The Greatest Commandment Meaning (Matthew 22:37-40)

· Gospel Studies

For February 18

For February 18

Quick answer: Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God wholeheartedly, with all your heart, soul, and mind, and the second is to care for your neighbor as you care for yourself (Matthew 22:37-39). All of God’s Law hangs on these two. Love for God comes first, and it overflows into practical love for the people around us.

Passage: Matthew 22:34-40 (see also Mark 12:28-34) · Read it first: read Matthew 22:15-46. Notice how many people try to trap Jesus with a question, and how he answers each one.

Introduction

If you could sum up the whole Bible in one sentence, what would it be?

Jewish teachers in Jesus’ day counted 613 commandments in Moses’ Law. They debated which were “heavy” and which were “light.” So when a lawyer asked Jesus to name the greatest one, it wasn’t an idle question. It was a test.

Jesus’ answer is so simple a child can memorize it and so deep we’ll spend our whole lives learning to live it. Let’s walk through it.

1. The Setting: A Day of Hard Questions (vv. 34-35)

The Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, so they regrouped, and one of them, an expert in the Law, tried to trap him with a question (Matthew 22:34-35).

Context: This is Jesus’ last week before the cross. In the temple courts, one group after another tries to trap him: questions about taxes to Caesar, about the resurrection, and now about the Law. A “lawyer” here is an expert in Moses’ Law, not a courtroom attorney.

The question was a trap because any answer seemed to rank some of God’s commands as less important. Jesus doesn’t pick a favorite rule. He goes to the root that all of them grow from.

2. Which Command Is Greatest? (v. 36)

The lawyer asks Jesus which commandment in the Law is the greatest (Matthew 22:36).

Mark’s Gospel records the same conversation, where a scribe asks which commandment matters most of all (Mark 12:28). Underneath both versions is a question every heart asks: What does God really want from me?

3. Love God With Everything (vv. 37-38)

“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). Jesus adds that this command is the greatest and comes first (v. 38).

Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:5, part of the Shema, the prayer faithful Jews recited every morning and evening. It declares that the LORD alone is God and calls Israel to love him wholeheartedly, with heart, soul, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:4-5).

Heart, soul, and mind

  • Heart: in Scripture, the center of your desires, choices, and affections.
  • Soul: your whole life and self.
  • Mind: your thinking, understanding, and attention.

Jesus isn’t dividing us into neat compartments. He’s saying all of you. Love for God isn’t one item on a to-do list. It’s the whole of life turned toward him.

Love, not just rules

Notice that the greatest commandment isn’t “obey,” “sacrifice,” or “be good.” It’s love. God doesn’t just want our behavior; he wants our hearts. Obedience matters, but it flows out of love, not the other way around.

4. The Second Is Like It (v. 39)

Then Jesus adds a second command that is like the first: care for your neighbor as you care for yourself (Matthew 22:39).

This time Jesus quotes Leviticus 19:18, which forbids revenge and grudges among God’s people and commands them instead to love their neighbor as themselves.

Why is the second “like” the first?

Nobody asked Jesus for a second commandment, but he gave one anyway, because the two can’t be separated. You can’t truly love God while ignoring the people he made in his image. And our love for people is strongest when it’s rooted in love for God.

Who is my neighbor?

In Luke’s Gospel, a lawyer pushed back with exactly that question, asking who his neighbor really was (Luke 10:29). Jesus answered with the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Your neighbor isn’t just the person who’s like you. It’s anyone God puts in your path who needs mercy, even someone you’d consider an enemy.

“As yourself”

Jesus isn’t commanding self-love as a third commandment. He’s assuming that we already care for our own needs, comfort, and safety. He’s saying to give that same care and attention to others.

5. Everything Hangs on These Two (v. 40)

Jesus concludes that the whole Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments (Matthew 22:40).

Law and Prophets was a way of saying the whole Old Testament. Picture a door hanging on two hinges. Every command about worship, honesty, justice, sexuality, and generosity is a way of loving God or loving neighbor.

