Following Christ-Rediscovering the Jewish Faith of JesusSample

Day 12: The Greatest Command

When Jesus was on earth, He had mixed relationships with the Pharisees and teachers of the Law. We tend to remember the occasions when this relationship is treated negatively, such as Matthew 23, but in other places the relationship is treated positively.

“One of the teachers of the law...noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, asked him, ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’” (Mark 12:28). Jesus answers unequivocally that the greatest command is the one in Deuteronomy 6 to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

However, it’s interesting that, at least in Mark’s account, Jesus recites the Shema (Hear, O Israel. The Lord our God, the Lord is one) to give context for the command. Jesus must have considered that entire passage to be significant. He cited the book of Deuteronomy more than any other biblical book.

Although He wasn’t asked about it, Jesus went on to say that the second greatest command was one from Leviticus 19:18—to love your neighbor as yourself. The parallel account in Matthew 22:40 has Jesus adding that these two commands are a summary of all the commands in the Law.

We can see that most easily in the Ten Commandments. The first few relate to loving God, while the later ones relate to loving other people. All of the commands in the Law either deal with relating to other people or with obeying God.

Jesus is not saying that these two commands replace all the others, as some people think, but that they summarize all the others.

It is also interesting to note that the teacher of the Law, who asked Jesus the question, agreed strongly with His answer, including His citation of the Shema. And Jesus, in response, affirmed his agreement. The message of Jesus had a lot more in common with that of the rabbis than we tend to think. In fact, even in Matthew 23, where Jesus criticizes the hypocrisy of some Pharisees, he begins the chapter by saying, “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So, you must obey them and do everything they tell you.” That part of the passage is often overlooked.

Reflection

Jesus followed the Law and cited it in His teaching, which tells us that there is. Since all of the commands in the Law either deal with relating to other people or with obeying God, the Law clearly contains much for us to discover about God within it. How will you go about “loving the Law”?

We are urged to love God with all our being. How does your love for God manifest itself in your life?

Serving God and serving others go hand-in-hand, and while it’s important to care for one another, we must take care to not simply be busy serving others while neglecting God—just doing good works. That’s how we end up busy and fruitless. God promises that if we are caring for others in Him, our fruit will abound. Do a quick fruit check on yourself. Are you reflecting love and peace and joy in your relationships?