#DailyDevotion What Is The Greatest Commandment?

Matt. 22:34-46 ³⁴When the Pharisees heard He had silenced the Sadducees, they got together. ³⁵0ne of them, an expert in the Law, tested Him by asking Him, ³⁶“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” ³⁷Jesus answered him, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸This is the greatest and most important commandment. ³⁹The next is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰All the Law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

So, despite not having Facebook or other social media sites back in Jesus’ people still liked to gang up on other people and play gotcha. We see here the Sadducees lost their one-upmanship with Jesus so the Pharisees thought they would give it a try. So they throw one of their experts in the Torah at Jesus to ask him a question to see if they could pull one over on Jesus. Like what were they thinking when the expert asked Jesus, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” To be honest, I probably would have said the first. To some extent that is what Jesus said. Jesus though passes completely by the Ten Commandments in Exodus and goes to Deuteronomy 6. Now, to be honest, the first commandment pretty much is what Jesus is saying. What does it mean to have no other gods than to love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul and mind? This must have a prevailing teaching though because in Luke 10, when another teacher of the Law asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus asked him back, “What does the Law say?” The expert replied just as Jesus did.

Then Jesus also added, even as the other expert of the Law also added in Luke, “love your neighbor as yourself.” Strangely enough, this isn’t from Exodus or Deuteronomy but Leviticus, where you would expect priestly, ritual, sacrificial laws. But perhaps, loving your neighbor as yourself is a priestly, ritual, sacrificial thing. Love your neighbor as yourself is such a big thing that Paul in Galatians and James in his letter say the whole Law/Torah is kept if you keep this command. You would think keeping “love the LORD your God” would be where you would look for the fulfillment of the whole Law. But you know what? You can’t see God. But you can see your neighbor. Your neighbor is made in the image and likeness of God. How you treat your neighbor (that is the person you see in need) is exactly how you treat God, for the neighbor is His icon/idol for you to serve.

Now Jesus in John throws us a curve-ball in John 6 where he says, ²⁹“What God wants you to do…is to believe in Him Whom He sent.” Why do I bring that up as a parallel to “Love the LORD your God?” Because John in his first epistle, ch. 3 writes, “²³He orders us to believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and to love one another as He has ordered us to do.” We see believing in Jesus and loving one another go hand in hand. To believe in Jesus, to trust God sent him to save us is the same as “loving the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” John also picks up on Paul’s and James’ loving your neighbor is the fulfillment of the Law because you cannot say you love God whom you haven’t seen and hate your neighbor who you do see. But when you your neighbor as God has loved you, you show you love God and believe in Christ who is the image of God. Thanks be to God, the Father gives us his Holy Spirit that we may believe in Jesus and love one another, also flawed, with his grace in Christ covering our sin in whatever good work we do.

Heavenly Father, always give us your Holy Spirit so we may do your will for us in thought, word and deed. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.