Paul says the same thing: love never harms a neighbor, so love fulfills the law (Romans 13:10). Jesus didn’t come to throw out the Law. He said he came not to abolish it but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17).

6. Close to the Kingdom (Mark 12:32-34)

In Mark’s account, the scribe agrees with Jesus that loving God and neighbor is worth far more than every burnt offering and sacrifice (Mark 12:33). Jesus tells him he is not far from God’s kingdom (Mark 12:34).

Not far, but not yet in. Knowing the greatest commandment isn’t the same as keeping it. If we’re honest, none of us has loved God with all our heart for even one day. The greatest commandment shows us how far we fall short, and that sends us to the One who kept it perfectly for us.

The Gospel in the Greatest Commandment

Here’s the good news: Jesus is the only person who ever loved God with all his heart, soul, and mind and loved his neighbor perfectly. And he loved us when we were unlovable. God proved his love by sending Christ to die for us when we were still sinners (Romans 5:8).

We don’t keep the greatest commandment to earn God’s love. We start to keep it because we’ve received his love. As John puts it, we love because God loved us first (1 John 4:19).

That’s why, on the night before he died, Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment: to love each other the way he had loved them (John 13:34). The standard is no longer just as yourself. It’s as Jesus has loved us.

Application: Loving God and Neighbor This Week

  1. Start the day with the Shema. Pray Deuteronomy 6:4-5 each morning: Lord, you are one. Help me love you with everything today.
  2. Check your loves. What competes most for your heart: work, comfort, a screen, approval? Name it and hand it to God.
  3. See one neighbor. Ask God to show you one person this week who needs mercy, and act on it.
  4. Love as yourself. Think about how quickly you meet your own needs. Do the same for someone else.
  5. Rest in grace. When you fall short, don’t despair. Run back to Jesus, who kept this command for you.

Discussion & Reflection Questions

  1. Why do you think Jesus answered with love rather than a specific rule?
  2. Which word challenges you most: heart, soul, or mind? Why?
  3. Why can’t loving God and loving neighbor be separated?
  4. Who is the hardest “neighbor” for you to love right now?
  5. How does knowing that Jesus first loved you change how you obey?

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the greatest commandment?

Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God wholeheartedly, with all your heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37). The second is like it: care for your neighbor as you care for yourself (Matthew 22:39). He said all of God’s Law depends on these two commands to love.

Where is the greatest commandment found in the Bible?

It appears in Matthew 22:34-40, Mark 12:28-34, and Luke 10:25-28. Jesus was quoting the Old Testament: Deuteronomy 6:5 for loving God and Leviticus 19:18 for loving your neighbor. So the greatest commandment wasn’t new. Jesus showed that it was the heart of the Law all along.

What does it mean to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind?

It means loving God with your whole self: your desires and choices (heart), your whole life (soul), and your thinking and attention (mind). It’s not one part of life set aside for religion. It’s every part turned toward God in trust, worship, and obedience because of who he is and what he’s done.

Who is my neighbor according to Jesus?

In Luke 10:29-37, when asked who his neighbor was, Jesus told the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Your neighbor is anyone God places in your path who needs mercy, whatever their background, and even someone you’d consider an enemy. The question shifts from who deserves my love to who I can show love to.

Is the greatest commandment the same as the Golden Rule?

They’re closely related but not identical. The Golden Rule, treating others the way you want to be treated (Luke 6:31), describes how to love your neighbor. The greatest commandment goes further by putting love for God first. Love for others flows out of a heart that loves God.

Closing Prayer

Lord God, you are one, and you’re worthy of all my love. Forgive me for the many ways I’ve loved other things more than you and loved myself more than my neighbor. Thank you for Jesus, who loved you perfectly and loved me when I was still a sinner. Fill my heart, soul, and mind with your love. Open my eyes to the neighbors you put in my path, and give me a heart to serve them. Teach me to love because you first loved me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Keep Reading

Want a devotional and Gospel study in your inbox? Join Narrow Gate JC.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Related Posts