The Two(?) Commandments

Articles

Lance Byers
04/19/24 - Theology

We are all aware of the Ten Commandments from Exodus 20. Many in the world still point to the Ten Commandments as if they’re the ultimate authority of what it means to be righteous in the eyes of God. Of course, through study of the New Testament we know that those Ten Commandments, since they were the beginning of the Law of Moses, were nailed to the cross. (Colossians 2:13-14)

So, is there something so condensed as the Ten Commandments which can point us in the right direction as those original tablets did? The answer comes to us from a surprising place. In Matthew 22, Jesus was taking question after question attempting to “entangle Him in His words.” (v. 15) This time the Pharisees decided to try a new “perfect got ‘cha question.”

Matthew 22:36: “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

Jews of the day, and still in our modern era, debated whether any commandment had a greater priority over any other. Certainly, there are some which are easier or harder based on the individual. For most, it’s very easy for most people not to steal, for example. If we’re looking at the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, it’s understandable that they are all of equal importance. Why would this man ask such a question? Please note that he’s not asking about the Ten Commandments, specifically. He just mentions the “commandments of the Law.” Exodus is just the first ten. There are 613 commandments in the Law of Moses. It makes more sense when you’re comparing a law about not eating shrimp being inferior to murder.

Jesus’ response is one of elegance as He gives such a wonderful summation of the law which He is introducing:

Matthew 22:37 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. ³⁸This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

The words which Jesus uses are not new and should be very familiar with the Pharisee lawyer who asked.

Deuteronomy 6:5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Leviticus 19:18b …you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

There is a common theme which runs throughout all the inspired scripture. Jesus points to it as the true “greatest commandment:” love.

How do we show that love? How do we follow these commandments?

John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Luke 6:43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, ⁴⁴ for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. ⁴⁵ The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

⁴⁶“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

By the things we do and say, our love is manifest to not only God, but to each other. Jesus’ answer to this man offers simple summary to how God would have us understand not only the Law of Moses, but the Christian Law as well.

While the three eras of law in the Bible are exclusive to their time and are different in their own ways, the underlying reasoning of God behind his relationship to us has never changed. From the days of the garden when God would walk with Adam and Eve in their innocence, all the way to His plan for salvation to Jesus, His love for us, and His desire that we should know love in the way that God IS love (I John 4:8).

Lance Byers

Centralia church of Christ

April 19, 2024