Daily Devotional · Matthew 22:37–40
Love God, Love Neighbor
Reflection
"Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." The question was a test: of all the 613 commandments in Jewish law, which is the greatest? It was a question that rabbinic debate addressed frequently, with various answers. Jesus's answer was not unusual in its two components — both texts were familiar. What was unusual was His linkage: He gave two commandments instead of one, and said they were inseparable. Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind — this is the Shema of Deuteronomy 6:5, the foundational confession of Israel. All three: no faculty reserved, no department of self excluded. Love your neighbor as yourself — this is Leviticus 19:18, the horizontal dimension. The standard is not abstract: "as yourself." The same regard you naturally have for your own wellbeing is the measure of regard for the neighbor. "All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Not some of the law. All of it. Every other commandment is an application of one of these two. To ask "what is the loving thing to do?" in any situation is to ask the right question. Paul compressed it further: "Love is the fulfillment of the law" (Romans 13:10). John compressed it to its irreducible core: "We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19).
Background
The question about the greatest commandment was asked by a Pharisaic lawyer in the context of a series of trap questions (the coin tribute question, the resurrection question, this question). Matthew presents it as a hostile test; Mark 12:28–34 presents it as a sincere inquiry by a scribe who was satisfied with the answer. In either case, Jesus's answer combined two Torah passages that Jewish teachers had discussed, but His assertion that all law hangs on these two was distinctive.
Truth
The law is not first and foremost a list of rules; it is the shape of love. Love for God and love for neighbor define what it means to be fully human. Every specific commandment is an application of one or both. When you are confused about what to do, the diagnostic question is always the same: what does love for God and love for this specific neighbor require?
Application
Name a specific situation in your life where you are unsure of the right action. Now apply the two commandments: What does love for God require in this situation? What does love for this specific neighbor (the person affected by your decision) require? Notice where the two converge — that convergence usually points toward the answer.