Sermon on the Plain Part III

Jesus told him that because he understood that loving God and loving others was more important than following the letter of the Law…that he was close to the kingdom of God.
That is what the blind guides of Jesus’ day were missing.
Paul, once a Pharisee himself wrote to the Romans:
“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law” (Romans 13:8).
He wrote to the Galatians: “For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:14)
Paul is telling us that the entire law can be summed up in one operative word—love.
Believers therefore are following the commands of Jesus by loving God and loving others.
Which is what Jesus was saying when He said:
“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
The scribe that Jesus told was close to the kingdom of God understood that love is at the core of the law.