“Hear, 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.” (Deut. 6:4-5)

“Then one of them, which was a lawyer [an expert in the Law], asked him a question, tempting [testing] him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 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. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matt. 22:35-40)

In our passage, there seems to be a spiritual tag team, wrestling match going on with the Pharisees and Sadducees, against the Lord.

First, the Pharisees enter the ring with Jesus. They tried to pin Jesus down as to whether or not it was lawful to give tribute to Caesar. But the Lord could not be held down for the count, and He easily overthrew the Pharisees, who then tagged their teammates, the Sadducees.

Eagerly the Sadducees jump into the fray. They had a question for Jesus concerning the resurrection. The Sadducees were sure the Lord could not logically answer the situation they proposed. But He did. The Sadducees were going down for the count. Now, it was their turn to get off the verbal canvas by tagging their partners, the Pharisees. So, back into the ring the Pharisees came.

One of them, who was an astute student of the Law of Moses, asked Jesus a question, to test Him. In what way could Jesus be tested by the religious leaders. Well, Jesus claimed to be the Messiah. The test was this. Did Jesus, as the alleged Messiah, know the Law? Could Jesus, as the Messiah, tell which of the commandments was the greatest?36 Master, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?

Unlike other questions put to Jesus, this was an inquiry worthy of an answer. The Lord did not rebuke the person who asked this question, as He had previously rebuked others. Jesus did not call the man wicked, or a hypocrite (Matt. 22:18). The question that was asked was not a new one.

For many years the Rabbis of Israel had carried on lengthy debates about which one of the 613 commandments in the Torah might be the greatest, or most important. The Rabbis had divided the 613 commandments of the Law of Moses into two sections. They had decided there were 248 positive commandments, and 365 negative commandments, and all of them were important. But which one was the most important? The Religious Leaders did not know, so they asked the Lord.

To this inquiry, Jesus gives a beautiful response by appealing to Scripture. Billy Graham was famous for saying, “The Bible says.” Appealing to Scripture is always the best way to answer a religious question.

37 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.

Those words are from the Great Shema (Heb. “hearing”), which is the basic and essential creed of Judaism. An orthodox Jewish service opens with a quotation of Deuteronomy 6, and it is one of the first texts which Jewish children commit to memory. The Great Shema referenced by Jesus, “teaches us that we must give a total love, a love which dominates our emotions, a love which directs our thoughts, and a love which is the dynamic of our actions” (William Barclay).

Charles Spurgeon noted that Jesus cannot be entertained in the parlor of one’s heart if the Devil is living in the cellar.  

In Scripture, the heart symbolizes the core of a person’s being. The heart represents the center of emotion, thought, intention, and moral character.

The heart is the place where the spiritual life is united with God. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” Job said, “I will see Him myself; my eyes will look at Him, and not as a stranger. My heart longs within me” (Job 19:27, HCSB).

The heart is the place where ethical decisions are decided. Proverbs 4:23 tells us to guard our hearts for it influences life. As children we learned this spiritual truth in a clever song.

Oh, be careful, little eyes, what you see,
Oh, be careful, little eyes, what you see.
There’s a Father up above looking down in tender love,
Oh, be careful, little eyes, what you see.

Oh, be careful, little ears, what you hear,
Oh, be careful, little ears, what you hear.
There’s a Father up above looking down in tender love,
Oh, be careful, little ears, what you hear.

Oh, be careful, little tongue, what you say,
Oh, be careful, little tongue, what you say.
There’s a Father up above looking down in tender love,
Oh, be careful, little tongue, what you say.

Oh, be careful, little hands, what you do,
Oh, be careful, little hands, what you do.
There’s a Father up above looking down in tender love,
Oh, be careful, little hands, what you do.

Oh, be careful, little feet, where you go,
Oh, be careful, little feet, where you go.
There’s a Father up above looking down in tender love,
Oh, be careful, little feet, where you go.

