Matthew 22:35-40. One of them [pharisees], a lawyer, asked Him [Jesus] a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 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 foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.

The lawyer who asked the question was a pharisee pretending genuine interest in Jesus’ view about the commandments but was really trying to trap Jesus into saying something that would defame him. The pharisees were a prominent Jewish religious and political group known for their strict adherence to the Law of Moses and the oral traditions. The name “pharisee” likely comes from the Hebrew meaning “separated ones” which referred to their separating from impurity like Gentile influences, and what they considered lax observance of the Law by others. With the writing of the four Gospels, pharisees are now associated with gross hypocrisy and not righteous adherence to the Scriptures

A lawyer was an expert in the Torah. The question asked was to identify the “great” commandment, a common rabbinic debate at the time. There were 613 commandments in the Torah according to rabbinic tradition, and ranking them was a frequent subject of discussion. The question is not whether one commandment is important, but which one is the foundation or the one upon which others rest.

Jesus’ response clearly demonstrated not only his comprehensive understanding of the Torah, but more significantly, his insight into the heart of the entire Old Testament—the law and the prophets. At its core, it all points to this: love for God and love for others is the essence of everything.

When he said to love God with the heart, soul, and mind, he reflected the core confession of Judaism called the “Shema” recorded in Deuteronomy 6:5. The Shema was and is recited daily by devout Jews. “Heart” refers to the inner self, where all the issues of our life emanate (Proverbs 4:23). “Life” means one’s life or entire being. “Mind” emphasizes our rational thoughts. The second commandment is recorded in Leviticus 19:18 and is to love your neighbor as yourself. To the pharisees, neighbor was restricted to Jews only. To Jesus, neighbors meant people who were near you including your enemies.

“On these two commandments depend” – some translations have “hang” instead of “depend”. This suggests support or suspension like a door hanging on hinges. Love for God and love for people summarized the whole moral purpose of the Torah. Jesus said all of the Old Testament Scripture is built upon these two commandments which had to be radical and mind-blowing to the know-it-all lawyer. The pharisaic lawyer, though proud of his mastery of the law’s letter, revealed his failure to grasp its true essence. Ironically, this was exposed when he sought to trap the very Messiah who perfectly embodied and clarified that law through his response.

The church Epistles reiterate these truths:

Romans 13:8-10. Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Galatians 5:13-14. For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”

The night Jesus was taken into custody during the last supper after washing the disciples’ feet, he introduced a much higher standard than “loving your neighbor as yourself ”.

John 13:34–35 (ESV). “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 15:12 (ESV). “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

When Jesus said, ‘A new commandment I give to you,’ he raised the standard of love—not merely ‘as you love yourself,’ but ‘as I have loved you.’ This was no abstract ideal; the disciples had witnessed his sacrificial, humble, and unconditional love daily, and they had personally experienced it. The Greek has two words translated “new” in the New Testament–neos which means new in time (recent, young) and kainos which means new in nature or quality, a new kind of thing, something unprecedented. The word Jesus used was kainos, not just something recent, but something radically new in nature. No one had ever loved like Jesus, and he commissioned the disciples to love like him knowing the holy spirit would enable them to do so. Other biblical usages of kainos add insight:

2 Corinthians 5:17. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation….

Revelation 21:1. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth….

Hebrews 8:13. In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete.”

In each of these verses, the “new” is radical transformation, something fundamentally different. Love before Jesus was often limited to one’s group or tribe. Jesus extended love to all people, even enemies. Before Jesus, love was often conditional or reciprocal; while his love was unconditional and grace based (not necessarily deserved). The before love was expressed in words or duties. Jesus’ love was sacrificial to the point of death for those who were guilty of the punishment he received.

How in the world can we love like him? We are empowered by the holy spirit to live and love like Jesus. The love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the holy spirit which was given to us (Romans 5:5).

When we grasp how deeply God and Jesus love us, it changes our hearts and redefines how we love. 1 John 4:19 – We love because He first loved us.

As we stay connected to him through prayer, Scripture, obedience, we become more like him. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me… he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit… John. 15:4-5.

When Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you,” he was not simply updating an old rule. He was inaugurating a new ethic for a new people, grounded in his own example and empowered by his spirit.