Section 135
A Pharisee's legal question
Perhaps Jerusalem, in the temple
Matthew 22:34-40 | Mark 12:28-34 |
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34Now when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35And one of them, a lawyer, asked Jesus a question to test him: 36“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?” 37Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ [*] 38This is the most important and greatest commandment. 39And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ [*] 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” | 28Now one of the scribes came up and heard them debating, and when he realized that Jesus had answered them well, he asked him, “Which is the most important commandment of all?” 29Jesus answered him, “The most important of all the commandments is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the most important commandment. [*] 31And a second like it is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” [*] 32Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. In truth you have said that God is one, and that there is no other besides him, 33and that to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your soul, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is greater than every whole burnt offering and sacrifice.” [*] 34When Jesus saw that the man had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to ask him questions anymore. |
Notes
Temple Mount
For many people, their first view of the Temple Mount is from the Mount of Olives to the east. The most easily recognized area of Jerusalem; the Temple Mount is located within the walls on the eastern side of the Old City. The site of the Temple of Solomon, and of the later Temple built by Herod the Great (which is the temple Jesus visited), is now an enormous stone platform upon which stands the golden covered Dome of the Rock and the Al Aksa Mosque.
Here Jews come to pray at the Western Wall; here Muslims come to pray at the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aksa Mosque. Here Israeli soldiers and the Arab Temple Mount Police protect what may rightly be called the most revered spot on the face of the earth.
Solomon built the First Temple on the threshing floor that his father David had purchased from Arunah the Jebusite (2 Samuel 24:18 25). The site was hallowed as the place where God stayed the hand of Abraham as he was about to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah (2 Chronicles 3:1), and where God stopped the plague against the Israelites (2 Samuel 24:15 18). In addition to the Temple and its associated buildings, Solomon built other magnificent structures between the City of David and the Temple Mount.
Southern Steps of the Temple
The main public access to the Temple was from the southern steps. People entered and exited through a double and triple gate, together called the Huldah Gate. These gates had to handle enormous crowds during feast days; estimates as high as 500,000 people at a time. The triple arched gate was the entrance and the double arched gate served as the exit. Although the double and triple gates have been filled in, you can still see their outlines in the walls near the well-preserved steps of the monumental staircase.
The triple gate to the east led to a tunnel that brought worshippers up to the Temple and the columned porches. To leave the Temple they would exit the double gate on the west and go down a staircase 4 times larger than the entry staircase, since everyone was leaving at the same time. The steps below the wider staircase are well preserved and are one of the few places you can walk where you are sure Jesus walked. An interesting exception to the rule about entry and exit gates regarded mourners. According to the Talmud, they were to go in and out against the traffic in order that people would know of their loss. People would then extend their condolences by saying, “May He who dwells in this House give you comfort.”
In this area we will also see ritual baths from the time of Christ, important inscriptions from the Temple, the street that runs inside the Western Wall tunnels, and the ruins from the Roman destruction of Jerusalem.
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Jerusalem, in the temple & -
Footnotes
Matthew 22,37 | Mark 12,30
Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Matthew 22,39 | Mark 12,31
Leviticus 19:18
Mark 12,33
Leviticus 19:18; Deuteronomy 4:35; 6:5