The GREATEST Commandment

As you probably know, G.O.A.T. is an acronym for “greatest of all time.” Our focus will be on Jesus, the unquestionable GOAT of the world and one of his teachings about greatness found in the book of Matthew.

Before we get there, let's get things kicked off with a little fun focused on the GOATs in this world!

[TRANSITION]

Who here enjoys a good debate? Who doesn’t?

Let’s see what is the greatest! (GOAT Vote)

Today I want to examine a statement about greatness from the greatest person in human history, Jesus.

In my mind, and I hope in yours as well, there is no debate about it. He, and He alone, is the actual GOAT.

[TRANSITION]

The statement we’re looking at today occurred during a debate between Jesus and some of His listeners.

In the book of Matthew, we read that buzz had started to spread about Jesus. Speaking in sports terms, Jesus was on a “winning streak” of miracles, healings, gaining followers, and teaching mind-blowing truths.

Almost everywhere He went, people were murmuring that He might be the Messiah – meaning that He was the one, the only one, sent by God to restore Israel and save the world.

To be clear, that’s not just a big deal. That’s GOAT talk.

Here in Matthew Chapter 22, we see that Jesus had people who did not like him and they rose up against him. These haters were religious leaders of the time, Pharisees and Sadducees. Jesus and His ministry threatened them, so they tried to beat him in debate, but Jesus saw the trap coming from a mile away:

Matthew 22:18 (CSB)

18 Perceiving their malicious intent, Jesus said, “Why are you testing me, hypocrites?

And not only did He catch them off guard, His answers were even better than they could have expected.

Matthew 22:22 (CSB)

22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

As the Pharisees pulled back to regroup, the Sadducees took their turn. I’m not going to dive into too many of the details, but I want to point to how the crowd responded to Jesus’ answer.

Matthew 22:33 (CSB)

33 And when the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.

As I read this, I get this mental picture of the crowd responding like the student section at a high school basketball game right after their big man blocks a shot and launches the opposing team’s ball into the stands.

Jaws dropped.

Hands on heads or over mouths.

Shouts and screams.

All because Jesus wholly owned the Sadducees and only further established His greatness.

Not ready to give up, even though they should have, the Pharisees decided to take another shot at Jesus, and this is the passage I want to dive into together:

Matthew 22:34–36 (CSB)

34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. 35 And one of them, an expert in the law, asked a question to test him: 36 “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?”

This was a WILD question on so many levels.

First, “the Law” that this expert Pharisee referred to is the first five books of the Old Testament (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy).

It sounds like a lot, and it was, but there are 613 commandments that God gave the Israelites in those first five books.And this Pharisee asked Jesus to pick out the most important commandment.

So, the question was the set-up for the trap.

If Jesus answered this, He ran the risk of upsetting people by saying that there were commands of God that were more important than others. But if He didn’t answer, his followers might begin to question his authority.

They totally believed that Jesus was caught in their trap, but nope! Look at this:

Matthew 22:37–40 (CSB)

37 He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and most important command. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

It might be hard to hear it in these few verses, but this was a mic-drop moment.

In this response, it was game over. Debate done.

Jesus ignored the call for one commandment by finding a way to tie every book of the Old Testament (from Genesis to Malachi) into these two commandments. Love God. Love others.

[TRANSITION]

1. Jesus knew the Scriptures by heart.

If you asked me to boil all of those 613 commandments down into one or two. Without a doubt, I would have missed something for sure. But Jesus? Nope. He nailed it on the first try.

But how could He possibly do it? He could do it because He knew the Scriptures backward and forward. But even more than that, He knew the heart of the God who inspired those Scriptures.

The Pharisees were more concerned with memorizing each command, but Jesus showed them that the law was about more than just knowing the commands. It’s about understanding the heart behind the commands.

And Jesus proved this by how He worded His answer exactly.

2. Jesus joined the two commandments with one central word: love.

Although these two commandments were fundamental to the people of Israel, this moment was the first time in Scripture that we see them being mentioned together. To take it one step further, Jesus linked these two commandments together when He said, A second is like it.

Matthew 22:37–40 (CSB)

The first is focused on loving God, while the second is focused on loving others. The action we are to take is one and the same: we are to LOVE.

Let’s make sure we understand this love we are talking about. It isn’t a romantic feeling, and it’s not the kind of love we talk about when you say, “I love tacos.” The type of love mentioned here is far deeper. And we know that because of how Jesus describes how we are to love:

We are to love God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind. It is about total commitment to God with every part of our being.

Second, the call to love our neighbor states that we should love them in the same way we are to love ourselves. And we know from other Scriptures that our neighbor is everyone we encounter. Jesus calls us to look out for the people around us and ensure their needs are met.

And when Jesus combined these two commands into one, He wanted us to know that it’s impossible to love God if we don’t love others. The two go hand in hand.

And the third reason why these two verses are significant is that, in them…

3. Jesus summed up all of Scripture in these two commandments.

Have you ever tried to explain something incredibly complex in just a couple of short sentences?

Try this out. In two sentences or less:

· Explain the rules of soccer and how to play.

· Sum up the entire plot line of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

He meant here that every commandment in the Old Testament could point back to one of these two commandments: to love God and others.

But is that really true?

Let’s quickly test it by looking at the Ten Commandments that God delivered to Moses in Exodus 20:1-21.

Look at the first four commandments:

1. You should have no other gods before God.

2. You should not make any idols.

3. You should not misuse God’s name in vain.

4. Honor the sabbath by keeping it holy.

And here are the last six commandments:

5. Honor your father and mother.

6. Do not murder.

7. Do not commit adultery.

8. Do not steal.

9. Do not lie.

10. Do not covet.

So, it really is true! All the commandments from Genesis to Malachi are based on one of these two commandments. Everything boils down to loving God and loving others.

Jesus summed up the calling of those who have put their trust in Him as Savior into those two actions: Love Him with everything and love those around you.

3 Challenges

Commit to loving God whenever we meet together.

Commit to loving others whenever we meet together.

Commit to loving god and loving others when you leave here.