In Matthew 22:23-29 we find Jesus speaking to a group of Sadducees about the way and will of God the Father. Having earlier been confronted by a cadre of priests and elders and having put them in their place with the Word of God, the Lord found Himself being accosted by these Sadducees who, along with other groups, would remain His enemies until His death on the cross. As He had done to the priests and elders of the people, the Messiah dispatched them using the only weapon He would ever use–the “sword of the Spirit”–the Old Testament Scriptures (Eph. 6:17). Upon hearing how He had handled the Sadducees, a group of Pharisees sought Him out. One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question designed to trip Him up: “Master, which is the great commandment in the Law?” Jesus said to them, “‘You shall love the Lord our God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'” The quote was taken from Deuteronomy 6:5. This quote, combined with His response to Satan’s statements following His 40 day fast, prove that the Messiah used the Old Testament as His source of Truth (Jn. 17:17). His apostles would later quote and teach from the Old Testament as they would use those Scriptures while serving as His “witnesses” to a dark and Satan-dominated world (Mat.24:14). During the incident with the lawyer, both He and the lawyer referred to the Ten Commandments as God’s Law that was to govern the lives of His people. Later, when asked by a young rich ruler what he had to do to inherit eternal life, Jesus replied that he must obey the Ten Commandment Law (Mat. 10:17-22). The message is clear: Obedience to God’s stone-etched Ten Commandment Law is required for salvation–no exceptions, including commandment #4 AS IT IS WRITTEN. Jesus stated that He had not come to do away with the Law but to live it to the full. Did He allow the church to do away with His Sabbath Law? See God’s Royal Law. To be continued. L.J.