Legalism must be in my blood.

I had this thought the other day at Wal-Mart. As I stood in the Express Check-Out line, I actually took the time to count the number of items the lady in front of me had. When she exceeded the 20-item limit (she had 22!), I secretly hoped the clerk would refuse to ring up her final items. I envisioned a loud siren going off and the cashier’s drawer locking up and the clerk saying something catty to her like, “I’m sorry, ma’am, but I’m unable to ring up your final two items. As you can see from the aptly-positioned sign over my head, the Express Check-Out is only for purchases of 20 items or fewer. You’ll need to go to the end of the line if you’d like to purchase these additional items.” I pictured the woman having to walk dejectedly to the back of the line with sunken shoulders while the rest of us rule-abiding consumers watched in quiet adjudication. I was half-surprised when the clerk didn’t even seem to notice this customer’s gross violation of the 20-item ordinance and rang her up with nary an objection.

Like I said, I think legalism is in my blood.

Somebody said the covenant God established with Israel had something like 630 laws. Or 730, I can never remember. But they say the oral law associated with Torah was even more detailed. Safeguards were established to keep Israel from even coming close to breaking the rules. Somewhere along the way, the line between safeguard and Torah seemed to blur and legalism ran rampant.

In that kind of setting, Jesus is asked to designate the greatest command in the Law. In Matthew’s gospel, the whole thing appears as a trick question of sorts. The Pharisees and Sadducees are plotting ways to “entangle him [Jesus] in his talk,” (Matt. 22:15). And so this question comes up: which commandment is the greatest?

And he said to them, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matt. 22:37-40)

Love God. Love others. Hundreds and hundreds of laws condensed to two simple principles. And yet, my natural inclination is to gravitate back toward legalism.

But I’m pretty sure of this: love is the better way.