Sabbath School Lesson for March 15-21, 2025
Introduction for Lesson 12, Love and Justice: The Two Greatest Commandments
Memory Text: “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” 1 John 4:20 NKJV
Two defining traits of God are His love and His justice. As Christians, these should also be defining points of our character. We should love both God and our neighbor. Neglecting to take care of our brothers and sisters is equally abhorrent to God as actually oppressing them. Oppression amounts to injustice, so we don’t want to be found guilty of either of these unloving tendencies.
Jesus pronounced loving God and loving our neighbor as the greatest commandments of all (Matthew 22:40). In other words, love is paramount in everything God asks of us. After all, we read that “God is love” and that “the greatest of these is love” (1 John 4:16 and 1 Corinthians 13:13).
Some find it easy to love God, but difficult to love others. On the other hand, today we often see that people can be quite giving to their neighbors, but totally neglect loving God. That’s why Jesus claimed both kinds of love are absolutely pivotal to keeping the whole law found in the Bible and having the most meaningful relationship with God.
- Sunday: The Two Greatest Commandments–loving God and our neighbor
- Monday: The Two Greatest Sins–worshiping idols and oppression of people
- Tuesday: God Loves Justice–central message of the prophets
- Wednesday: Called to Establish Justice–central message of Jesus
- Thursday: Who Is My Neighbor?–parable of the Good Samaritan
Sunday: The Two Greatest Commandments
Christians are familiar with Jesus proclaiming to a lawyer the two greatest commandments as being to love God and your neighbor. The rich, young ruler who later came asking how to have eternal life was shocked to find that he had to sell all his riches and give to the poor, if he wanted eternal life.
This young man was not only guilty of not loving others as much as he should, but unbeknownst to him, he loved his riches more than God. Ultimately, he was guilty of not loving God and his neighbor. This solemn observation reminds us that to break even one of God’s Ten Commandments is the same as breaking them all (James 2:10).
Ellen White writes in The Desire of Ages, p. 520: “…if the things of this world are cherished, however uncertain and unworthy they may be, they will become all-absorbing.” One doesn’t have to be wealthy for this to happen. We should not allow anything on this earth to consume more of our time and thoughts than absolutely necessary. We should focus on God’s love and justice, not anything that this world offers, good or bad.
Verses to discuss:
Matthew 22:34-40 and James 2:10
- Why is it hard to single out just one commandment, and yet, how does Jesus’ assessment accurately describe what the commandments are all about?
- Why do we need all Ten Commandments, and not just the two greatest ones?
Matthew 19:16-23, 26
- Why was the rich, young ruler disappointed by Jesus’ answer, and what stopped him from complying with it?
- What did Jesus mean by saying it is hard for rich people to be saved? Why is it hard, and does this mean it is impossible?
Monday: The Two Greatest Sins
God was very vocal about idolatry in the Old Testament. It is hard to understand why His people would sacrifice to other gods after all their Deliverer had done for them. But, even in modern times, we often consider other things more worthy of our attention than God. God continues to want us to place our full attention and love on Him, rather than the things of the world, including all its carnal pleasures. Similar to loving God as being one of the greatest commandments, our failure to love Him supremely is one of the greatest sins we can commit.
God, throughout Scriptures, also has much to say about the treatment of our fellow human beings. We are often less than loving even when it comes to brothers and sisters in our faith community. We gossip about them, fail to help them when they are in need, and are generally much too lax about looking out for our neighbors as well. At times, we can even be downright oppressive toward individuals or groups of people. Through thought and actions, we prevent them from enjoying life as they should. We almost rejoice to see them suffering and downtrodden. Loving others is one of the greatest commandments, we are told. Therefore, not loving them, or neglecting to care for them, is also one of our greatest sins.
Verses to discuss:
Psalm 135:13-19 and Deuteronomy 6:5
- Why does idolatry hurt God so much?
- What kind of idolatry might be found in our lives today?
- What kind of love is God looking for from us, and why is it so hard to find?
