging not only human rulers-- 22:07 He is judging them for injustice in society-- 22:09 but He's also chastising 22:11 the so-called gods of the nations, 22:13 which we saw in earlier lessons, 22:15 behind those gods-- so those gods don't exist, 22:18 the gods the nations thought they were worshiping 22:20 were not real gods, 22:21 but behind them were demons masquerading as gods 22:24 that are also having influence and having impact in society. 22:27 And in Psalm 82, at least as it's read by most scholars, 22:30 you have both of these in the text. 22:33 And you can just see it in the language. 22:35 So let's read it together. 22:36 Psalm 82, beginning in verse 1. 22:39 >>Eric: "God stands in the congregation of the mighty; 22:42 "He judges among the gods. 22:44 "How long will you judge unjustly, 22:46 "and show partiality to the wicked? Selah 22:49 "Defend the poor and fatherless; 22:51 "do justice to the afflicted and needy. 22:53 "Deliver the poor and needy; 22:55 "free them from the hand of the wicked. 22:57 "They do not know, nor do they understand; 23:00 "they walk about in darkness; 23:01 "all the foundations of the earth are unstable. 23:04 "I said, 'You are gods, 23:06 "'and all of you are children of the Most High. 23:08 "'But you shall die like men, 23:10 "and fall like one of the princes.' 23:12 "Arise, O God, judge the earth; 23:14 for You shall inherit all nations." 23:17 >>John: So we see here a number of things, right? 23:19 God is clearly very concerned about justice, 23:22 and He's bringing judgment 23:24 against the gods of the nations 23:28 and then also the earthly rulers, right? 23:30 So the psalmist points out this injustice. 23:34 He calls for God to actually bring judgment. 23:38 And then God says, "You are gods, 23:40 "and all of you are children of the Most High. 23:43 But you shall die like men." 23:45 So judgment will come in the end eventually, 23:49 both on the earthly rulers that have worked oppression 23:52 and also the demonic rulers, 23:54 the demonic forces of this age 23:56 that are in the background and operating in the background 24:00 in the world to bring about oppression and injustice. 24:04 So both of these things are there in Psalm 82. 24:08 And again, it should serve as a warning for us. 24:11 Even if we're not rulers, even if we're not governors, 24:14 how are we living our lives? Are we living our lives 24:17 in a way that reflects God's love, 24:19 or do we participate in things that actually do the opposite 24:24 and don't bring good to the world 24:26 but bring actually evil and suffering in the world? 24:29 Here, I think the question should ring in our ears 24:33 of the man after Jesus says, 24:36 "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," 24:38 and he asks this question, 24:39 "Well, who is my neighbor?" Right? 24:41 And this is a common theme throughout Scripture 24:44 going all the way back to the beginning 24:46 in the story of Cain and Abel when Cain is questioned by God, 24:49 "Am I my brother's keeper?" Right? 24:51 And of course he means that as a negative reply, like, 24:53 "Why should I be responsible for where my brother is?" 24:56 But actually, yes, 24:57 we are supposed to be our brother's keeper. 24:59 Who is our neighbor? 25:00 And the story that Jesus tells, the good Samaritan, 25:03 it's not a shocking story to us anymore 25:05 because we're so familiar to it, 25:07 but it's shocking at the time because many Samaritans and Jews 25:10 thought of each other as enemies. 25:11 They shouldn't have, but they did. 25:13 And so the fact that in this story, 25:14 the Samaritan is the hero, right, 25:17 and he actually treats the Jewish man 25:20 who is just left for dead by the side of the road, 25:25 he treats him with the mercy and the compassion of God, 25:27 whereas the religious leaders 25:28 just walk by on the other side of the road. 25:30 This is utterly shocking. 25:32 And it should be shocking to us today as well, 25:34 that we are called to love our neighbors, 25:37 which includes those who might see us as enemies. 25:40 And that's Jesus's great command: 25:41 "Love your enemies." 25:43 This is much easier said than done, 25:44 but this is the important emphasis 25:47 all throughout Scripture. 25:49 >>Eric: John, we don't have too much time left, 25:50 but I want to read Micah 6, verse 8, 25:52 give you an opportunity to comment on that. 25:55 Micah 6:8 says, "He has shown you, 25:58 "O man, what is good; 25:59 "and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, 26:02 to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" 26:05 How do these principles here help us to understand justice, 26:10 mercy, humility in our daily lives? 26:13 >>John: Yeah, yeah, it's such a beautiful passage, right? 26:15 And in some ways it's simple. 26:17 There are many things that are hard to understand, 26:19 but what God desires of us and asks of us 26:22 is not hard to understand. 26:24 Sometimes it's hard for us to do 26:26 because of our sinful nature and selfishness, 26:27 but it's not hard to understand. 26:29 "To do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with your God." 26:33 And I think Ellen White puts it best 26:35 in her masterpiece, "The Desire of Ages." 26:36 She writes, "Every false religion 26:39 "teaches its adherents to be careless 26:41 "of human needs, sufferings, and rights. 26:44 "The gospel places a high value upon humanity 26:47 "as the purchase of the blood of Christ, 26:48 "and it teaches a tender regard for the wants and woes of men. 26:52 The Lord says, 'I will make a man 26:54 "'more precious than fine gold; 26:56 even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.'" 27:00 And here I think the point is that if we are to love God, 27:04 if we say we love God, we must love others. 27:06 And that requires the principles of love, 27:08 justice, and mercy in the way we conduct ourselves 27:12 as followers of Christ. 27:13 >>Eric: John, thanks for leading us through 27:15 this week's lesson once again. 27:17 And we wanna thank you for joining us once again. 27:19 As we're continuing our journey-- 27:21 we're not quite finished yet; we have one more lesson, 27:24 one more week that we're going to be going into 27:26 as we continue looking at God's love and justice, 27:30 how those two are inextricably intertwined, 27:33 and not just theologically or theoretically 27:37 but very, very practically. 27:39 We've looked today at how we can care about, 27:42 how we can express God's love for others 27:45 and the actions that we take 27:46 and the way that we interact with them and assist them 27:49 in the challenges in their life. And we hope that today's lesson 27:52 has been a very practical one for you. 27:54 We'll be back again next week 27:56 as we continue our journey looking 27:58 at God's love and mercy here on "Sabbath School," 28:02 brought to you by It Is Written. 28:04 ♪♪♪ 28:24 ♪♪♪ 28:26 [Captions provided by Aberdeen Captioning www.abercap.com] |
Revised 2025-03-13