As discussed in Part 1: What did He say? and Part 2: What did He mean?, the Great Commandment is found in Matthew 22:34-40, Mark 12:28-34 and Luke 10:25-37. In Matthew and Mark, the context is Jesus in the Temple during the Passion Week. In Luke, the context is early in Jesus’ ministry immediately after He sent the 70 pairs out to evangelize the cities.

In all three cases, Jesus is asked a question by scribes (experts of the Law of Moses). In Matthew and Mark Jesus is asked, “What is the greatest commandment?” while in Luke He is asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Jesus’ answer in all three passages is essentially the same, love God and love people. The point, or meaning, Jesus was conveying was if you want to demonstrate your love for God then simply love people (even those that are difficult to love!) as you love and care for yourself.

In Mark12:34 Jesus tells the scribe that he is not far from the Kingdom of God. In Luke’s passage, the scribe asked what is required to obtain eternal life. Are these two concepts related? Take a look at another well-known story, the story of the rich young ruler found in Luke 18:18-30.

In Luke 18:18 the rich young ruler asked Jesus the identical question the scribe asked him in Luke 10:25, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Notice Jesus’ reply in verses 24-25 where He interchanges the concept of eternal life with the Kingdom of God:

And Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” – Luke 18:24-25

The two are the same, to have eternal life is to enter the Kingdom of God.

When Jesus told the scribe in Mark’s story that he was not far from the Kingdom of God He was informing him that although he knew the Scriptures well, he was not following the commands of God because he was not loving his neighbor. The apostle John tells us in 1 John 5:3 that to love God is to keep His commandments. His commandments can be broken down into two powerful charges: Love God and Love Man. Although the scribe was versed in the knowledge of God’s commandments, he was not compelled to carry them out by loving the unlovable, in the case illumined in Luke, the Samaritans.

So, what is it we hear in these passages? We hear Jesus saying that the entire Law and Prophets can be summed up in two commandments: Love God and Love Others. Loving others is our expression of loving God for if we truly love God, we will be compelled to love others. Our love for God is the key to eternal life and entrance into the Kingdom of God.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.” – Matthew 7:21

Jesus is very clear in Matthew 7:21 that in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven (or Kingdom of God) one must do the will of the Father. The will of the Father is to demonstrate your love for Him by carrying out His commandment to love all people as you love yourself. When the commandment is carried out in this lifetime the child of the King will be greeted by His Savior Jesus Christ in eternity and hear the sweetest words any soul could possibly hear, “Well done my good and faithful servant.” Note that the verb “done” implies that one took action in completing a task.

In the next (and last) article in this series we will take a look at “What should we do?” We’ll explore what action we can take based on these passages to be obedient to the greatest commandment.

In case you haven’t read them yet (or would like to re-read them), here are links to the first two articles in this series:

The Greatest Commandment (Part 1): What did He say?

The Greatest Commandment (Part 2): What did He mean?