The Greatest Commandment

For three hundred years, the conservative Pharisees had been trying to defeat the liberal Sadducees, but when Jesus defeated them they were more upset at him than at the liberals, much like today’s Republicans when President Trump scores a victory over the Democrats.   Their hatred for him outweighed any political or doctrinal differences with the Sadducees, and they attempted to attack him again.  Matthew 22:345 describes the attack.  “But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.  Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law?”  One of the brightest of the lawyers though he could mess Jesus up by asking which was the greatest commandments, after all, they were supposed to keep them all. 

Matthew 22:37-40 describes Jesus’ response.  “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment. Mt 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”  The lawyer overlooked what Moses said repeatedly in Deuteronomy.  Deuteronomy 6:4-5 states, “O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”  Deuteronomy 10:12-13 says, “And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?”  Deuteronomy 30:16 commands, "In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.” 

Clearly, loving God was the greatest of the commandments, and would result in keeping the other commands.  All of the law could be summed up in loving God and loving your neighbor, and the lawyer could not deny it was what Moses had said.

This is a crucial concept for Christians.  The attitude is far more important than the mechanical actions.  Romans 7:6 states, “But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.”  When we have a proper attitude of love toward God, and toward other people, we will tend to naturally do what is right, because we care about them.  Instead of worrying about what the rules say, we will focus on what is best for them.    

The Pharisees biggest complaint was that Jesus might be the Messiah.  Jesus then confronted them on that point, In Matthew 22:41-45.  “While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he?

They say unto him, The son of David.

He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?  If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?” 

If Messiah was to be a descendant of David, how could David refer to him as being greater than himself?  If he were David’s son, he would be genetically like David, at best a copy of him.  Tradition would thus indicate he was inferior to David. 

The Pharisees were left with no answer to his question, according to Matthew 22:46.  “And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.”  They concluded it would be better to leave him alone than to embarrass themselves by trying to stump him.