The Greatest Commandment

Shalom brothers and sisters.

Today’s Bible Verse: Mark 12:28-31

Title: The Greatest Commandment

Verse Text: [Mark 12:28-31 NKJV] 28 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?" 29 Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments [is]: 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. 30 'And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This [is] the first commandment. 31 "And the second, like [it, is] this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

[Exodus 20:1-17 NKJV] 1 And God spoke all these words, saying: 2 {1} "I [am] the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 "You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 {2} "You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness [of anything] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth [generations] of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 7 {3} "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold [him] guiltless who takes His name in vain. 8 {4} "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day [is] the Sabbath of the LORD your God. [In it] you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who [is] within your gates. 11 For [in] six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that [is] in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. 12 {5} "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you. 13 {6} "You shall not murder. 14 {7} "You shall not commit adultery. 15 {8} "You shall not steal. 16 {9} "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 {10} "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that [is] your neighbor's."

I have placed in braces, “{}”, the number of each commandment.

If we look at the first commandment Jesus cited as the greatest commandment, it is the first four of the ten and the one that Jesus cited as one like it is the last six of the ten.

Matthew added: [Matthew 22:40 NKJV] 40 "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

What Jesus told us is that the ten commandments listed in the Torah, all of the Torah, and all the Prophets have given us hangs on:

[Matthew 22:37-39 NKJV] 37 Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 "This is [the] first and great commandment. 39 "And [the] second [is] like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

So walk with these questions every day; “Is this loving God?” and if not, “Is this loving my neighbor as myself?” As for myself, what is good for the goose is good for the gander.

I hope this has been a blessing to you. May the rest of your day be blessed. Walk Torah-ly. Shalom.

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