Making Love: An Exploration Of The Greatest Commandment

By Nathan Wheeler

What does it mean to be a Christian? It depends on who you ask. Many Christians want to make a single set of beliefs on what it means to be a Christian, but you can look around Christendom and clearly see what it means to be Christian depends on who you ask. Go ask the neo-reformers, the emergent's, conservative evangelicals, protestant liberals or charismatic's what it means to be a Christian. Most Christians can not agree on whom is a Christian let alone what it means to be a Christian. In each of the four gospels, there are variations of the greatest commandment. In Matthew 22:34-40, Mark 12:28-31, Luke 10:25-37, John 13:34-35 & John 15:12, I believe, Jesus explains what it means to be a Christian.

It's about making love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Feb 14, 2012
• ISBN: 9781620952160

Book preview

Chapter 1: Making Love

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, Of all the commandments, which is the most important? The most important one, answered Jesus, is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 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: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these." i

Mark 12:28-31

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.

Matthew 22:34-40

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. Teacher, he asked, what must I do to inherit eternal life? What is written in the Law? he replied. How do you read it? He answered, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. You have answered correctly, Jesus replied. Do this and you will live. But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, And who is my neighbor? In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers? The expert in the law replied, The one who had mercy on him. Jesus told him, Go and do likewise.

Luke 10:25-37

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

John 13:34-35

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

John 15:12

From multiple sources, we know the gospels were written between 50-95 A.D. Most scholars believe Mark was the first gospel recorded anywhere between 50-70 A.D. Matthew and Luke are believed to be written around the same time 60-75 A.D. with both using Mark as a source. Finally, the gospel of John is widely believed to be the last gospel written around 95 A.D. As you read the greatest commandment (GC) in each gospel you see similarities as well as differences in the way they are recorded. For instance, In Mark’s account, we read Jesus saying "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. In Matthew’s version, we read Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. John’s gospel is even more striking with Jesus not recorded as saying what we commonly refer to as the GC. What we do read Jesus saying is as he calls it a new commandment. It goes from loving our neighbors as ourselves to Love one another. As I have loved you… and Love each other as I have loved you.

Is this a case of Jesus’ message evolving or is this a case of the message evolving among the followers of Jesus. I tend to think that the message evolved among the followers. As we see, the biggest shift in thought comes in the last gospel recorded 50-60 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. I do not go as far as some, and say that Jesus did not say what is recorded in John. I think the writers took what there eyewitnesses heard, and made a shorthand version of the GC in John. With that being said, I will spend a majority of time describing the versions of the GC we find in Matthew, Mark & Luke. It is not to say that John’s account is not essential but for the sake of speaking in detail about the GC I think the versions in Matthew, Mark & Luke are better suited for that endeavor. With that being said, let us consider what I believe to be the main message of the GC.

From the beginning, the Bible, describes God as a maker. God makes the garden. God makes Adam and Eve. God makes a covenant with Abraham. God makes David King. God makes prophets, to convey his message. In the gospels, we find God making his way into the world through the incarnation. The definition for making is the act that results in something coming to be, process of