VERSE OF THE DAY
Matthew 22:37-39 (New Living Translation)
Share Audio
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.’
Jesus spoke to the people saying “‘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.’ These are the Laws of The lord he gave
Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and most important command.And the second command is like the first: ‘Love your neighbor the same as you love yourself
Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Matthew 22:37-39
Commentary on Matthew 22:34-40
(Read Matthew 22:34-40)
An interpreter of the law asked our Lord a question, to try, not so much his knowledge, as his judgment. The love of God is the first and great commandment, and the sum of all the commands of the first table. Our love of God must be sincere, not in word and tongue only. All our love is too little to bestow upon him, therefore all the powers of the soul must be engaged for him, and carried out toward him. To love our neighbour as ourselves, is the second great commandment. There is a self-love which is corrupt, and the root of the greatest sins, and it must be put off and mortified; but there is a self-love which is the rule of the greatest duty: we must have a due concern for the welfare of our own souls and bodies. And we must love our neighbour as truly and sincerely as we love ourselves; in many cases we must deny ourselves for the good of others. By these two commandments let our hearts be formed as by a mould.
Sunday, February 25, 2018
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.
45
Thoughts on Today’s Verse…
Some things are just not very complicated. Living for Jesus can be boiled down to two principles: love God with everything I am and have and love others and treat them like I would like to be treated. Not too hard to understand. I guess it’s the living it that is the challenge!
My Prayer…
O Living and only True God. Please accept the work of my hands, the words of my mouth, the moments of my rest, and the love of my heart as my worship to you this day. I pray that these are pleasing and refreshing to you. In the name your Son, my Lord Jesus, I pray. Amen.
What Does Matthew 22:37 Mean? ►
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Matthew 22:37(ESV)
Verse Thoughts
The Lord was asked a genuine question by one of the Pharisees: “which is the greatest commandment in the Mosaic Law,” and Jesus answer by quoting “the Shema”, Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one, Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength”, substituting the word ‘mind for the word ’strength’.
Love for God and love for others we are told, is the fulfilment of God’s law for we cannot love others until we are in right relationship with our heavenly Father – but we cannot truly love God unless we truly know Him as our Saviour – Whom to know is life eternal.
When a man or woman truly loves the Lord with every part of their being then that love is true love, It is a love that is birthed in trusting Him and a love that flows in to our hearts and minds from the love of Christ for His own, and from that love will flow a willing service and loving obedience from a heart that loves the Lord with every part of his being.
Let us seek to love and honour the Lord with every part of our being – to love as Christ loved us – to love Him with our heart, our mind, our thoughts and our motives.
Let our every thought be taken captive to the Lord so that we may remain in sweet fellowship with the God of our salvation, for when the eyes of our heart are fixed on Him in grateful thanks for His cross-work on Calvary and the redemptive work within our own lives, we who are forgiven much will love much. Indeed, it should be our joy and rejoicing to love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength and mind – for He loved us first.
Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/matthew-22-37
Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/matthew-22-37
The Greatest Commandment and the Promise of Life (Matthew 22:37 and John 3:16)
December 18, 2020 by Bob Wilkin in Blog – John 3:16, John 5:39-40, Matthew 22:37, The Promise Of Life

A. S., a reader, asks this fascinating question:
In relation to Matthew 22:37 and John 3:16—in your own understanding what is the right interpretation of the two verses in relation to each other? Thanks, and stay blessed in Jesus’ name!
The Lord was often asked about the greatest commandments in the OT. The reason was simple. The Jewish leaders and Jewish people of the first century believed in salvation by law keeping. Of course, there were a small number of exceptions (John 1:11-12). But most rejected the idea that anyone could have everlasting life simply by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ—or anyone for that matter. They did not believe that faith in God the Father guaranteed everlasting life, either.
John 5:39-40 answers the question A. S. has posed. There the Lord said: “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” Why did they search the OT? Because they thought in the Scriptures they would find the answer to how to have eternal life, which in their mind was by doing the works of God that are mandated in the law (cf. John 6:28-29). The Lord told them that the OT indeed does tell how a person can have eternal life, but it is not by the works of the law, but by believing in the One testified to in the OT. The Scriptures “testify of Me.” Sadly Jesus pointed out the sad truth: “But you are not willing to come to Me [= believe in Me, John 6:35] that you may have life.”
