THE GREAT COMMANDMENT
Matthew 22:35-40
We have explored the liberating limits of the Ten Commandments through several chapters. Now we must conclude by looking at the New Testament passage where Jesus responds to a scholar’s question, “Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” He sums up the whole moral and spiritual law with one word: love.
Our culture defines love in too many ways. Tim Kimmel writes of these bewildering messages:
We live out THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES as THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS realiz-ing that we only have ONE LIFE TO LIVE, and AS THE WORLD TURNS we want to search for the GUIDING LIGHT that will keep us from falling in love at a GENERAL HOSPITAL in SANTA BARBARA . . .The bizarre definitions of “love” portrayed to millions on the daily soap operas are no laughing matter. Like heat at a fruit stand, these daytime dramas accelerate the decay at the core of our cultural values [Tim Kimmel, Little House on the Freeway (Portland: Multnomah Press, 1987), 152].
Judith Viorst, with her tongue firmly embedded in her cheek, says, “Love is much nicer to be in than an automobile accident, a tight girdle, a higher tax bracket or a holding pattern over Philadelphia. But not if he doesn’t love you back.” Then she describes the difference between infatuation and love:
Infatuation is when you think he’s as sexy as Robert Redford, as smart as Henry Kissinger, as noble as Ralph Nader, as funny as Woody Allen, and as athletic as Jimmy Connors. Love is when you realize he’s as sexy as Woody Allen, as smart as Jimmy Connors, as funny as Ralph Nader, as athletic as Henry Kissinger and nothing like Robert Redford—but you’ll take him anyway [quoted by Cecil G. Osborne, The Art of Becoming a Whole Person (Waco: Word Books, 1978), 74].
Jesus uses the Greek word agape, for love. Agape love cannot be earned; it takes its subject as he is. Agape transcends other forms of love by providing its own stimulus. It is a liberating love that offers the security not found in other types of love.
CLASSIFYING THE LAW
The lawyer approached Christ with a question about the Law. He asked literally, “What sort of commandment is great in the Law?” The scribes and Pharisees sought to classify the commandments by their relative importance. Their scholars had determined that there were 613 commandments in the Law, as there were 613 separate letters in the Hebrew text of the Ten Commandments. They divided these into affirmative and negative commands. They taught that 248 were affirmative, or one for every part of the human body, as they counted them. Three hundred sixty-five were negative, or one for each day of the year.
The “experts” realized that no one could be successful in fulfilling all the demands of this heavy legalism. To make it easier, they identified some commandments as “heavy” or profound and others as “light” or peripheral. Some held that the law of the Sabbath was the greatest commandment, others contended for circumcision, the wearing of special apparel, or other teachings.
Jesus’ reply is marvelous. He will not concentrate on minors, but expresses the main point of the commandments by quoting two passages, one from the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy, the other from an obscure corner of Leviticus 19. Each expresses the principle of love. Loving God and the human family fulfills the Law.
LOVE FOR GOD
Jesus says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment”(vv 37-38). He quotes from the Hebrew statement of faith known as the Shema. Every orthodox Jew recited these verses, beginning with Deuteronomy 6:4, on a daily basis. Devout men copied these verses on small pieces of parchment, and wore them on their foreheads and left arms in little containers known as phylacteries.
The Hebrew word for love used here, refers to love that expresses itself in acts of the mind and will. Emotion may be involved, but this love is notable for dedication and commitment. It cares for the welfare of others. It is the Hebrew equivalent of agapao, the Greek verb of concerned, committed love that is motivated by the will, not emotion.
Genuine love of the Lord involves thought and sensitivity, purpose and action. The text in Matthew differs slightly from Deuteronomy 6:5. The Hebrew of Deuteronomy has “heart, soul and might.” Matthew substitutes “mind” for “might” while Mark 12:30 speaks of “heart, soul, mind and strength.” There is no real difference. Each passage, using various terms, calls for a total commitment of love for God.
General William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army is an example of this. When asked for the secret of his success, Booth replied, “From the day I got the poor of London on my heart and the vision for what Jesus Christ would do for them, I made up my mind that God should have all of William Booth there was; and if anything has been achieved, it is because God has had all the adoration of my heart, all the power of my will and all the influence of my life [John C. Maxwell, Deuteronomy [The Communicator’s Commentary], (Waco: Word Books, 1987), 107].” All his faculties—heart, soul, mind, and strength—were obsessed with God. He refused to return God’s whole-hearted love halfheartedly.
Love greater than God’s is impossible. When He loves, He loves the whole world, and at such tremendous cost. Paul said, “At just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8). He loved even those who were alienated from Him. Paul also wrote, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
Surely, our response to God’s love should be nothing less than worship, love, and service. We could well cry, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen” (Romans 11:33-36). We should proclaim, “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15). We should willing follow His example: Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Ephesians 5:1-2).
