Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40 (NLT)
Jesus had just been asked by a lawyer what the most important commandment was in the Law of Moses. Jesus, sounding more like a hippy than a preacher, replied “It’s all about love”.
Then he went a step further and mentioned the second most important command: love your neighbor.
Love, love, love. What in the world was Jesus trying to say?
We should remember that Jesus is talking to a group of people who have spent much of their time defining the legal specifics of God’s law. They had become so worried that they had made up rules around the law so they couldn’t possibly be accused of breaking Moses law. These rules were called traditions.
In Matthew 15, Jesus tells the religious leaders of Israel that they were using their traditions to violate the direct commandments of God. They were so tied to the letter of the law, that they violated its spirit. They were rule keepers, but not lovers. It is easier to keep rules than it is to love someone.
Jesus’ correction of this was to talk about relationship. Love God with everything that you are: heart, soul and mind. And love your neighbor as you love yourself. If you really love God with everything, you will do everything in your power to please Him. If you love your neighbor as yourself, you will treat him the way you think you should be treated. Then, like James Taylor sings, “what a wonderful world this would be”.
-Pastor Dino Griffin
Jesus had just been asked by a lawyer what the most important commandment was in the Law of Moses. Jesus, sounding more like a hippy than a preacher, replied “It’s all about love”.
Then he went a step further and mentioned the second most important command: love your neighbor.
Love, love, love. What in the world was Jesus trying to say?
We should remember that Jesus is talking to a group of people who have spent much of their time defining the legal specifics of God’s law. They had become so worried that they had made up rules around the law so they couldn’t possibly be accused of breaking Moses law. These rules were called traditions.
In Matthew 15, Jesus tells the religious leaders of Israel that they were using their traditions to violate the direct commandments of God. They were so tied to the letter of the law, that they violated its spirit. They were rule keepers, but not lovers. It is easier to keep rules than it is to love someone.
Jesus’ correction of this was to talk about relationship. Love God with everything that you are: heart, soul and mind. And love your neighbor as you love yourself. If you really love God with everything, you will do everything in your power to please Him. If you love your neighbor as yourself, you will treat him the way you think you should be treated. Then, like James Taylor sings, “what a wonderful world this would be”.
-Pastor Dino Griffin
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