Question 48:
What is the sum of the Ten Commandments?
Answer: The
sum of the Ten Commandments is, to love the Lord our God, with all our heart,
with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind; and to love
our neighbor as ourselves.
Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-33
These are two parallel passages
that we will look at collectively all week.
The setting is early in the week of Christ’s crucifixion. The Jewish leaders had already plotted to kill
Jesus (John 11:45-57). They were now in
the midst of trying to trick Him (Mark 14:1) that they might seize Him (John
11:57).
Jesus enters
The next day Jesus enters the
After these parables, the
Pharisees plot to find another way to “entangle Him in His talk” (Matthew
22:15-22, Mark 12:13-17). They do this
by conspiring with the Herodians on asking about the payment of taxes to
Caesar, which the Pharisees abhorred but the Herodians accepted. It appeared that in this trap one group could
catch Him. Noting the image on the
denarius Jesus said, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s,
and to God the things that are God’s.”
Thus, neither group could condemn Him and they marveled at Him and
departed.
That same day the Sadducees came
and tried to trick Jesus concerning the resurrection which none of them
believed in (Matthew 22:23-33, Mark 12:18-27).
They spin this story concerning a family with seven brothers who in
succession die leaving the same wife for each of them to marry. The Saducees’ question was who of the seven
would have her as his wife in heaven.
Jesus corrected them on the nature of marriage in heaven, but went a
step further to judge their disbelief in the resurrection by stating that “God
is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
After seeing that the Saducees
could not trick Him, the Pharisees approached Him again in effort to trick Him
with a lawyer (scribe) as their spokesman (Matthew 22:34-35, Mark 12:28). They questioned Him of His authority, of His
loyalty, of His view of the resurrection, and now they attempted to trick Him
on the topic of the Law, especially since they already knew that He did not
share their views on Sabbath laws (John 5:18).
I get the impression from Mark 12:28 that this lawyer was intently
evaluating each of these exchanges with Jesus and thought perhaps that he had
just the question to trap Jesus. Matthew
made sure that no one would misinterpret his intentions by stating that he was
“testing” (peirazo = to try, make
trial of, to tempt, or test, can be used in a good or bad sense) Jesus by
asking this question (Matthew 22:35).
The question posed is “What is
the greatest (first) commandment of all of the law?” (Matthew 22:36, Mark
12:28). MacArthur records that the Jews
had 613 commands in the law of which that placed varying degrees of weight. The lawyer here was obviously looking for a
law that could be trap Him by pitting the importance of one law over another
and thus revealing the unorthodox doctrine of Christ. However, Jesus was looking beyond this test
to the truth of the question, which would not only teach the true believer, but
also bring judgement to these unbelieving Pharisees. Though asked for the wrong reasons, Jesus
used the opportunity to get to the heart of what the entire Law taught.
Mark 12:29 records that Jesus
began His answer by quoting the first part of the Shema from Deuteronomy
6:4. This would be familiar to all Jews
who would have this memorized. Jesus
places the focus upon God first and foremost.
Jesus knew that their problem was not with His perception of the Law,
but ultimately their problem was with God’s authority over their own
lives. The LORD (Jehovah in Hebrew,
God’s proper covenant name) God was not their true Lord (kurios in Greek, meaning their Master) (John 8:19, 38).
Jesus then quotes the rest of the
Shema (Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30), “You shall love the LORD your God with all
your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Mark adds and with all
your strength). As the first and great
commandment the Pharisees would not be able to dispute Him. But Jesus goes a step further and quotes
Leviticus 19:18 (Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31), “You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.” Jesus said in Mark 12:31 that
“there is no other commandment greater than these.” In essence Jesus makes a distinction between
the keeping of the Law and pursuing the very heart of God. The Legalism of the Pharisees looked to
boundaries of conduct, the Holiness of God looked to an undying love that
compelled the true believer to obey God in all things without limits. This is Jesus’ point in that on these two
commands hand all the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 22:40). The Greek for hang is kremannumi meaning to hang up or suspend. All that had been written in the Law and
proclaimed by the Prophets pointed to these two great commands. To miss these two and focus upon anything less
was unorthodox. Thus Jesus caught them
in their own trap.
We have no indication on whether
or not this lawyer was ever converted, however, in Mark 12:33 he appears to
understand what Jesus has just answered.
He cannot disagree with what Jesus has said, but perceptively says that
these two great laws are “more than all the whole burnt offerings and
sacrifices.” He admitted that ceremonial
laws waned in importance if one does not first pursue God in true worship and
service. Jesus responds in Mark 12:34,
“You are not far from the
1.
Is there any law that we have placed
above these two?
