The third greatest commandment
I’m sure that most of my readers are familiar with Jesus’ declaration of the greatest commandment(s):
And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 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. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:35-40 ESV)
So, a lawyer asks Jesus which is the “great commandment”. Jesus replied with two: 1) Love God and 2) Love your neighbor. But, Jesus said that the second was like the first. Also, Jesus said that “all the Law and the Prophets” depend on “these two commandments”, not on one or the other, but on both.
As I was thinking about this recently, I wondered why Jesus gave the man two commandments. I mean, the man only asked for one, but Jesus gave him two. Why didn’t Jesus just give him one? Or, why didn’t Jesus give him three? What would have been the “third greatest commandment” according to Jesus?
When I read what people are saying about Jesus or about Christianity, it often seems that they think “the third greatest commandment” is more important than the first two that Jesus mentioned. What do I mean? Well, in books and teachings and blog posts and other means, people are often telling Christians what they must do to follow Jesus’ teachings. And, love is very rarely at the top of the list. Instead, it seems people like to focus on what they must consider to be Jesus’ “third greatest commandment”. You know, things like:
Have faith!
Study the Bible!
Join the church!
Give your money!
Homeschool your children!
Be baptized!
Sign this covenant/confession!
Make disciples!
Speak in tongues!
Pray!
Sing worship songs!
Be involved in the programs of the church!
Read the right books!
Of course, there are others who prefer to focus on Jesus’ “third greatest commandment” as a prohibition or negative command:
Do not drink!
Do not curse!
Do not join THAT church!
Do not send your kids to public schools!
Do not speak in tongues!
Do not hang out with THOSE people!
Do not read THOSE books!
I guess I could go on and on. Now, some of these are very good things. But, Jesus didn’t list these among his great commandment list. Instead, Jesus stopped at two: 1) Love God and 2) Love your neighbor.
Why would Jesus stop with these two? Why did he not include other commands in his list? Are we wrong if we place alot of emphasis on love? Are we wrong if we don’t place alot emphasis on love?
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I am a PhD student in biblical theology and a web developer. My interests include PHP and ecclesiology. My dissertation topic is the purpose of the gathering of the church in the New Testament. By God's grace, I try to live what I am learning about the church.
Maybe Jesus gave two commands because God always gives us more than we could hope for
Seriously, I think we could add to the list of “commands”
The Church must do things “my” way, or you are not a faithful NT church…
or
Thou shalt not worship in a place other than a house…
Do not pay your pastors…
etc…
1Why would Jesus stop with these two? For the very reasons you point out in your post. We have the tendency of making our #3’s (whatever they might be) the emphasis, rather than what Jesus said was really important: Love–”On these two commandments depend all the [rest]…”
2Matthew 7:12, Romans 13:9-10, Galatians 5:14 …. That’s all I have to say about that
3Do you ever wonder if Jesus was intentionally being ironic in using the words “commandment” and “love” together? I can imagine the tone of His voice when the word “commandment” was spoken, as if bidding that world goodbye for those with ears to hear. It occurs to me He was giving us a beautiful contrast of that old dead system of rules and regulations compared to this new creational, relational kingdom where He no longer calls us servants, but friends… where we are not merely subjects of a kingdom, but objects of His affection… where we discover He is interested in conversing with us more than commanding us.
4Jesus said that when you follow these 2 commandments, you’ve fulfilled the whole law.
Jesus also said that all things are to be done in love. But, I think that love will look different from one circumstance to another.
Blessings,
5Gary
Alan:
Was Jesus giving us two commandments or one? In other words was He presenting us with two sides of the same coin? You cannot do one without the other.
Toby:
Jesus wasn’t contrasting a new way with an old dead system of rules. He was quoting it. Which leads me to ponder…maybe they “rules” weren’t so dead after all. Maybe I’m the problem. I have a tough time thinking of God’s revelation as a “dead system of rules.”
Keith
6Alan,
Relationship is what the genuine follower of Christ is all about, and that is what Jesus is alluding to.
If BOTH the vertical relationship with God (via the finished work of Jesus on Calvary) and the horizontal relationship with each other (via the indwelling Spirit), is in place, no other commandments (the #3’s mentioned by Guy)are necessary for the follower of Christ.
