{"id":1098,"date":"2023-10-03T02:52:01","date_gmt":"2023-10-03T02:52:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deadmannotwalking.org\/?p=1098"},"modified":"2023-10-03T02:52:05","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T02:52:05","slug":"the-great-commandments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deadmannotwalking.org\/?p=1098","title":{"rendered":"The Great Commandments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together.\u00a0One of them,\u00a0a lawyer, asked Him\u00a0a question,\u00a0testing Him,\u00a0\u201cTeacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?\u201d\u00a0And He said to him,\u00a0\u201c\u2009\u2018You shall love the\u00a0Lord your\u00a0God with all your heart,\u00a0and with all your soul,\u00a0and with all your mind.\u2019\u00a0This is the great and foremost commandment.\u00a0The second is like it, \u2018You shall love your neighbor as yourself.\u2019\u00a0On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.\u201d<\/mark>\u00a0\u00a0(Matthew 22:34-40, NASB)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This passage from Matthew is about Jesus expounding on His “two [great] commandments.”  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Jesus was in Jerusalem, about to take the punishment and execution that we all deserve, certain Pharisees decided to confront Him.\u00a0 A Mosaic lawyer stepped up, “testing Him.”\u00a0 The lawyer asked, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”\u00a0 Jesus replies with a passage we now find in the book of Deuteronomy:\u00a0 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.”\u00a0 Jesus calls this “the great and foremost commandment.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Christ and the Pharisees,” by Ernst Zimmerman.\u00a0 Found at Psephizo
,\u00a0https:\/\/www.psephizo.com\/biblical-studies\/how-do-we-make-sense-of-jesus-commandments\/<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But Jesus adds a second, which He says is “like it”:\u00a0 “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”\u00a0 Imagine how different this world would be if we could execute on these two commandments!\u00a0 It seems so simple!\u00a0 Just how important are these great commandments?\u00a0Jesus says, “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”\u00a0 The 613 commandments in the Torah can therefore be summed up with:\u00a0 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.\u00a0 [And] love your neighbor as yourself.”\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the morning, I pray “Shema” to remind me of Jesus’ two great commandments.\u00a0 It’s in Deuteronomy, which Jesus quotes here.\u00a0 I personalize it:\u00a0 “O Lord, You are my God.\u00a0 I shall love You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my mind, and with all my strength.\u00a0 I shall also love my neighbor as myself.”\u00a0\u00a0As I said, this exercise gets my day off on the right track.\u00a0 It helps me to remember and to establish God’s priorities for my day.\u00a0 This gives me great hope for my day!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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