The Great Commandment

Melinda Song

The word great catches our attention. The Great Wall of China, the great Pyramids etc. or the greatest footballer, Pele and the greatest squash player, our very own Nicole David.

When they asked Jesus, which is the greatest commandment, it came with a motive to trap him.

Matthew 22:34-40
The Greatest Commandment
22: 34- 40pp – Mk 12: 28- 31
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.”

Mark 12:28-34
The Greatest Commandment
12: 28- 34pp – Mt 22: 34- 40
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. ’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. ’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

There were constant debates during the time of Jesus. The passage above showed Jesus faced challenges from the the experts of the time.

v16 The Herodians posed questions to Jesus about paying taxes hoping to trap Jesus. Jesus answered them by showing the Roman coin

v28 The Sadducees, the influentials wanted to trap Jesus by questioning him about the woman who married seven times.

Jesus answered them via the scriptures and they were silenced.

The Pharisees, the separated ones expert in the law took Jesus to task. They sent a lawyer, a scribe to ask Jesus a difficult question.

Which is the greatest commandment? This was a question they themselves could not answer. If Jesus were to contradict Moses, he would be labelled a heretic.

Jesus answered by keeping to the law but emphasis was not on can or cannot but on love.

Mark 12:29
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Jesus said: Love the Lord your God. The "love" here is a verb not a noun. Love here is an action. Jesus demonstrated that love on the cross. Paul said it is this love that compels him.

If we love God, it needs to be shown through action. It is not just an expression of the word. Love is not just what we say. It's what we do.

The second lesson we can learn is that: If we get the love right, we will get the law right.

The first part of the 10 commandments is about loving God and the second part is on loving others. It hangs on love.

As Christians, it is not about what we can or cannot do, it is about what we want or don't want to do.

When you love someone, you will not stray. And our love to God is total. The verse says "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." Our lives cannot be compartmentalised, it is total. Note the "all" that is being emphasised.

This love is with our mind too and not just emotional. It takes both to love God. It is with our all.

We need to live a God saturated, Christ centred, Spirit filled life.