The Greatest Commandment

Matthew 22: 36-37

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
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."

What does Jesus mean when He says that "the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments"? 

"The Law and the Prophets" was a term used in that day to refer to the whole body of works we know today as the Old Testament. So Jesus was saying that all of what God has told us about everything He has made and how it is designed to work is dependent on this principle of Love. For us to love God, and to love one another, is the foundation of how we are to cooperate with how God wants this World to operate. 

There was a popular song that said, "Love makes the world go 'round," and it's true: God's love for what He made put His order into this Universe, which is what makes the Earth rotate on its axis, tilted just right to give us the seasons, and just exactly far enough from the Sun to not burn us up or freeze us. 

Another song says, "To know him is to love him," and when I apply this to God, it is also true for me: the better I get to know God, the more my heart swells with love for Him. He must be first in my heart, my thinking, and my priorities. I will never pray to anyone else, for He alone is God; I will never place anything else in my life that would be a barrier between us. My love for Him is in response to all He has done to show His love for me. It is like an umbrella that shields me in the storms of life, the banner He has stretched over me (Song of Solomon: 2:4).

This can also be applied to how the World System is to work: this is how we love one another. When I love God, then I want to love what He loves, which is primarily people. When I see others through His eyes, then I will be kind and compassionate toward them, I won't want to kill them, or steal from them, or lie to them. I will automatically follow all the laws regarding interpersonal relationships and consider the other person before myself. 

When Jesus fulfilled all the Law (Matthew 5:17) with His life and death and Resurrection, He left us with the principle that the Law was based on, Love. Now this principle of Love has us going beyond what the letter of the Law demanded. We will not only not kill our neighbor, we won't even think evil against him. We will not slander our neighbor, we will encourage him. We will not covet what he has for ourselves, we will commend him and take joy in what he has accomplished. We won't commit adultery, we will take care to respect one another and clothe ourselves modestly and appropriately. 

O my Father, thank You so much for Your great love, for me and for everyone You made, and for all of Your creation. Thank You for giving us Your Word, to teach us everything we need to know and apply in this life to know You and to understand how to function in this World. Thank You for giving us everything we need to prosper in this World in getting along with one another, and in living our lives to be pleasing to You, and that You will even reward us eternally for what You are giving us the strength and ability to do here, now. You truly are magnificent, my Father. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!