Jesus was not very popular among the religious leaders of His day. Many of them saw Him as a threat to the religious order they had established. He challenged the strict rules and practices that they had put into place. Because the religious leaders felt threatened by His teachings, they tried to trap Him by asking Him questions that were hard to answer and could get Him in trouble if He answered them incorrectly. They asked Him one of these questions in Matthew 22. They said, “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” (verse 36). This was a trick question because if He picked one commandment over another, He could be accused of ignoring other essential commandments. Of course, Jesus could not be trapped by this question. He was, after all, the master teacher.
Jesus answered the religious leader’s question, “Which is the most important commandment?” in Matthew 22. He said, “’You must love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all your soul, and all your mind’” (verse 37). He did not stop there, however. Jesus quoted a second command, which He said was “equally important” (verse 39). The second command, which was just as important as the first, was, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (verse 39). They are the most important commandments because all other instructions “are based on these two commandments” (verse 40).
The second commandment that Jesus shared will be our focus for this week: "Love your neighbor as yourself." We live in a world where we are encouraged to focus on ourselves instead of others. Jesus taught that there is a better way: loving others as we love ourselves. That means that we look out for the needs and interests of others instead of just our own. It means treating everyone with value and dignity because that is how we want to be treated. Demonstrating this kind of love will have a lasting impact.
What would happen if we chose to obey this command from Jesus? Imagine the lives that might be impacted. You see, our love for others points them directly to the One who loves them the most: God. When we love people in this way, we give them a small example of just how much He loves them. What if we took this command seriously? I believe that lives all around us would be changed.
Take some time to make a list of what it looks like to love others in the same way that you love yourself. After making this list, commit to putting what you wrote down into practice and take steps to love others as you love yourself. Ask God to help you as you seek to obey His command to love others and take it seriously.
34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again. 35 One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”
37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
41 Then, surrounded by the Pharisees, Jesus asked them a question: 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”
They replied, “He is the son of David.”
43 Jesus responded, “Then why does David, speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit, call the Messiah ‘my Lord’? For David said,
44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit in the place of honor at my right hand
until I humble your enemies beneath your feet.’
45 Since David called the Messiah ‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?”
46 No one could answer him. And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.
