But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees with His reply, they met together to question Him again. One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap Him with this question: “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:34-40 NLT
What Is the Most Important Commandment?
The most important commandment is an echo of the Shema, a prayer that was (and still is) central to Jewish culture and faith. The prayer comes from Deuteronomy 6. In part of the prayer, Moses instructs the people, “And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5 NLT).
In Matthew 22, Jesus is confronted by the Pharisees. After plotting with them, an expert in religious law asks Jesus a very pointed question with the intention of trapping Him: Which is the most important commandment?
The Hebrews were given hundreds of laws throughout their history. The challenge of selecting one would have been nearly impossible. But Jesus concisely summarizes all the laws of Moses in one simple imperative: You must love the Lord Your God. And then He adds the qualifications with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.
What Was the Purpose of the Law?
Jesus’ words are nearly identical to the language of the Shema (with strength being replaced with mind in the NLT). But the emphasis is the same––all of the laws were meant to drive Israel closer to the heart of God, where they could experience His love and love Him in return. Every command and edict was given to reveal God’s character and call His people to holy living in His presence.
What Does the Heart Represent in the Bible?
The first qualifier––to love the Lord your God with all of your heart––was directed at one’s affections and desires. In the ancient Hebrew worldview, the heart was the essence of a person’s being. Everything flowed from the heart.
To love God with the heart was to make it the focal point of your entire life, inside and out. We can try to show God our love by doing good works and saying the “right things,” but true love begins in the heart (1 Corinthians 13). It starts with a conscious choice to love God above all else––placing Him at the center of your affections and desires.
If we are to successfully live out the most important commandment, it starts with the heart––looking at our deepest desires and uncovering our truest affections. And wherever we find that we’ve given our hearts over to something other than our good God, we must place Him back at the center of our lives, right where He belongs.
