THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

Galatians 5:14-15

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The question posed to Jesus by an expert in the Mosaic Law was intended to test Him.

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Matthew 22:36

Jesus wasted little time answering but with two excerpts from the Law, saying:

“‘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. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-39

The Savior of the world and Son of the God Most High, the One who was One with His Father, made it clear that the most important central theme of the scriptures was love. He wasn’t making it up. Rather, He first quoted the Book of Deuteronomy, a book found in the books of the Law. In verse 5 of chapter 6, we read:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”

Jesus then followed up by quoting from another book of the Law, the Book of Leviticus, chapter 19, verse 18:

“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”

As we continue to look at the fifth chapter of Galatians, we find Paul bringing the words of Jesus to center stage as he continued to make his case regarding the true Gospel. The Apostle spends a majority of this letter addressing a significant threat to the newly established Christian churches in Galatia. A group called the Judaizers had infiltrated the church and they tried to persuade believers to accept that they also had to comply with the Judaic Law in addition to believing in Jesus in order to gain salvation. This included circumcision for all men.

In today’s two verses, we find Paul show the invalidity of the assertion that there were additional requirements needed to be saved. God Himself said to love your neighbor as yourself and Jesus instructed that the only way to accomplish this level of love was to first love God with every fiber of one’s being. If circumcision was so critical, God or Jesus would have said it but they didn’t. Instead, they made it clear that is all about love.

Love God with all that you are and you will love your neighbor as yourself. It’s as simple as that.

Conversely, if you choose to reject God’s love then you can expect to abide in an environment where people bite and devour each other, ultimately creating a climate of destruction. Maybe this sounds all too familiar today as we see what is happening in our communities, municipalities, states, nations, and world.

Jesus said we need to love God with every fiber of our being so we can in turn love others properly, as we love ourselves. It’s the greatest commandment found in the Law and the greatest commandment we have to follow today.

In the new year, let’s recommit to making it happen every second of every minute of every hour of every day.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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