Cooking & Christ - A Reflection on Matthew 22:34-40



When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

 

A few days ago I said that living the Christian life was easy. A few people wrote in asking how I could say that when it seemed to them like it was a huge struggle to walk on the straight and narrow each day. Well, the reason many of us find it difficult is because we have a list of do’s and don’ts that we believe we need to follow. We try our hardest to ensure we follow this list, and then feel frustrated, depressed, and guilty when we can’t. Is this not the truth?  So, what’s the solution. Stop trying! And throw out that list! Understand the key to holy living is relationship, not rules. Or to put it in even simpler terms, being holy is about love. 

 

Let me explain. Consider two women who have just got married. One has been forced into a marriage to a man she hardly knows; the other has married a man she is totally in love with. The former looks upon her husband as a rather stern man who is difficult to please; the other thinks her husband is wonderful, because he is affirming and supportive. Neither of the women knows how to cook. But they both step into the kitchen, one because she has been taught it is her duty to cook for her husband; the other simply because she loves her husband and wants to rustle up something nice for him. 

 

Both search YouTube for some easy recipes and start making them. For the first woman it is a burdensome chore that she has to do to please a demanding man; for the other it is simply an act of love. Guess who is going to filled with joy and who is not? And guess who is going to become the better cook? The woman who does it for love will discover that cooking is quite a lot of fun, and even though she botches up a few recipes, she continues to try out new things, getting more and more adventurous. On the other hand, although the other woman might become fairly proficient in cooking, it will never quite be the joyous thing it is for the other.

 

It is the same thing with God. We can obey him because it seems like he has set out a list of commands that we need to follow. This isn’t entirely our fault; we have have been taught repeatedly that is our “duty” to follow him. If we don’t, he will punish us, or boot us out of the house! Or, we can love him, and do things for him out of this love for him. And, although we might fail many times, when we discover that he is always encouraging and affirming, we will be encouraged to do even more things for him simply because he is so awesome.

 

This is why Jesus tells us to love him with all our being. If we love him with everything we have, we will want to please him with as much intensity. But in order to love him, we have to know him, no? So, let us get to know him. Let us read his word; and more importantly, reflect upon it deeply. These reflections should be nothing more than an appetizer for a full course meal of Jesus. And when we get to know him deeply, we will love him deeply as well! Oh, what joy!

 

And, oh yeah, enjoy the cooking! That goes for the men too! Love is a two-way street!

 

Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here: https://youtu.be/e42bsuRQEmM



 

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