Great Commandments
Matt 22:34-40
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."
(from New International Version)
Lawyers usually ask great questions. In this passage, the expert in the Law asks Jesus which is the greatest commandment. Jesus' answer transformed our thinking about living the Christian life.
God had given us the Ten Commandments to define how we could live a sinless life. Then, seeing we could not fulfill the Law, He sent His Son to model it for us and make the ultimate sacrifice so that we could be forgiven and saved from His judgement. In the midst of that sin-free life, Jesus was faced with this challenge from the religious experts of His day, the Pharisees. He summarized all the Law and all the prophesies of the past by commanding us to love our God without reservation and love our neighbors as ourselves.
Simple. Direct. Easy to remember. Love God and your neighbor. Yet, the Pharisee still didn't get it. We see his next question and Jesus' answer in the following passage from Luke:
Luke 10:26-37
26 "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
27 He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
28 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
(from New International Version)
This trasformed our thinking about how to live the Christian life in several ways. First, we now understood that while Christ came to free us from the law and to secure our salvation, God still had commandments for us. Second, this Christian life involved getting our hands dirty and helping our neighbor in need whenever and wherever we could. It could not be lived in isolation. Third, it made very clear the fact that our resources were provided to us by God so that we could love our neighbor. The traveler could have spent the funds he used to pay for the injured man's care and lodging in many other ways, and yet he made the right choice. And finally, between the Great Commission and these Great Commandments, we understood exactly what was expected of us while here on earth:
Go
Make Disciples
Baptize
Teach
Love God
Love your Neighbor
There is no doubt that our salvation is secured for us by Jesus Christ. We can live a lifetime without fulfilling any part of the Great Commission or Great Commandments and still get to Heaven. However, living the Christian life to the fullest - and all the benefits promised by God when we do that - can only be done when we accomplish the actions He commanded of us.
All because Jesus used a great question by an expert in the Law to teach us how to live, for the good of the Kingdom and to His glory!