I love watching the Sherlock Holmes series, because of his incredible powers of deduction. The answer to complex problems can seem so simple once you know the solution. Sherlock would say “it’s elementary” but he was a genius. In one version of the series, the simple minded Doctor Watson would explain Sherlock’s deduction process by saying something like “it’s simple!” That was a regular response in the series. Once Sherlock Holmes presented the solution, someone would remark house simple it was. So why did people have to ask Mr. Holmes to find that “simple” solution? Maybe it was because discovering that simple solution wasn’t all that simple?
When people were looking for one of those simple answers, they asked JESUS, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Mat 22:36-40 KJV).
JESUS gave them a simple answer to a very complex question. They asked the right person and received the right answer, so why didn’t it change their lives? Someone could have taken those precious words to a lost and dying world and changed the course of history!
Surely that was the answer their religious leaders had been searching for? They could replace their huge scrolls with a few scriptures. Their endless studying and discussions would be replaced by simple directions. Even the simplest-minded person could memorize that brief passage. A lesson would go something like “It’s simple, love the GOD with all your heart, soul, and mind and love your neighbor as yourself.” So why didn’t it happen?
The first problem is religion. If they were to accept the authority of JESUS, which they didn’t, they would lose their own power. The next problem is that religion thrives on controversy. When they begin to tear apart those few scriptures, one group would want a liberal interpretation and another would want a strict interpretation. They would each back up their positions with the law and the prophets. Their supporters would praise their points of view and condemn all others. We would be right back in the same religious mess we started with.
GOD knew we wouldn’t accept and couldn’t keep those “simple” scriptures so “he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 KJV). So now the answer is simple. “Accept JESUS as your LORD and be saved!” That simple answer was made possible by JESUS shedding His precious blood on the cross to save us from our sins! That was something only He could do. So you see, the answer wasn’t all that simple!
Wayne Lance