Zechariah 7:9-12 and 1 John 4:20-21
- Why is not loving others seen as injustice in God’s eyes?
- In what ways are people still being oppressed in our modern world?
- Why is not loving others as bad as not loving God?
Tuesday: God Loves Justice
Psalm 82 is a plea for justice among God’s chosen people. We know that God loves justice and hates evil. He was justifiably upset by the neglect and oppressive actions of Israel’s leaders that harmed the poor and needy, including widows and orphans, and anyone not treated fairly.
Prophets of the Old Testament were clear in their call for people to mend their ways and show justice and mercy to those who were afflicted and downtrodden. Social justice was definitely on God’s agenda. His angry, righteous indignation was often expressed by the prophets.
Micah 6:8 sums up God’s feelings about these issues. We are shown here what God requires of us. It’s simply to “do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly” with God. Our love and humility before God will be evident by how just and merciful we are to other people.
Verses to discuss:
Psalm 82
- What were some of the behaviors that God especially disliked? And why did these things bother Him so much?
Micah 6:8 and Genesis 18:19
- Why is mercy (lovingkindness) essential if justice is to be done?
- Since these requirements went back to Abraham, why were God’s people so lax in showing justice?
Wednesday: Called to Establish Justice
Prophets like Isaiah admonished God’s people to “Learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow” (Isaiah 1:17). Jeremiah also denounced the person who “uses his neighbor’s service without wages and gives him nothing for his work” (Jeremiah 22:13).
Jesus’ life of self-sacrifice and service demonstrated God’s love and justice. He pointed out to some scribes and Pharisees that “you pay tithe of mint and anise and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith.” In the parallel passage in Luke’s Gospel, we find Jesus sadly declaring that they “pass by justice and the love of God” (Luke 11:42).
We are called by Jesus to consider the weightier matters of the law: showing justice and mercy to our neighbors, and having faith in God. Failure to do either one jeopardizes our relationship with God, because it amounts to breaking His law and distancing ourselves from His holy presence.
Verses to discuss:
Matthew 23:23-30
- Although Jesus declared that small things are important, why was He so concerned about them forgetting the larger concerns of God?
- Why are justice, mercy, and faith so important to God?
Thursday: Who Is My Neighbor?
A certain lawyer came asking Jesus how to have eternal life. Jesus’ reply was the same as to the rich, young ruler in Matthew 19. One must love God and love his neighbor. Wanting to comply, the lawyer then asked Jesus who his neighbor was. And he was given the parable of the good Samaritan. The answer to his question was then obvious: his neighbor was anyone who was in need.
Jesus certainly demonstrated helping people in need during His earthly ministry. Shortly after His baptism, He read Isaiah 61:1, 2 before the gathered congregation in Nazareth. He knew from various Scriptures that His mission was to preach the gospel to the poor, heal the brokenhearted, free captives, give sight to the blind, and release people from oppression. All these things are part of loving our neighbor, one of God’s greatest commandments.
Psalm 9:9 calls God a “refuge for the oppressed” and Psalm 146:7-9 says the Lord “executes justice for the oppressed”, going on to list some of the ways it is done. There are many people around us in need. We must continue to find ways to relieve their oppression.
Verses to discuss:
Luke 10:25-37
- What may have caused the priest and the Levite to ignore the hurting man’s needs?
- Why is it easy to identify our neighbor using this story?
Psalm 146:5-9
- If the Lord relieves the oppressed as it says here, why are we also called to do it?
- Aren’t the interventions of God enough? Are our interventions alone enough? What does this tell us?
Friday: Final Thoughts
To have the kind of love and sense of justice that glorifies God, we would do well to think on the just and lovely things mentioned in Philippians 4:8. These noble traits were certainly found in Christ’s life…
“It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones. As we thus dwell upon His great sacrifice for us, our confidence in Him will be more constant, our love will be quickened, and we shall be more deeply imbued with His spirit. If we would be saved at last, we must learn the lesson of penitence and humiliation at the foot of the cross.” ~Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 834
Next Week: Love Is the Fulfillment of the Law
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