FALLING IN LOVE WITH JESUS OVER AND AGAIN

The 2 Greatest Commandments: Ever

Matthew 22:35–40 NKJV

35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Jesus is undergoing a series of questions to test Him.

Jesus is unafraid of human questions. In fact, he welcomes them.

What kind of heart do we have when we question God’s motives?

Matthew 22:18 NKJV

18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?

Jesus is the Teacher of love.

Teacher: διδάσκειν is commonly attested from the time of Homer. It derives from the root δα(ς), meaning “to teach” (*διδασ-σκω == διδάσκω, Hom. δέδαε “has taught”) and “to learn”

Karl Heinrich Rengstorf, in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964–), 135.

To teach you must have both an instructor and a student.

The meaning at stake in the following passage is in the self-exaltation of themselves by saying they are the “Instructor, Father, or Rabbi” of the group they are supposedly leading.

Matthew 23:5–11 NKJV

5 But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. 6 They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues,

Matthew 23:5–11 NKJV

7 greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ 8 But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.

Matthew 23:5–11 NKJV

9 Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. 11 But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.

Again, the idea is the heart of self-inflation where one person or a small group designate themselves as superior to everyone else. This is not love.

Going back to Matthew 22:36, What is the single most important commandment in the entire Bible?

Matthew 22:36 NKJV

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

Is partaking the Lord’s Supper every Sunday the most important commandment in the Bible?

Is the collection the most important commandment in the Bible?

Is baptism the most important commandment in the Bible?

1 Corinthians 13:1–3 NKJV

1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

1 Corinthians 13:1–3 NKJV

2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:1–3 NKJV

3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

Now, the Lord’s Supper, the collection, baptism and all the works of the church are vastly important. However, if they are done apart from love what value are they?

Galatians 5:6 NKJV

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

This brings us to the most important commandment in the Bible.

Matthew 22:37 NKJV

37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 6:5.

The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament A. Love in the OT.

From this analysis we learn that love in the OT is basically a spontaneous feeling which impels to self-giving or, in relation to things, to the seizure of the object which awakens the feeling, or to the performance of the action in which pleasure is taken.

The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament A. Love in the OT.

Love is an inexplicable power of soul given in the inward person: מְאֹד (

Deuteronomy 13:4 NKJV

4 You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him.

Biblical Love for God is to Walk After the LORD your God.

Biblical Love for God is to fear Him.

Biblical Love for God is to Keep His Commandments.

Biblical Love for God is to Obey His Voice.

Biblical Love Serves God.

Biblical Love for God Clings To Him.

Here’s What Jesus says in Matthew 22:37.

You shall love the LORD your God will all your heart. That’s your emotions.

You shall love the LORD you God with all your soul. That’s the breath of your life.

You shall love the LORD your God with all your mind. That’s your intellect.

Matthew 22:38 NKJV

38 This is the first and great commandment.

The second greatest commandment enables us to fulfill the the greatest commandment.

Matthew 22:39 NKJV

39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

The Commandment from Everlasting to Everlasting.

1 John 4:21 NKJV

21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

3 Rewards for Loving Your Neighbors:

Jesus calls you His friend.

John 15:14 NKJV

14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.

John 14:15 NKJV

15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.

You grow to better understand Jesus’s sacrifice.

1 John 4:9–11 NKJV

9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

1 John 4:9–11 NKJV

10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

You Gain More Friends By Loving Your Neighbors.

Pause: Let’s talk about what it means to unconditionally love your neighbors biblically.

Unconditional Selfless Love

Unconditional Sacrificial Love

Take a peak at the secrets to loving God’s way.

1 Corinthians 13:4–8 NKJV

4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;

1 Corinthians 13:4–8 NKJV

5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;

1 Corinthians 13:4–8 NKJV

7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1 Corinthians 13:4–8 NKJV

8 Love never fails.

KEEP FALLING IN LOVE WITH JESUS OVER AND AGAIN