Matthew 22:37 is Jesus’ answer to the great commandment question. He said, “You shall love the Lord your God will all your heart…[and] you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” He was not indicating what a person must do to have everlasting life. He was indicating what a person must do to please God. The believer at the time of Christ, like the believer today, should glorify God by loving Him and by loving our neighbors. But the condition of everlasting life has always been by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ for that life. (Prior to Jesus’ baptism, the condition was believing in the coming Messiah for that life. Compare Gen 3:15; 15:6; Rom 4:1-8. But once the Lord Jesus was publicly declared by the Father to be His beloved Son, then faith had to be specifically in Jesus for one’s eternal salvation.)
There are thousands of commands in the Bible. None of them tell us what we must do to have everlasting life. The sole condition of everlasting life is believing in the Lord Jesus Christ for that life.
The Lord said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” That is the promise of everlasting life. Compare John 5:24; 6:35, 47; 11:25-27; Acts 16:31; Gal 2:16; Eph 2:8-9; 1 Tim 1:16.
There is zero conflict between God’s commands and God’s promise of life. The Pharisees rejected Jesus because of their faulty tradition. Many today, even within Christianity, do not believe in Jesus for everlasting life, but they too believe that their observance of God’s commands is what will get them into Christ’s kingdom. Some twist the meaning of John 3:16 to say that whoever commits their life to and obeys Him will not perish but has everlasting life. The promise is not to the one who commits and obeys God’s commands. It is to the one who believes in the Son of God for everlasting life.
What does Matthew 22:37 mean?
It’s common to read through these exchanges between Jesus and the religious leaders and focus on the conflict and tension. We see Jesus’ brilliant answers to the difficult questions meant to trip Him up. It’s helpful, though, to stop and think for a moment about what is happening on another level. They don’t know it, but Israel’s religious leaders are asking these hard questions of the very Son of God. They are taking some of the most troubling issues of the day and getting a response straight from their Creator. Jesus was not simply good at answering questions about the law; He was there when the law was given!
The lawyer who asked Jesus which is the primary commandment in the law may have been trying to trip Jesus up. He certainly doesn’t realize he is asking the Son of God the question he might very well have chosen to ask God the Father, given the chance. It’s a powerful moment, especially for these men who had made understanding and teaching the law their entire life’s work.
For us, and for the exact same reason, Jesus’ answer carries an enormous opportunity. This answer is not merely the wise response of a human interpreter. His is not just another opinion among the debates of religious leaders. Jesus’ answer reveals the heart of God in giving the Law of Moses to His people Israel.
Jesus doesn’t hesitate to answer this question, either. He doesn’t respond with a counter-question or tell a parable or ask for object to use for illustration. Jesus answers directly from Deuteronomy 6:5. The great and first commandment in all of Scripture is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind.
God wants His people first and above all to love Him with every part of their being. The heart and soul and mind may describe the centers of emotion, action, and thought. The point of the command is not to separate them, though, but to join them together with every aspect of a person fully committed to loving God. A pure, uninterrupted commitment to God and His will is the very basis of a proper relationship with Him.
Context Summary
Matthew 22:34–40 describes a question to Jesus from a Pharisee described as a lawyer. In this context, this means someone well-versed in the Old Testament. He asks Jesus which is the great commandment in the Law. Jesus upholds Deuteronomy 6:5, indicating that loving God with everything about us is the great and first commandment. Christ then volunteers that the second greatest is closely related: to love your neighbor as yourself. Every command or law from God is distilled from those basic principles. Luke 10:25–28 and Mark 12:28–37 also describe this challenge.
Chapter Summary
Continuing a dialogue with hostile religious leaders, Jesus tells a parable comparing the kingdom of heaven to a wedding feast which ends up being attended by those not initially invited. He answers trick questions about taxes, marriage, resurrection, and the Law of Moses. These responses are the source of common English idioms such as “render to Caesar…” and “many are called but few are chosen.” Finally, Jesus asks how the Messiah can be both the son of David and the Lord of David. None can answer Him, so they stop challenging Him in public
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.’ – Matthew 22:37-39
Dear Jesus,
When this man pressed you to tell him the greatest commandment you very clearly said it was to love your heavenly father with all your heart and then you added that loving people was just as important. It’s not the clarity of the commandments that haunts me. I love how clear and simple they make my task for each day. It’s just that I know I cannot keep either commandment perfectly. If that’s all I had from you I would be depressed. But since I know you kept both of them for me, I am all the more encouraged to try, because when I try by faith to love God and my neighbor, you are pleased with me just as my parents were pleased with my little sister’s Easy Bake Oven corn bread. No matter how badly they tasted, my parents fawned over them because they were made out of love. You see my love, albeit imperfect and you fawn over me too. Thank you Jesus for making life bearable under grace.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
Grace frees up to honestly try to keep God’s will out of faith and not fear.
Living Water Ministries 