Jesus and the Greatest Commandments
The Old Testament had hundreds of rules and commands. A Teacher asked Jesus which is the greatest. Jesus and the greatest commandments came to us.
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.[e] 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.’[f] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[g] There is no commandment greater than these.”
Jesus reached into the Old Testament and pulled together three key phrases. He did not say they were the only commandments, but his statement give us a lifetime of guidance. What he said is not new. Moses had written these three ideas at God’s command 1300 to 1500 years before. Jesus puts them together to help us see better.
Note, he says belief in one loving God is the base. Then, love that Creator and sustainer God back. Finally, spread his love to people everywhere by loving them like you love yourself -which implies that hating yourself is not allowed. God loves us though even in these straight forward commands, we fall short.
Jesus and the Greatest Commandments is about Faith and Love
The Bible is great in that it often says just a few words, and we are left with a lifetime to try to realize.
He hits us at the core just like we need to be hit. He takes all the wrapping off and we are left with awe.
Yes, “without faith we cannot please God.”
By faith, we start reading the Bible and see that God is both holy and loving. He is fierce and gentle, and knows much better than us when to be fierce or gentle. We are moved by his love, and start to believe we are lovable even when fully known. Gradually, we love ourselves more. Then, start loving God and finally others. He loves them. We cannot understand, but we love others knowing he loved them first.
We may learn to know what makes Him smile more, but we cannot leave these great commands behind.
How to love God and love others is a deep question. May God show us more about how to love him, others and ourselves. May we by faith accept His great love.
