Why did Jesus not know the Commandments?

Question

I asked this yesterday and got few responses. Maybe it had to do with the time I posted.
Mt 19:16-24 has always bothered me. I am not trolling; I really want to know how Christians justify this.

A man asks Jesus how to get to heaven. Jesus replies:

“‘If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.’
‘Which ones?’ the man inquired.
Jesus replied, ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.’
‘All these I have kept,’ the young man said. ‘What do I still lack?’
Jesus answered, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.” [NIV]

(This story also is retold in Lk18:18-23 and Mk 10:17-22, with minor changes. It is from this story that the famous “camel through the eyes of a needle” analogy comes.)

First, a simple count may reveal to you that Jesus has listed only seven commandments, when everyone knows there are ten. Does this imply that an idol-worshipping Sabbath-breaking-neighbor’s wife-coveting blasphemer can get to heaven?

Upon closer inspection, however, it is more startling. “Love your neighbor as yourself,” while an Old Testament rule, is NOT one of the ten commandments. JESUS GETS IT WRONG.

The question the man asked is essentially “What are ALL the rules to getting into heaven?” This is why he asks, “What do I still lack?” Why Jesus would omit several of these rules is beyond me.

Also, I chose this quote from MT because it is the only one of the stories that contains the “love your neighbor” quote; the others omit this detail. But Luke and Mark include another important phrase. In answer to the man’s question, “What do I still lack?”, Jesus replies, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have….” This would imply that these rules, and no others, are all you need.

I also want to point out that as an atheist I think these are great rules to live by. They are completely atheistic. It is not necessary to believe in God in order to know that killing, cheating, stealing, lying, and are wrong, and that it’s usually good to honor your parents (except when they don’t worship Jesus; see MT 10:34-39), and that treating people as you wish to be treated is fair and just. Selling your possessions and giving the money to the poor is an admirable thing, though I certainly lack the principles to do so (and no, converting to Christianity won't help).

;) : I gave you a thumbs-up because you provided a thoughtful insight, but that would actually make Jesus not 5 short but 608 short! That only confuses things further!

Peanut Butter: For your information, I am an atheist. I made it pretty clear in the question that I wanted to know how Christians justified this. Your comments are rude and insensitive. Also, your facts are just wrong. The earliest works of what later became the new testament were written in approximately A.D. 50, less than two decades after Jesus’ death. You are right that it is inaccurate and that the authors are not as authoritative as Christians like to imagine, but you will never get anywhere with this kind of ignorance.
Compo is incorrect; the bible tells us that Jesus was a consummate scholar of the OT and is even referred to by his followers as Rabbi.

I’m looking for the answer in the context of Christianity.

I’m long-winded because it’s a complicated question. The bible is similarly prolix.

Answer 1

The commandments that Jesus left out in this teaching all had to do with following /honoring God. Note that when the young man answers "all of these I have kept -what do I still lack." Jesus then gives him the answer that if he wants to be perfect (follow ten commandments) than he needs to give up all that he owns and follow him. These two actions would in fact fulfill the commandments that were left out. In giving up all that he owned he would be letting go of the idols (money) that he was worshipping and he would begin to put God first. Jesus then comands the man to "come, follow me". Again fulfilling these supposed left out commandments. Basically Jesus is saying stop worshipping your idols and follow me-which sums up the missing commandments.
Jesus was gently leading the man to realize his own sin. This man thought that he was fulfilling the law in keeping those commandments that Jesus spoke of .It wasn't until Jesus asked him to let go of the sins that the rich young man was not aware of that the man could truely see the folly of his ways.
Basically when I read this passage I see a gifted teacher gently and subtly teaching a student the errors of his ways. If Jesus had simply stated the ten commandments in order the man probably would not have gotten the point but by rephrasing everything he was able to point out to the man his sin in a way that he was able to see.
As far as the commandment of love thy negihbor. Previously in his sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5) Jesus in simple terms reduced the following of the law to two commandments-Love your God with your whole heart,your whole mind and your whole soul. Then love your neighbor as you love yourself. Because if you truely follow these two commandments than you will be following ALL ten.

Answer 2

I don't know where to begin. Has somebody recently been talking to you about this? The reason I mention this is because criminals like phonology and codes (this is not a literary analysis, and if you think it is, blame the literary analysts for making the whole thing look like a number crunching game). Literature uses methods such as metaphor to get the point across.

Firstly, I presume you are aware that Jesus came to fulfil the Law, nail it to the cross and just generally annoy the hell out of those who took it literally word for word. Can I ask you, if you were Christian, would it seem right to you to separate out the tenth of the cumin for giving back to God? That was an in-joke.

