Search This Blog

Why are those two commandments the greatest?

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31

            The Ten Commandments give a summary of all the laws outlined in Exodus and Leviticus.  Commandments 1-4 center on loving God through priority and worship.  Commandments 5-10 focus on loving others by not hurting them but respecting them.  Jesus pulled two verses out of Deuteronomy that gave the best summary of everything Moses’ law tried to teach them.