The Greatest Commandment

Friday, June 5th, 2026

8:23 am

Good morning! Today I am in Matthew 22:34-40 and Mark 12:28-34. After the Sadducees questioned Jesus, the Pharisees saw how well Jesus answered their question, well enough that it silenced them. One of the Pharisees went up and asked Jesus a question, trying to trap Him also. The Pharisee, who was an expert in religious law, asked Jesus which of the commandments of Moses was the most important? Jesus replied, telling them all to listen. That the Lord their God is the one and only Lord, and they must love the Lord their God with all their hearts, all their souls, all their minds, and all their strength. This is the greatest commandment. And the second greatest is to love their neighbors as themselves. He tells them that no other commandments are greater than these, for the entire law and demands of the prophets are based on these two. The expert in religious law told Jesus, "Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying there is only one God and no other. And I know it is important to love Him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law. (Mark 12:32-33)." Jesus realized how much the man understood, and He told him that he wasn't far from the Kingdom of God. And after that no one dared to ask Him any more questions.

I love this! Jesus tells us right here what the most important commandments are. That makes it so much easier for us to understand. At this time, the Jews had added so many different laws that many of them argued which ones were the most important. Some even saying that every law was just as important as the other to follow. This made it extremely difficult for the Jews to obey every command. We do this today. There are so many different denominations of churches, each with their different opinions and rules to follow. Making it hard on people to actually understand and obey. Which causes people to be discouraged, feeling like they will never get it right or never be good enough. But Jesus tells us right here what the most important commands to follow were. Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. If we follow these two commands everything else will fall into place.

When you love God above all else and love your neighbor as yourself, you will want to do what you can to make God happy and to help others. Not wanting to make God mad, or to hurt anyone. Everything falls into place. When you love God before everything and everyone else, you will put Him first in your life. You will want to spend as much time with Him as you can, and talk to Him frequently. God wants that. When we start doing that, God will start showing us how to love the people around us more. And how to love the people in our communities. Its amazing how much God will show you, when you put Him first. And He wants to. He wants to open your minds and eyes to how He is working around you and moving because He wants you to be a part of it. Allow Him to show you how much He loves you. How much He wants to spend time with you. Seek Him first, and everything else will follow.