Fence-Building in the New Testament

Love is the Great Fence Against Evil

We finished our last post with this statement and a question to ponder:

“Applying the principle of fence building, how might you see these two greatest commands of LOVE as a fence against idolatry, covetousness, defrauding patrons in business transactions, or yielding a first-come and hard-sought-after parking slot—any of the commands?”

The two highest commands are to love God with all one’s resources and to love others as oneself, to form a boundary against idolatry, fraud, covetousness, murder, and the like. If humanity would hold others above self, showing the same self-love and honoring God’s commands out of devotion, then the negative commands would become superfluous. In this way, love is the fence that guards against humanity’s slide into unrestrained lawlessness.

Photo by Alex Block on Unsplash

The Law and the Prophets, therefore, hang upon the fence of those highest commands that imbue love. This is why the rabbis, Yeshua, and Judaism as a whole always prioritize a life of imbued love:

“Shimon the Righteous was among the survivors of the Great Assembly. He used to say: ‘The world depends on three things—on Torah study, on the service [of God], and on kind deeds’” (Pirke Avot 1:2).

“Hillel says: ‘Be among the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving people, and bringing them closer to the Torah’” (Pirke Avot 1:12).

From the Tanakh, Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel quotes the prophet Zechariah (8:16):

“The world endures on three things—justice, truth, and peace, as it is said: ‘Truth and the verdict of peace are you to adjudicate in your gates’” (Pirke Avot 1:18).

Finally, Yeshua restates another precept by Rabbi Hillel, yet in the affirmative:

“So, whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 7:12).

Yet another protective fence? Not really. Yeshua sums up the Sermon on the Mount, saying that the “Golden Rule” IS the Law and Prophets. In other words, the Law and Prophets are consideration for others, putting God and others first as deeds of LOVE.

Blessings—