In Matthew 22, we've seen how the religious leaders in Jerusalem are challenging Jesus with a series of questions. A few days ago, we saw how the Pharisees and Herodians asked about paying taxes to Caesar, and yesterday we looked at the Sadducees' question concerning resurrection. In verses 34-40, the Pharisees step back up to the plate with a question about what Jesus considers "the Top." But instead of wanting a whole list of ten items, they just want one. Here's what the text says in Matthew 22:34-40:
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
37 Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."One of the Pharisees' experts in the law asks Jesus about the most important commandment. "Jesus, which one is top of the list?" Jesus had a lot of options to choose from. The Old Testament law contains over 600 commandments! Would Jesus say that the most important one was "Do not murder?" What about "Honor your father and mother"? How about all those rules about what the Jews could and could not eat?
But out of this huge list of commands, Jesus lands on the greatest in Deuteronomy 6:5--the command to love God. This comes from a passage known as the Shema, which means "Hear" in Hebrew (referring to the first word in Deuteronomy 6:4). It was perhaps the most well-known and often-recited passage in Jewish life. God's people needed to drill it into their heads that their primary responsibility was to love God. With everything--heart, soul, mind, strength. There may be some distinctions between each of these, but when put together, the meaning is plain. God's people are to love God with everything they have. There is no part of life this is kept separate. Everything we are is turned toward our purpose of loving God.
The Pharisee only asked for the greatest commandment, but Jesus is a bit of an overachiever. He goes on by also identifying the second greatest commandment, this time from Leviticus 19:18. God's people are to love others as themselves. In effect, this is what love for God looks like in action. In fact, the apostle John wrote that if we say we love God but don't show love to others, he's a liar (1 Jn. 4:19). These two commandments--love God and love others--are intertwined with one another. We can't really do one without also doing the other.
Jesus ends by saying that "All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Love is the summation of the entire law (Rom. 13:10). You can pick any other commandment from Scripture, and it will fit under the commands to love God and love others. Sometimes it can be daunting to think, "Jiminy, I have to remember this huge list of things that the Bible tells me to do!" Well, Jesus breaks it down for us. Love God. Love others. And when you really do those two things, everything else falls in line.
A few years ago, I got a little card from Carterville. On one side, it says, "I am third." On the other side, it says, "Love God. Love Others. Serve the World." I still use it as a bookmark, and it's a good reminder of what Jesus teaches in this passage. In my everyday living, I am told to put God first, then other people, and finally myself. It's so easy for us to get that out of order. So it's helpful for us to look to Jesus as an example, because he did this perfectly. He made it his goal to glorify and obey the Father, and he gave himself on the cross in order to love us.
So how are you doing when it comes to these two commandments? Are you loving God? And, perhaps a more difficult question, are you loving others?
David Heffren
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