The Tuesday before the cross was a busy day for Jesus. Three groups of people came to him with questions. Their queries aimed to trap Jesus in a contradiction or statement they could use against him. Jesus’ popularity was getting out of hand, and the religious leaders planned to put a stop to it.

The Pharisees first came to Jesus with a question about paying taxes. Later, the Sadducees came inquiring about marriage at the resurrection. Finally, the Pharisees sent a representative who asked Jesus to identify the greatest commandment in the law.

Matthew 22:37-40
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.”

Loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind is a tall order, isn’t it? It means that we are to be devoted to the heavenly Father with our emotions and desires (heart), our inner person (soul), and our thought life (mind) that drives our actions. We are to love God with our whole hearts and whole selves. That’s the first and greatest commandment. And there is a close second command that practically demonstrates how we are doing in living out the first. We are to love our neighbors (those God places in our lives) as we love and care for ourselves. The tall order just got taller.

In this passage, Jesus explains that our relationship with God is both vertical and horizontal. It reaches up to him by the work of his Son and reaches out to others by the empowering work of the Holy Spirit. It calls for nothing less than all we are and all we have. This wholehearted love shows itself to those closest to you—your spouse, children, and family members—and to the person at the hardware store who asks you to fill out five pages of information when all you need to do is return a box of one-inch screws for a box of two-inch screws. Loving others as ourselves can be painfully practical.

Here’s the thing. Jesus said all the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. I am always amazed at how Jesus brings clarity and focus. He makes what is confusing clear and the complex simple. He sums up the entire Old Testament with these two commands! Now, all that’s left is the application. Hmm…that’s always the hard part, isn’t it?

Father, drive away any hypocrisy from our hearts. Don’t let us be pretenders. Never let us get by playing games with you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.