Commandments of Christianity
Most people in Christendom know about the 10 Commandments, and many know that Jesus introduced the two great commandments in the Christian Scriptures. As Christians reflect on the ancient commandments God gave to Moses and his people, they see an unbroken line of history flowing from the Exodus narratives over the centuries to Jesus' gift of what Christians call the Great Commandments. Christians claim both sets of prescriptions for spiritual welfare as authoritative and binding.
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Context and Purpose
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Jesus did not negate the 10 Commandments when he taught the two newer commandments. The teaching appears in the Gospel of Matthew, written to a Jewish audience. The point of this entire Gospel is to place Jesus' teachings in the context of Jewish Law. Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees, Jewish leaders, who asked Jesus which commandment in the Jewish law is the greatest (Matthew 22:36). Jesus' reply was steeped in Jewish teaching. He told the leaders, who mistrusted his intentions, that the greatest commandment was rooted in the Shema, Israel's Profession of Faith in Deuteronomy 6:4. "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37).
The 10 Commandments
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The 10 Commandments provided guidelines for recently liberated Israelites as they made their way through decades of desert wanderings and strife to settle their own nations. More than rules, the 10 Commandments summarize the Covenant at Sinai. God provides the ground rules for the people's relationship with and their obligation to God for their liberation out of slavery and for God's protection and care going forward. The 10 Commandments provide an ethical road map by which people can live together in peace and express love and gratitude for God's blessings (Exodus 20:1-17). These rules still guide Jews and Christians around the world.
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The Greatest Commandment
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Jesus displayed respect for Jewish law when he told the Pharisees that the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul and mind. Jesus wanted the Pharisees to know that they had complicated the Sinai Covenant, marginalizing their own people in the process. He wanted people to know that love of God continues to be the most important commandment, and that love for others flows from love of God. The author of Matthew's Gospel communicated that the Jewish law remains valid, but that Jesus' twofold commandments enrich the law. The two great commandments do not negate or simplify the 10 Commandments, but they clarify how people should live: If they follow the two commandments, they will naturally follow the 10 Commandments.
The Second Great Commandment
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The second commandment in Matthew's Gospel flows naturally from the first. Jesus said, "The second is like (the first): You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus wanted the Pharisees to know that if they love God as the Sinai Covenant called them to do, they must express that love by loving the people in their midst; otherwise, any claims of loving God would be compromised. Love of neighbor means tending to those who are on the fringes of society, whom God seeks out with love and devotion.
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