As recipients of the love of God, we must love one another. The Apostle John says it well:
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Who-ever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (1 John 4:7-11).
LOVE FOR PEOPLE
Jesus quotes Leviticus 19:18 when He says, “…the second is like [the first commandment]: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’”(v 39). This precept resembles the first because it also requires love. You must receive and reciprocate the agape love of God before any other love relationship will be all that it can be.
The command to love in Leviticus is set in a context of practicality. Love must be demonstrated practically to people who may be unlovely and unworthy:
When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God. ‘Do not steal.’ ‘Do not lie.’ ‘Do not deceive one another.’ ‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God.’ ‘I am the LORD.’ ‘Do not defraud your neighbor or rob him.’ ‘Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight.’ ‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the LORD.’ ‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.’ ‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people.’ ‘Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the LORD’ (Leviticus 19:9-16).
God’s concept of “neighbor” was broad, extending to the poor, the disenfranchised, and the alien. The Pharisees tried to narrow the idea, limiting the command to those who were most like themselves. Jesus would not allow it then, and He will not allow it now.
Whatever your view of his politics, few would disagree that Richard Nixon was not the most lovable of American Presidents. After his disgraceful resignation, Mr. Nixon lived in isolation behind the walls of his San Clemente compound. As he struggled to recover from the deep emotional wounds of Watergate and his life-threatening phlebitis, Nixon saw only his family and a few close friends. No one, other than gloating reporters, tried to visit him for nearly a year.
One man came, however. He was a member of the United States Senate, and though of Nixon’s party, had opposed the President passionately. Now, in Nixon’s distress, Senator Mark Hatfield, an evangelical Christian, traveled twice to San Clemente without fanfare. He told Chuck Colson that his only reason was “to let Mr. Nixon know that someone loved him [Charles Colson, Kingdoms in Conflict (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1987), 282].”
God requires us to love one another. We have no option. Love for God and obedience to His commands are inseparable. The Bible says, “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand gen-erations of those who love him and keep his commands” (Deuteronomy 7:9). Jesus also said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). He set the ex-ample for us. He was obedient even unto death. In love, from the cross, He pled with the Father to forgive those who crucified Him. Paul cites His great example, saying:
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity (Colossians 3:12-14).
Our love for God inspires us to love one another. The Old Testament story of David provides an illustration of this truth. When David became king he asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” (2 Samuel 9:1). “Find me anyone loved by Jonathan! If Jonathan loved them, I must love them too!” A crippled son of Jonathan was found. Mephibosheth was ushered into the presence of the king, who said, “Don’t be afraid, …for I will surely show you kind-ness for the sake of your father Jonathan” (v. 7). David invited him to live in the royal palace, and Scripture says, “Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table, and he was crippled in both feet” (v. 13).
We love God and He lavishes His love on us. We should say, “Is there anyone in the house of God, whom I may love for the sake of God?” As God’s people we have what Paul called the continuing debt to love one another. He said, “he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not covet,’ and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:8-10).
THE PRIORITY OF LOVE
The two commandments, “Love the Lord your God” and “Love your neighbor as yourself” encompass all the Ten Commandments. The first four commands guide our relation to God; the last six deal with our relation to man. Jesus says, “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (v 40). This is the priority of love.
The celebration of the Lord’s Table reminds us of God’s love. Jesus died to redeem us and to claim us back to the love of God. We partake of the Table with those who share our family life. Estrangements and hostilities must be left there. The priority of love compels us to break with sin and selfishness and to care for one another.
We have looked at Ten Commandments. Each of them offers liberty and freedom, but love for God and for one another is the key to experiencing the fullness of liberty in these commandments.
Surgeon Richard Selzer performed surgery on the face of a pretty young woman. He wrote these words shortly afterward:
I stand by the bed where a young woman lies, her face postoperative, her mouth twisted in palsy. A tiny twig of the facial nerve, the one to the muscles of her mouth, has been severed. She will be thus from now on…. To remove the tumor in her cheek, I had to cut the little nerve. Her young husband is in the room. He stands on the opposite side of the bed, and together they seem to dwell in the evening lamplight, isolated from me, private.
“Will my mouth always be like this?” she asks. “Yes,” I say, “it will. It’s because the nerve was cut.” “I like it,” he says. “It’s kind of cute.” Unmindful, he bends to kiss her crooked mouth …. I can see how he twists his own lips to accommodate hers, to show her that their kiss still works [Richard Selzer, Mortal Lessons: Notes in the Art of Surgery (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1976), 45-46, quoted by Ron Lee Davis, The Healing Choice (Waco: Word Books, 1986), 92-93].
At the Table of the Lord, Christ kisses us. He reminds us there that our kiss still works, and we are free to love.
Twelfth Message in a Series on the Ten Commandments
