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Matthew 22:36-40 - The Greatest Commandment.

Matthew 22:36-40 (NIV) "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"  Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Matthew 22:36-40 (CWR) "Teacher, which do you think is the most important commandment that God gave?"  The lawyer was hoping to get Jesus to prioritize God's laws, then challenge Him on His reasons for doing so.  But instead, Jesus summarized God's laws. "You should love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind," said Jesus.  This is the first and most important commandment.  And the next one is just like it.  You should love and value your neighbor as much as you love and value yourself.  You see, the entire law rests on both these principles because they're interrelated; you can't separate them."

INTRODUCTION

The Pharisees, who had classified over 600 laws, often tried to distinguish the more important from the less important. So one of them, an "expert in the law," asked Jesus to identify the most important law. Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. By fulfilling these two commands, a person keeps all the others. They summarize the Ten Commandments and the other Old Testament moral laws. Jesus says that if we truly love God and our neighbor, we will naturally keep the commandments. This is looking at God's law positively. Rather than worrying about all we should 'not' do, we should concentrate on all we 'can' do to show our love for God and others. [Life Application SB]

COMMENTARY PEARLS

"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. And the second is like, namely this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." These two great principles embrace the first four commandments, showing the duty of man to God, and the last six, showing the duty of man to his fellowman. [1 BC 1104]

The law of God, from its very nature, is unchangeable. It is a revelation of the will and the character of its Author. God is love, and His law is love. Its two great principles are love to God and love to man. "Love is the fulfilling of the law." Romans 13:10. The character of God is righteousness and truth; such is the nature of His law. [GC 467]

The divine law requires us to love God supremely, and our neighbor as ourselves. Without the exercise of this love, the highest profession of faith is mere hypocrisy.  [SD 52]

The law of God existed before the creation of man or else Adam could not have sinned. [1 BC 1104]

COMMENTARY

Lifting The Burden
   An Amazing Fact: Roman emperor Justinian once ordered a compilation of all the laws governing ancient Rome. A lawyer named Tribonian directed the five-year-long project, which resulted in nearly 300 volumes of laws!
   From its founding in 753 BC, Rome began accumulating laws. Any leader - local or national - could introduce new laws to govern his subjects. When Justinian came to power in AD 527, Roman law was a confusing mass of contradiction and redundancy. Justinian appointed Tribonian to thoroughly examine the laws, determining what to keep and what to discard. Seven years later, in 534, the Justinian Code was finally finished.
   Today, most European nations owe the structure of their legal systems to Roman law. Even in the United States, many legal concepts that we take for granted originated in Rome.
   Like their hated captors, the Jews amassed an enormous set of confusing and burdensome laws. Regarding the Sabbath alone, Pharisees created 39 categories of activities that might be considered work and were therefore taboo on Sabbath.
   Enter Jesus and His no-nonsense spirituality. A lawyer once asked Jesus which law was most important. Jesus summarized the Ten Commandments into two simple ideas: "Love Me, and love your neighbor."
   We serve a God who keeps it simple! Christians still gravitate toward black and white lists of dos and don'ts; with lists, thinking and communing with God over life's unique situations becomes unnecessary. But God promises that when we ask Him for guidance, He will direct us (Proverbs 3:5, 6) - to actions that demonstrate our love for Him and for our neighbor. [Moving Mountains by Amazing Facts]

How We Live - Loving God and Others
   The Pharisees labored to distinguish important laws from the less important ones. Jesus blew their artificial system away when he pointed to the simple way one could fulfill the entire Law - by loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves.
   God made us for relationships. He created us in his image so that we could have a relationship with him. Although human sin fractured that relationship, God made a way through Jesus Christ for that relationship to be restored. Love for God is our highest calling and the path to true fulfillment as a human being.
   Love for God always leads to love for one's neighbors. Although the world says, "Look out for number one," true happiness is found when we put the needs of our family, friends, neighbors, and even total strangers before our own.
   Learn to love. Love God. Love others. When you do that, you'll find fulfillment that worldly ways of living for oneself simply can't provide. [The One Year Bible for New Believers re Mat. 22:37-40]

How We Live - Loving God and Others
   In the New Testament, when Jesus was asked what commandment is the greatest (Matthew 22:37-38, February 3), he replied by quoting today's reading. Why is the commandment to love God so important that it is to be held above all others? God is the one true God. Loving him with all of your heart, soul, and strength sets a pattern for everything else in your life.
   Loving God is a prerequisite for loving others. Recognizing that God loves your coworkers, neighbors, friends, and family as much as he loves you should make you think twice before being rude, disrespectful, or dismissive. Loving God is the key to obeying him. What God would have you do is most important; bringing glory to him is your soul's desire. The apostle John wrote: "Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3, December 5).
   How can we grow in our love for God? Get to know him better. Meditate on his Word and pray to him. The more you get to know him, the more your love for him will grow. [The One Year Bible for New Believers re Deu.6:4, 5]

LINK FOR FURTHER STUDY

Matthew 22:36-40 - The Greatest Commandment.
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2015/20150203-1138.html

LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT

https://abible.com/links/