A Jewish teacher of the law once questioned Jesus, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" We get this to mean as -- "Which is the most important commandment among all the laws that God had given man?”
A Jew would most probably presume that Jesus would pick one of the 10 commandments which God had written with His own hands on the stone tablets He gave to Moses. Surely those 10 commandments were the best known.
But let us read Jesus' answer in Mk 12:29-31.
"The most important one", Jesus answered,"is this: `Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: `Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (NIV)
Jesus' answer was none of the 10 commandments. Jesus' answer was first, "Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength", which is taken from the book of Deuteronomy. This was understood to be part of the implementing guidelines for the 10 commandments. The second part of the answer was, "Love your neighbor as yourself", taken from the book of Leviticus and which was also an implementing guideline for the 10 commandments.
In a parallel account in Matthew, Jesus added, "On these two commands hang the whole law and all the prophets". Actually, these two commands would summarize all of the ten commandments. The first four commandments could be summarized as, "Love God with all your heart .…….." The rest of the commandments could be summarized as, "Love your neighbor as you would yourself".
Now how do we apply these two commands into our lives?
Read more ...
*from Hosanna!, an outreach publication of Hosanna. It is a compilation of teachings delivered during one of the Sunday Services of Hosanna.
A Jew would most probably presume that Jesus would pick one of the 10 commandments which God had written with His own hands on the stone tablets He gave to Moses. Surely those 10 commandments were the best known.
But let us read Jesus' answer in Mk 12:29-31.
"The most important one", Jesus answered,"is this: `Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: `Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (NIV)
Jesus' answer was none of the 10 commandments. Jesus' answer was first, "Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength", which is taken from the book of Deuteronomy. This was understood to be part of the implementing guidelines for the 10 commandments. The second part of the answer was, "Love your neighbor as yourself", taken from the book of Leviticus and which was also an implementing guideline for the 10 commandments.
In a parallel account in Matthew, Jesus added, "On these two commands hang the whole law and all the prophets". Actually, these two commands would summarize all of the ten commandments. The first four commandments could be summarized as, "Love God with all your heart .…….." The rest of the commandments could be summarized as, "Love your neighbor as you would yourself".
Now how do we apply these two commands into our lives?
Read more ...
*from Hosanna!, an outreach publication of Hosanna. It is a compilation of teachings delivered during one of the Sunday Services of Hosanna.
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