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 (foremost) 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.” (Mark 12:28-30)
The quote Jesus used is from Deuteronomy 6:5, part of the Shema, (Hebrew for “hear” Deut. 6:4) The Jewish rabbis had determined that there were 613 commandments contained in the Pentateuch, one for each letter of the Ten Commandments. Heart…soul…mind…strength – The use of the various terms is not meant to delineate distinct human faculities, but to underscore the completeness of the kind of love that is called for. To say “I love God” when understood to be the greatest love of all, Is to say, “I love God with my whole being, my heart, my passions, my ambitions, with everything that is about me that it will show the love of God.” Love your neighbor as yourself – This is a quotation from Leviticus 19:18. Again, part of the the commands from the first five Books (Pentateuch) it is not a mandate for self-love. Rather, it contains in different words the very same idea as the Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12). It prompts believers to measure their love for others by what they wish for themselves. Jesus took the Pharisees’ question one step further by identifying the second greatest commandment because it was critical to an understanding of the complete duty of love.
Dear Christian friend, We have people in our lives every day who need to be not only loved this way, but see the courage it takes to live out our love for God, in a very practical way demonstrating the greatest commandment of God, and follow your steps of the second commandment, of loving others as yourself.
May the Lord bless your walk today!