2.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 was known as the
Shema (Hebrew for hear) which all Jews (especially pious ones) could
recite. Much of what we are as
Today we will take a closer look
at the first (protos) and greatest (megas) commandment (entole). The Law of God
begins with loving God. For we can only
embrace the entire Law and embrace it as God’s loving instruction when we have
first given our hearts to Him. This was
the point that John was making when he said that we demonstrate that we love
God by obeying His commands and adds that His commands are not burdensome (1
John 5:3). For those that we truly love
(spouse, children, parents, etc.) it is no burden to serve them. It is the same with God. If we love God, then we will not place other
gods before Him, we will not worship idols, we will not carelessly use His
name, and we will willingly set aside a day to worship Him, as well as, live a
life of worship to Him everyday (Exodus 20:1-11, Hebrews 13:15-16).
We see that the nature of love
spoken of here is agapao. This is the most intimate and fondest type of
love that came to mean in the New Testament sacrificial selfless love exhibited
by Christ on the cross (Romans 5:8) and demanded of His disciples (John
15:9-10). It is much the love that Ruth
demonstrated for Naomi (Ruth 1:16-17), that Boaz demonstrated for Ruth (Ruth
4:13-15), and that Jacob demonstrated for Rachel (Genesis 29:18-20, 30). Of course, the nature of love that God
requires of us can only come from Him as He pours out His own love in our
hearts (Romans 5:5).
A list of prepositional phrases
follow this command to love the LORD God that further strengthen the nature of
the love that is commanded of us by God.
Note that each of these phrases are modified with “all (hotos = all, whole, completely)” and
“your (sou = your or your own).” “All” shows God’s complete command of our
devotion to Him. There is no such thing
as a divided loyalty to God. It is
either Him or some idol that we will love, serve, and obey. Before Moses’ death, he sets before them
“life and good, death and evil” that they would “love the LORD their God and
obey Him” (Deuteronomy 30:15-20). We
also see this truth taught in the account of King Saul and the Amalekites. Saul was told by God to utterly destroy the
Amelkites (1 Samuel 15:3), but he spared the king, the people, and kept their
possessions (1 Samuel 15:9). As the
familiar saying goes, “Partial obedience, is complete disobedience” or as
Samuel to Saul, “To obey is better than sacrifice” reference (1 Samuel
15:22-23). Likewise, the “your” shows
the personal nature of this love. We
cannot love through a surrogate: a spouse, relative, or friend. We see this with Joshua in his last charge
before
We first see that we are to love
God with all our heart. Heart in the
Greek is kardia meaning in this
context the soul or mind, as it is the fountain and seat of the thoughts,
passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes, and endeavors. We see some overlap in this definition with
some of the other prepositional phrases, however, the heart in particular stresses
passion or desire as it relates to our innermost being. Paul stresses this in 2 Timothy 2:22 by
pointing out that we must love God with a “pure heart” meaning that our hearts
are no longer filled with youthful lusts (sinful desires). Rather our hearts are filled with
righteousness, faith, love, and peace (pure desires).
Secondly, we see that we are to
love God with all our soul. Soul is psuche in the Greek, which can basically
be a synonym for heart. However, psuche emphasizes the center of life,
especially the part of man that continues to live after the body dies. Each breath we take should be in praise and
love to God in other words. The life
that emanates out of us should always shine the light of God’s love. The psalmist exhibits this love of the soul
in Psalm 42:1. As a deer that is so
parched and panting for water, so should we always be seeking more and more of
God from the depths of our souls.
Thirdly, we see that we are to
love God with all our mind. Mind in the
Greek is dianoia meaning our faculty
of understanding, thinking, and reasoning.
It can also refer to our desires and emotions, as well. To love God means that all our thoughts will
be directed toward Him and that our efforts will be to know Him. Paul speaks to the renewal of the mind in
Romans 12:2 that it is not to be conformed to the thinking of this world, but
transformed to a new way of thinking.
Paul gives a long list of godly things to meditate or think on in
Philippians 4:8. In 2 Corinthians
10:1-6, Paul speaks to the struggle in our minds over fleshly things. We must realize that to have love God with
all of our minds is a battle for Satan will certainly bombard our minds with
fleshly thoughts of lust. Of course, the
solution is stated in verse 5, “casting down arguments and every high thing
that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into
captivity to the obedience of Christ.”
This certainly includes all of our senses: what we hear, see, and say
all should exhibit deep affection for God.
Lastly, Mark adds that we are to
love God with all our strength. Strength
in the Greek is ischus meaning
ability, force, strength, and might.
This is to place emphasis upon our physical strength, abilities,
talents, and gifts. We mentioned
Philippians 4:8 above, but the verse that follows shows that these holy
thoughts result in works of righteousness: “The things which you learned and
received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with
you.” True love will end in action. It does not have to be prompted or practiced,
love compels us from within to act (2 Corinthians 5:14). As Adrian Dupree said, “we do crazy things
when we are in love.”
