The Great Commandments | Keith Sharp
Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, ‘Which is the first commandment of all?’ Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ So the scribe said to Him, ‘Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.’ Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ But after that no one dared question Him (Mark 12:28-34).
On Tuesday of the week Jesus was crucified, as the Master taught in the Temple, various Jewish politico-religious parties sent representatives to try to entrap Him in His words with difficult questions that they might find something to use against Him. After a delegation of Pharisees and Herodians (Politics does indeed make strange bed fellows) had failed (Matthew 22:15-22), and a group of Sadducees had been rebuffed (Matthew 22:23-33), the Pharisees held a pow wow and selected a lawyer to ask him a difficult question (Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34). Having failed to entrap the Lord with specific debaters’ questions, they tried a favorite legal trick. Throw out a question general enough and controversial enough that they would be able to use something He said as evidence against Him – a legal fishing trip. The Jews had codified the Mosaic covenant into 613 commandments, 248 positive and 365 negative (Hendriksen. 809) and endlessly debated which were the most important. They thought to embroil Jesus in their own disputes.
The question: Which is the most important law, the law which stands above all the rest? One might expect the Master to quote one of the Ten Commandments. No, He quoted Deuteronomy 6:4-5:
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Then the Lord went beyond their question: “And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:39; Leviticus 19:18).
The scribe/lawyer, struck by the wisdom of the Master’s reply, candidly acknowledged Jesus had spoken truly and even gave the reasons. There is only one God. To love Him with all our beings will lead us to obey with all our hearts His every command (Deuteronomy 10:12-13; John 14:15; 1 John 5:3). To love our neighbors as ourselves will cause us to fulfill every command involving our relationship with our fellow men (Romans 13:8-10; 1 John 3:16-18). The purpose of the law was to make Israel righteous in God’s sight that they might live (Deuteronomy 6:24-25). Had they fully obeyed that law, the animal sacrifices of sin the law demanded, which brought only outward purity (Hebrews 9:13-14; 10:4), would have been unnecessary. Therefore, these two commandments are both the basis of the law and superior in importance to all animal sacrifices.
This lawyer’s honest reply and correct understanding of the law rendered him close to being ready to enter the kingdom, where the true righteousness of God is to be found (Matthew 4:23; 5:20; Romans 14:17). These principles yet apply under the covenant of Christ. Above all else we must love God and our neighbors (Romans 13:8-10; 1 Corinthians 13:13;16:14; Galatians 5:14; Colossians 3:14; 1 Timothy 1:5-6; James 2:8; 1 Peter 4:8; 1 John 2:5; 4:8).
Thus, the law has two primary divisions: love God and love your neighbor. And the Ten Commandments are divided into these two categories. The first four commandments regulated the Jews’ relationship with God. Commandments six through ten dealt with human to human relationships. To keep the first four was to be godly. To keep the latter six was to be righteous (cf. Romans 1:18).
Work Cited
William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew.