~Traditional English Hymn

Our heart is designed to reflect the love of God. God’s whole-hearted love must not be responded to in a half-hearted manner. When God loves, He loves completely. When God gives, He spares not. The response to such great love must not be less. To love God with all one’s heart, and with all one’s soul, and with all one’s mind, is called The Greatest Commandment because, as William Barclay reminds us, “it epitomizes the most excellent response to the Most Wonderful Being, and is basic to all other genuine love.”

When Jesus spoke of the heart, the soul, and the mind, He was not making any dramatic distinctions. All three words simply convey the essence of a person. Each of us has a body, but our essence, our soul, is made in the image of God. God created the body of Adam and breathed into it and man become a living soul (Gen. 2:7). The essence of the soul consists of mind (intellect), emotion (feeling), and will (decision).

When we love God with the essence of our being, our mind is engaged with thoughts about Him. We are captivated by His wisdom, His power, His glory, His creation, His longsuffering, and His steadfast love.

“How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God, and all will see
How great, how great is our God.”

~Chris Tomlin

When we love God with the essence of our being, our emotions spill out and we have trouble breathing, so great is our passion for God. With Charles Wesley we bow and wish for a thousand tongues to sing our Great Redeemer’s praise, the glories of our God and King, the triumphs of His grace.

When we love God with the essence of our will, we shall obey Him in word, thought, and deed. When Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book’” (Heb. 10:5-7).

When we love God in the essence of our being, the Second Great Commandment will be honored. We will love our neighbor as ourself (Matt. 23:39).

How do we love ourselves?

The honest answer is that we love ourselves very much. The money that is spent on beauty products, health care, and the toys of time that are so numerous we need a garage to store items in, testify to our self-love.

Pop psychology might tell people they have low self-esteem, but Jesus knows the truth; we love ourselves a lot.

In its proper place, self-love is not sinful. God has not made us to hate ourselves, nor has He created us to be unduly proud. God has made us in His image which means no person should esteem themselves higher than they ought (Rom. 12:3).

To esteem oneself higher than is proper means to have excessive pride and arrogance. It means to think too highly of one’s own importance or abilities. When Mohammed Ali claimed, “I am the greatest,” he went too far. Smokin Joe Frazier reminded Ali he was not as great as he imagined on March 8, 1971, in New York’s Madison Square Garden. In the “Fight of the Century,” Joe Frazier won the showdown with a unanimous decision, scoring the fight’s only knockdown at the beginning of the 15th round.

With that being said, it is natural to want to be healthy, mentally and physically. It is natural to think well of ourselves and not think we are ugly, stupid, or without value. The point Jesus made is that because we love ourselves so much, to that same degree we ought to love others. If there is any question how this Second Royal Commandment can be carried out, the answer is twofold.

First, emulate Christ. Be a following of Jesus and live as He modeled how we should live.

Second, study 1 Corinthians 13 which explains what love does, and does not do.

• Love is Patient—Love shows tolerance and understanding.
• Love is Kind—Love acts with compassion and generosity.
• Love is Not Envious—Love does not harbor jealousy.
• Love is Not Boastful or Proud—Love is humble and does not seek to elevate oneself.
• Love is Not Rude—Love behaves respectfully and courteously.
• Love is Not Self-Seeking—Love prioritizes others’ needs over its own.
• Love is Not Easily Angered—Love maintains composure and does not react impulsively.
• Love Keeps No Record of Wrongs—Love forgives and does not hold grudges.
• Love Rejoices in Truth—Love celebrates honesty and integrity.
• Love Protects, Trusts—Hopes, and Perseveres: Love is supportive and enduring.

It is as simple, and as challenging at that. Our love for God must be reflected in love for others. It is only when we love God, that an individual becomes authentically lovable. Take away the love of God, and we can become angry at others because they are unteachable; we can become pessimistic about others, because they are unimprovable; we can become callous to others, because they are mean spirited. “The love of man is firmly grounded in the love of God” (William Barclay).

What Jesus taught the people is that all the other 611 laws are hung on these two pegs. Remove love for God, remove love for one’s neighbor, and humanity, and society is lost. Jesus would have us love God the Father, and love one another.

This is the teaching of the Lord.