Matthew 22:37-40
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 first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
English Standard Version (ESV)
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The verse emphasizes loving God with "all your mind," suggesting that this love isn't just emotional or spiritual, but also intellectual. It calls us to engage our thinking, understanding, and reasoning faculties fully in our devotion to God, not as separate entities but as integral parts of our whole being. This highlights that true love for God involves thinking rightly about Him and aligning our intellect with His truth.
The Pharisees, hearing Jesus silenced the Sadducees, gathered together to test him with a question about the greatest commandment. Jesus answers by quoting from Deuteronomy, stating that the highest command is to love God with one's entire being. He then adds that the second greatest commandment, to love one's neighbor, is like it, and that these two encompass the entirety of the Law and the Prophets.
Jesus didn't just give us a rule to follow; He revealed a relationship to embrace. But what does it truly mean to love God with everything?
When Jesus declares that loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind is the greatest commandment, He's not just presenting a suggestion. This is the absolute core of true faith.
A Love That Demands Everything
This isn't about compartmentalizing your faith; it's about integrating it into every part of who you are. It's a love that isn't just a feeling, but an active devotion of your entire self.
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Why did Jesus call this the 'first and great commandment'? It's more than just a top-ten list; it's the bedrock of everything else.
Jesus' answer wasn't just a response to a question; it was a revelation of the foundational principle of God's kingdom. This commandment isn't just one of the rules; it's the essential root from which all other righteous living flows.
The Cornerstone of Faith
Understand the original words
agapaō · Greek Verb
In a biblical context, refers to a commitment of the will, mind, and emotions that results in sacrificial action. It is the defining characteristic of the believer's relationship with God and others.
kardia · Greek Noun
Often considered the seat of the intellect, will, and inner self. Biblically, it is the center of human personality and the place where decisions for or against God are made.
psychē · Greek Noun
The vital, animating principle of human life. It refers to the individual person, their life-breath, and their existence before God.
dianoia · Greek Noun
Refers to the faculty of understanding, reasoning, and cognition. Loving God with the mind involves dedicating one's intellectual capacities and thoughts to His glory.
plēsion · Greek Noun
Any other person, particularly those within the community of faith, but in Jesus' teaching, it extends to all people, including enemies. It signifies the object of one's duty of care and love.
kremamai · Greek Verb
To hang or be suspended from. Metaphorically, it means that the entire witness and moral requirements of the Hebrew Scriptures are rooted in and supported by these two core commands.
nebi'im · Hebrew Noun
The divinely inspired spokesmen for God in the Old Testament whose writings and ministries served to call Israel to repentance and point forward to the coming Messiah.
Jesus’ citation comes from the Shema, a foundational prayer for Jewish people recited daily, deeply embedding this command into their religious life and identity. By re-emphasizing it, Jesus connects his teaching directly to Israel's core beliefs.
c. 1500 BC
Ten Commandments Given
God gives the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai, including the foundational command to love God.
c. 1400 BC
Deuteronomy Written
The Book of Deuteronomy is written, containing a central passage (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) that commands loving God with all one's heart, soul, and might, which Jesus will later quote.
c. 400 BC
Septuagint Translation
The Hebrew Scriptures are translated into Greek (the Septuagint), influencing how the command to love God is understood and later quoted by New Testament writers.
c. AD 25
Jesus Teaches the Great Commandment
Jesus is asked by a lawyer about inheriting eternal life and responds by highlighting the importance of loving God and neighbor, as recorded in Luke 10:25-27.
c. AD 30-33— this verse
Jesus' Final Week in Jerusalem
During his final week, Jesus is questioned by religious leaders, including Pharisees and a lawyer, about the greatest commandment, leading to his famous citation of Deuteronomy 6:5 in Matthew 22:37-39.
This is the foundational Old Testament passage from which Jesus quotes, establishing that loving God with all one's being is a core command.
Mark 12:30Mark's parallel account includes 'strength' in addition to heart, soul, and mind, reinforcing the idea that this love requires the totality of our physical and mental capabilities.
Luke 10:27Luke also records Jesus' affirmation of this commandment, emphasizing that this love is the path to inheriting eternal life, directly linking it to our ultimate destiny.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7This passage describes the characteristics of love (agape), providing a practical, active definition that contrasts with mere intellectual assent, illustrating what 'loving God with all your heart' might look like in action towards others.
Romans 12:1-2Paul calls believers to offer their bodies as living sacrifices, urging them to be transformed by the renewing of their minds; this echoes Jesus' command to love God with all one's mind and faculties, presenting a life of worship rooted in this holistic love.
calvinMatthew 22:34-40: "But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together."
- But when the Pharisees heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they assembled together. 35. And one of them, a doctor of the law, put a question to him, tempting him, and saying, 36. Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37. Jesus saith to him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38. Th…
henryMatthew 22:34-40: "But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together."
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 eng…
The verse emphasizes loving God with "all your mind," suggesting that this love isn't just emotional or spiritual, but also intellectual. It calls us to engage our thinking, understanding, and reasoning faculties fully in our devotion to God, not as separate entities but as integral parts of our whole being. This highlights that true love for God involves thinking rightly about Him and aligning our intellect with His truth.
The Pharisees, hearing Jesus silenced the Sadducees, gathered together to test him with a question about the greatest commandment. Jesus answers by quoting from Deuteronomy, stating that the highest command is to love God with one's entire being. He then adds that the second greatest commandment, to love one's neighbor, is like it, and that these two encompass the entirety of the Law and the Prophets.
The Pharisees, hearing Jesus silenced the Sadducees, gathered together to test him with a question about the greatest commandment. Jesus answers by quoting from Deuteronomy, stating that the highest command is to love God with one's entire being. He then adds that the second greatest commandment, to love one's neighbor, is like it, and that these two encompass the entirety of the Law and the Prophets.
"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 first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these t…" — The verse emphasizes loving God with "all your mind," suggesting that this love isn't just emotional or spiritual, but also intellectual. It calls us to engage our thinking, understanding, and reason…
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