Jimbo, Jesus distilled the Ten Commandments into just two instructions: first (and supreme) love of God; second (and like it) love of neighbour. But how were these to be exercised? The Jewish people traditionally had their own ideas on this, some of which Jesus replaced with new teaching. For example, the Jewish prescriptions governing the treatment of enemies regulated (and, therefore, tried to make proportional) retaliatory action. But this made human relations dependent on law rather than love.

Jesus turned all of this on its head and made it normative for those aspiring to love. Hearts driven by law cannot understand this and never will, any more than they did in Jesus' time.

When one's heart is governed by love then all of its power is brought to bear in defence of that child of God. But if that person's heart is governed by law, then that child is constrained to rely on its own devices, its own limitations,  which, of course, law recognizes and approves. (Continued)