And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Comment: I wonder why this scribe asked this question. He had heard the previous disputations where various people had tried to trap Jesus, and, it appears to me, that he said to himself ‘I’ll check and see if this Person is for real.’ I think that he had been impressed by Jesus’ answers. There were hundreds of ‘laws’ for the Jews – some from the Bible and some added by the their leaders over the years. Potentially he handed Jesus a ‘Pandora’s box’ of possible answers, when he asked ‘which is the greatest commandment?’
Maybe Jesus’ answer didn’t include some of the laws added over the years, but it did succinctly and fully answer as to what was the whole purpose of God giving the commandments to Moses!
Prayer: Please help me peel off the draping and see the real issues at stake in my dealing with You, O God.
As I read it! 
Thank you Barry, for your comments on this passage. If we look at the first Commandment, it says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” If we obey this first commandment, then we will worship God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and will all our strength. Then “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” will also be part of what we will do. Putting God in first place in our heart is No. 1 priority for any Christian. God bless you.
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