Matthew 22:34 ¶ But when
the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were
gathered together. 35 Then one of them, which
was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
36 Master, which is the great
commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said
unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is
the first and great commandment. 39 And
the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all
the law and the prophets.
Here is a great summation of the Law given to Moses. Here, God in
the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ, gives this lawyer the essence of God’s
intention for the Law. This makes it so simple to understand that it is an
amazing set of verses. Love God with all your being and love your neighbor as
yourself. This is something we most certainly all fail at. This will stun the
Pharisees as Christ has dealt with all parties, political and religious, that
He is facing. What God expects from His people is unquestionable.
Deuteronomy 6:5 And thou
shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and
with all thy might.
See how the Holy Spirit substitutes one word for understanding
with mind and might indicating that this is a spiritual command.
In no way could one confuse this with killing anyone in the name of Christ.
Again, I do not want to make this a harmonization of the gospels
so we won’t compare the gospels. They each have their unique memories and takes
on the things Jesus said that are worth studying in context. I thought this was
interesting in Mark, chapter 12.
Mark 12:28 ¶ And one of the scribes came, and having heard
them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked
him, Which is the first commandment of all? 29
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O
Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first
commandment. 31 And the second is like,
namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other
commandment greater than these. 32 And
the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou
hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other
but he: 33 And to love him with all the
heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the
strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt
offerings and sacrifices. 34 And when
Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from
the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.
And then from Luke;
Luke 10:27 And he answering
said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as
thyself.
Notice also further instruction in Deuteronomy on this subject.
Deuteronomy 10:12 ¶ And
now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD
thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy
God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
Deuteronomy 30:6 And the
LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love
the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest
live.
Verse 39 is also a reference to the Law;
Leviticus 19:18 Thou shalt
not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.
James 2:8 ¶ If ye fulfil
the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself, ye do well:
Luke, chapter 10, shows us that whomever we come in contact with,
even one of those we don’t approve of, is our neighbor in God’s eyes. This is
very troubling for us. Think about what it means to be like Christ.
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