Here is what the apostle Paul had to say about what doesn't work. Colossians 2:20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: 21 "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? 22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

Answer 3

That had nothing to do with the commandments.
A man asked specifically what 1 ONE, note again ONE thing he should do.
Jesus said follow the commandments, and again he asked which ONE?
You have to remember there were many at the time trying to trick Jesus so He would be shown as a false prophet. Mt. 19:3. They were always trying to lead Him on.
He knew the question before they asked so in each of His answers He gave parables.
It was a rich man that asked Him about the one thing he could do to get to Heaven. He did not like the answers especially about giving up his worldly possessions.
Jesus explained to His disciples that you cannot use wealth of possessions to enter Heaven.
Basically you cannot take it with you nor is there a cashier taking funds.
You come in naked and leave naked. Period.

I think you need a good study Bible. The explanations can be enlightening.

Get A Grip.

Answer 4

There are 613 commandments, and Jesus observed everyone of them. Just because Jesus listed a few does not mean he did not know the rest.

You will find the reference to the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings; in short, the Holy Scriptures. You find that Jesus clearly states that he did not come to change the Law, but to fulfill it. More over, the Law (Holy Scriptures) will exist after all the we can observe is no more.

Why would you think a Rabbi, an observant Jew, would not know the commandments? If you think this, you need to reread the four accounts.

Answer 5

You need to do a little research.

You forgot to mention this...

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.

- Matthew 22:37-40

If you check the laws (Exodus, Leviticus), you will see that there is the levitical law (ritual) and the moral law (many of the commandments .. and these are expounded upon ad nausium throughout the pentateuch).

Hmm so you think he forgot? I think you're missing it.

What is left?

Don't Covet
Have no other gods before me
No idols
No misusing His name
Remember the Sabbath....

My loving God first, loving yourself no more than you love your neighbor, and by giving up 100% of yourself to follow Christ..

He is addressing every commandment.

You can find hundreds of books (yes, even some authored by athiests) that will give you much better understanding of the Mosaic Laws, how those were handed down... and how the Christian Church has probably placed far more emphasis on the first 10 commandments than may have been intended at their inception.

Answer 6

If you go on to read the rest of the conversation between Jesus and the young man, after the man claimed to have kept all these commandments, Jesus told him to sell everything he had and give it to the poor. The young man was unwilling to do that.

The commandments that Jesus quoted were NOT the ones about our relationship with God. Jesus knew that the young man had a real desire to have a correct relationship with God. The commandments Jesus quoted were the ones that had to do with our relationship with OTHERS. That is what the young man was lacking. His unwilling to sacrifice his belongs to help others was the proof of that.

Jesus knew all the commandments. But if he had quoted all 10, the ones that dealt with God rather then others would just have confused the conversation. Jesus knew which ones the young man was struggling with, and so he zeroed in on just those ones.

The young man asked Jesus specifically "which ones" he needed to be keeping, so Jesus listed exactly the ones the young man still needed to work on.

Answer 7

To clear up the "eye of the camel" for you. It refers to the small gate of the city that travelers used after sundown. The bible states "narrow is the path of the righteous". Jesus was making an analogy. In order for the camel to enter the city, it had first to get on its knees, and rid itself of the "burden" that it was carrying. the gate was that small. The same is true of those that believe in Christ. We must first humble ourselves before Him and rid ourselves of the "burden of sin, in order to enter the kingdom(city). Are you stating that with all the other wise things that He said, that you believe He forgot what the commandments were, and that the writers some how did not notice this omission. If they are trying to fool us(of course I dont buy this) into believing there is a God, dont you think they would be more care full about the words that Jesus spoke?

Answer 8

Jesus is talking about God's commandments in general not just The Ten Commandments. Remember Moses gave the Israelites other commandments as well as the famous ten. He probably didn't mention the one's such as don't worship other gods because Judaism was an established religion at the time and commands like that would most probably have been kept.

Answer 9

I think you might be reading it too literally. If you think about it maybe in a conversational context, the guy himself might not have known all the commandments, or he may have mixed up some laws with THE ten commandments. Maybe Jesus was sort of just listing them off and the guy interrupts and says: " oh those commandments, I have done all that". Then he asks "what do I still lack?" That to me kind of clues in that he may not have known much about Judaism, and Jesus....

Answer 10

Well, love your neighbor as yourself happens to be one of the 613 commandments (there aren't just 10) in judaism.
Considering Jesus was a jew, perhaps learning about the jewish perspective would be helpful to you.