7Joe (JR),
Since you haven’t heard me say those things, I’m assuming you’re referring to someone else.
It is interesting, though, that if we put love first, several other things fall into place – and they may fall into place differently than we normally see today.
Guy,
Yeah. Its easier to focus on what’s most important to us than what’s most important to Jesus.
Heather,
You left out Col 3:14 and 1 Pet 4:8.
Toby,
It seems like Jesus, Paul, and James all used the words “commandment” and “love” together. Perhaps what’s really ironic is that this is one command that we think we don’t have to keep?
Gary,
Love is relational… thus love will look as different as the people involved in the relationship. That’s difficult to measure, program, or control.
Keith,
I think he was telling us that there are two parts to love and you can’t have one without the other.
Aussie John,
“No other commandments are necessary…” That seems so “subjective” though…
-Alan
8You are right Alan, I have never heard you say those things and I would not hope to give anyone reading that impression.
I read your initial list and noticed an absence of things related to Ecclesiology and since that is the theme of the site, I tried to come up with a few items from the top of my head that might fit the list.
Do you have some thoughts on what areas of Ecclesiology we have made into 3rd Commands?
Check out this post I made sometime back called, “Thou Shalt Not!!!” It is based on the kinds of things you are talking about here, and answers your question “why”?
9Keith,
I would never think of something God reveals as dead either. Sorry if I gave that impression!
Alan,
Just a thought that I think is in keeping with the spirit of your post… when we make it less about striving to love others, and more about thriving in His love toward us -the loving others begins to occur naturally and authentically. Until I began to open up to the reality that God was not angry with me, but rather affectionately loving me in spite of my humanness, it was mind blowing. I truly see God as a loving Father / compassionate Friend / affectionate Lover. This is in great contrast to the 40 something years of churchianity I lived in where I saw Him more as a discriminating taskmaster eager to correct and admonish me.
10Joe (JR),
I think there are a couple of items about ecclesiology in my list. I tried to keep them general so it would cover people in both institutional churches and organic churches. I know that many people have put baptism, church membership (choose your brand), confessions, creeds, etc. as the 3rd commandment.
By the way, I’ve had people tell me that you have to meet in churches. I’ve disagreed with them as well.
Toby,
Yes, I think the more we understand the love of God, the more we will love people. The two go together.
-Alan
11Regarding that passage and Jesus instruction, I’ve often wondered the same thing…
Especially considering that most Christians (at least the American Christians that I cross paths with on a daily basis) put more stock in commandments 3 and upwards, or in negations as you list in your post…
And most looking in (either anti-Christian, agnostic or tepid, unchurched Christians), do not see that tri-headed commandment of “love God” / “love yourself”, “love your neighbor” being carried out by so-called practicing Christians…
12I wonder if you could use the words love and will interchangeably in the scriptures? “Not my love, but your love” perhaps. We have to be careful, because our understanding of how to love God and man is often skewed. To love is to obey. Wasn’t Jesus’ question to Peter (paraphrase) “yes you love me, but with who’s love? Peter then confesses (paraphrase) “You know me Lord” It seems Jesus answers are always taylor made for the inquirer, and meant to confront them with His Lordship. For some the issue is not about commandments but about_________________. ( Each seems to have his own little tender treasure) Lately I find myself having to repent of many of my prayers, almost like I’m praying “If you love me Lord, feed me and bring pleasant experiences to me.” I feel I should be praying “Lord, help me to understand and obey your love, though it seems harsh at times.” Perhaps we should be careful not to build theologies around these discourses.
13Naum,
Yes, that is exactly my point in this post. Christians generally put more emphasis on something besides love, and nonChristians rarely see a demonstration of the love of Christ.
Hal,
I think there are probably several concepts that go together: love, will of God, obedience, faith, etc.
-Alan
14Alan, good post. I was only discussing this with a friend yesterday. We were discussing what is absolute and what is relative and whether everything is absolute or everything is relative. We did not completely resolve this, but we did conclude that loving God and loving others is one absolute that we could identify. Which is a big challenge when you start thinking about all the things that you can be doing to show love to others!
15Andrew,
Talking with many different people from many different backgrounds and traditions, it seems that everyone agrees that love is central, yet no one (or not many) center their lives around love.
-Alan
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