Matthew 22:38

22:34-40 An interpreter of the law asked our Lord a question, to try, not so much his knowledge, as his judgment. The love of God is the first and great commandment, and the sum of all the commands of the first table. Our love of God must be sincere, not in word and tongue only. All our love is too little to bestow upon him, therefore all the powers of the soul must be engaged for him, and carried out toward him. To love our neighbour as ourselves, is the second great commandment. There is a self-love which is corrupt, and the root of the greatest sins, and it must be put off and mortified; but there is a self-love which is the rule of the greatest duty: we must have a due concern for the welfare of our own souls and bodies. And we must love our neighbour as truly and sincerely as we love ourselves; in many cases we must deny ourselves for the good of others. By these two commandments let our hearts be formed as by a mould.

This is the first and great commandment. Whether the object of it is considered, who is the first and chief good; or the manner in which it is to be observed, which requires and engrosses the whole heart, soul, and mind, and all the strength and power of man; or its being the principle from whence all the duties, and actions of men should flow, and the end to which all are to be referred; and is not only a compendium of the duties of the first table of the decalogue, but of all others that can be thought to, and do, belong to God. This is the first command in order of nature, time, dignity, and causality; God being the first cause of all things, infinitely above all creatures, and love to him being the source, spring and cause of love to the neighbour; and it is the greatest in its object, nature, manner, and end. That this command, and these words our Lord cites, are so full and comprehensive, the Jews themselves cannot deny. A noted writer of their's (x) says, "the root of "all the commandments" is, when a man loves God with all his soul, and cleaves unto him. And, says (y) another, "in this verse only, "thou shalt love the Lord thy God", &c, , "the ten words, or decalogue, are comprehended". (x) Aben Ezra in Exodus 31.18. (y) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 138. 1.

This the first tend great commandment - This commandment is found in Deuteronomy 6:5 . It is the "first" and greatest of all; first, not in "order of time," but of "importance; greatest" in dignity, in excellence, in extent, and duration. It is the fountain of all others. All beings are to be loved according to their excellence. As God is the most excellent and glorious of all beings, he is to be loved supremely. If he is loved aright, then our affections will be directed toward all created objects in a right manner.

Verse 38. - The first and great commandment; or better, the great and first commandment ; Vulgate, Hoc est maximum et primum mandatum. Here was a plain answer to the question of the scribe, which no one could gainsay (comp. Luke 10:27 ). They who repeated daily in their devotions, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord" (see Mark), could not help acknowledging that love of him whom they thus confessed was the chief duty of man - one which was superior to every other obligation. Matthew 22:38

[Bible] 22:28. At the resurrection therefore, whose wife of the seven shall she be? For they all had her. 22:29. And Jesus answering, said to them: You err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. 22:30. For in the resurrection they shall neither marry nor be married, but shall be as the angels of God in heaven. 22:31. And concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken by God, saying to you: 22:32. I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead but of the living. 22:33. And the multitudes hearing it were in admiration at his doctrine. 22:34. But the Pharisees, hearing that he had silenced the Sadducees, came together. 22:35. And one of them, a doctor of the law, asked him, tempting him: 22:36. Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 22:37. Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and with thy whole soul and with thy whole mind. 22:38. This is the greatest and the first commandment. 22:39. And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 22:40. On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets. 22:41. And the Pharisees being gathered together, Jesus asked them, 22:42. Saying: What think you of Christ? Whose son is he? They say to him: David's. 22:43. He saith to them: How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying: 22:44. The Lord said to my Lord: Sit on my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool? 22:45. If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? 22:46. And no man was able to answer him a word: neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions. Matthew Chapter 23 Christ admonishes the people to follow the good doctrine, not the bad example of the scribes and Pharisees. He warns his disciples not to imitate their ambition and denounces divers woes against them for their hypocrisy and blindness. 23:1. Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples,

So in Matthew 22:36-38, that commandment, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind," is given by Christ himself as the sum of the first Table of the Law, in answer to the question of the lawyer, who asked Him, "Which is the great commandment in the law!" And in the next verse, loving our neighbours as ourselves is mentioned as the sum of the second Table, as it is also in Romans 13:9, where most of the precepts of the second Table are rehearsed over in particular: "For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." The Apostle James seems to teach the same thing. James 2:8-- "If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well." Thus frequent, express, and particular is the Scripture in teaching us that all duty is comprehended in Love. The Scripture teaches us, in like manner, of nothing else. This is quite another thing than if Religion in general had only sometimes gone under the name of the Love of God, as it sometimes goes by the name of the fearing of God, and sometimes the knowledge of God, and sometimes feeling of God.

[Reformed Biblical] o be willing to die at his command. With all thy mind. To submit the intellect to his will. To love his law and gospel more than we do the decisions of our own minds. To be willing to submit all our faculties to his teaching and guidance, and to devote to him all our intellectual attainments, and all the results of our intellectual efforts. With all thy strength, (Mark.) With all the faculties of soul and body. To labour and toil for his glory, and to make that the great object of all our efforts. {k} "Thou shalt" Deuteronomy 6:5; 10:12 ## THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW - Chapter 22 - Verse 38 Verse 38. This is the first and great commandment. This commandment is found in Deuteronomy 6:5. It is the first and greatest of all; first, not in order of time, but of importance; greatest in dignity, in excellence, in extent, and duration. It is the fountain of all others. All beings are to be loved according to their excellence. As God is the most excellent and glorious of all beings, he is to be loved supremely. If He is loved aright, then our affections will be directed towards all created objects in a right manner. ## THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW - Chapter 22 - Verse 39 ## Verse 39. The second is like unto it . Leviticus 19:18. Resembles it in importance, dignity, purity, and usefulness. This had not been asked by the lawyer, but Jesus took occasion to acquaint him with the substance of the whole law. For its meaning, See Barnes "Matthew 19:19" . Comp. Romans 13:9.