Discuss the following with your
family:
1.
Guide your family in each taking a
personal inventory of how much they love God.
Go through each of the items above and suggest ways that we can love God
wholeheartedly (Psalm 119:2).
2.
Would our actions provide enough
evidence in a court of law to convict us of loving God? What will Christ say when He separates the
sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:31-46)?
Day
3: Love Our Neighbor
John records in his first epistle
that those who love God with all of their hearts will naturally love the
brethren as well. If we hate our brother
we abide in darkness or if we love our brother we walk in the light (1 John
2:9-11). John equates those who do not
show love for their brother the same as those who practice unrighteousness
(murders) and those who “have passed from death to life” know this because they
love the brethren (1 John 3:10-15).
John further questions those who see their brother in need and does not
help them, he is not of God. Those who
love God will lay down their lives for the brethren as Christ did for them (1
John 3:16-18). John makes his case even
stronger by stating that “God is love” and everyone who loves the brethren (one
another) is of God and His love has been perfected in us (1 John 4:7-12).
John continues by calling those
who say they love God, but do not love the brethren a “liar” (1 John
4:20). In the next verse he is even more
explicit, “…he who loves God must love his brother also” (1 John
4:21). John then states the obvious that
we are all born again by the Spirit of God and should share a common love one for
another. If God has begotten us then
certainly we will love all others that He has begotten as well (1 John
5:1-6). Finally, John states that loving
our fellow brothers means that we will pray for them, especially when they sin
(1 John 5:16).
The command here goes beyond the
brethren even though Christ Himself stated that we are to love one another as
He has loved us and that the identifying mark of Christ’s disciples is love for
one another (John 13:34-35, also see John 15:12-13). In short, we are a branch stemming out from
Christ that can only bear His fruit (John 15:1-10).
We see in each of the second
greatest commandment passages that our love is to extend beyond the brethren to
our neighbor. Neighbor in the Greek is plesion meaning a neighbor or
friend. But Jesus expanded the
definition of neighbor in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke
10:30-36). Jesus was responding to a
lawyer who first asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life (Luke
10:25). Jesus basically had the lawyer
answer his own question by stating the two greatest commandments (Luke
10:26-28). But the lawyer wanted to
further justify himself by seeking the legalistic standard of a neighbor (Luke
10:29). The problem was that the lawyer
was seeking out who his neighbors were instead of focusing upon being one
himself. Jesus in this parable sums up
the qualifications for being a neighbor as one who shows mercy to another
regardless of nationality, ethnicity, or religious background (Luke
10:37). In each of the second greatest
commandment passages the verb to love is a future, active, indicative. It is interesting that the love verb is not
an imperative (command). Love cannot be
commanded it must be given. As all of
the 1 John passages state, a person that is truly righteous will (must) love
their neighbor.
The scriptures contain much
instruction concerning loving our neighbor.
Matthew 25:35-36 that we studied not too long ago is a good example:
feed the hungry, house the homeless or foreigner, clothe the poor, visit the
sick and imprisoned. In our study of 1
Peter we saw that we are to be hospitable and to be good stewards of the gifts
God has given us to the benefit of others (1 Peter 4:7-11). We are to pray for each other (Ephesians
6:18, James 5:13-16, 1 Timothy 2:1-4).
We are to correct each other (James 5:19-20). And we are to fellowship and break bread
together (Hebrews 10:24-25, Acts 2:42).
Finally, we see the example of
loving others, as we love ourselves. Now
this passage is not teaching a form of self-love and self-indulgence. Jesus is simply stating the obvious that we
do what is necessary to sustain our own lives.
This idea is conveyed in Ephesians 5:28 with the husband who is to love
his wife as himself. Paul further
explains in verse 29 that no one hates their own body, but do whatever is
necessary to sustain life (nourish and cherish). Our bodies have instinctive survival
mechanisms that drive us to do what is necessary to live. We also feed ourselves, have relationships,
and read the scriptures and pray. All of
these help to sustain our lives and we seek them. Those who do not are sick, insane, abnormal,
and deviant. Thus, we are to seek to
nourish (sustain life) and cherish (seek relationship) with our neighbor.
Discuss the following with your
family:
1.
You may want to review 1 Corinthians 13
for the nature of true love. Do these
verses describe the love that we have for others?
2.
As a family and/or individually,
resolve to love you neighbor(s) in specific ways such as visit with a nursing home,
see an elderly/sick relative, volunteer at a homeless shelter, open up your
home to your neighbors, etc.
3.
What can we as a church do to
demonstrate love to our collective neighbors?
Scripture: Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-33.