The Greatest Commandment “to love God” is the first and greatest commandment of all. In researching this commandment I have found that to love God is truly what God really wants from all of us. The commandment is referenced in all four of the gospels of the New Testament as well as being referenced in the Old Testament through the Ten Commandments in which the New Testament was based on. This commandment is so powerful it is found in Luke 10:25-37, Mark 12:28-34, John 13:34-35 and Matthew 22:34-40. It is also found in Deuteronomy 6:5 and also based on the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:1-17. Take for instance the gospel of Matthew in where the New Testament begins with the book of Matthew revealing the fulfillment of the prophecies in Jesus Christ, the long-awaited Messiah. Matthew was a Jewish tax collector for the Roman government who was called upon by Jesus to become one of the 12 apostles which often in his gospel will give us an eye witness account. Matthew wrote the gospel while living in Antioch, Syria after following Jesus between the years of A.D. 50-70. Matthews’s gospel provides an essential link between the Old and New Testament. Matthew 22:34-40 teaches us of the greatest commandment and what God wants from us foremost. In the scripture of Matthew 22:34-40 where this commandment is told by Jesus to the religious leaders, the Sadducees and the Pharisees who were attacking him and challenging him with one of the Pharisees in particular who was a lawyer decided to test Jesus in hopes of embarrassing him by asking: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?” (NIV, Matthew 22:36) Knowing that this was a difficult question because of the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament in which all are from ...
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...merciful, for they will be shown mercy" and "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Holy Bible, Matthew 5:3-11). These scriptures say a lot to us reinstating what Matthew has written in how we should live our lives and follow the laws stated by Jesus in The Greatest Commandment so that we can obtain our peace of heart and give our love, ourselves selflessly to God. For when Jesus answered this question, the religious leaders and the Pharisees knew that he had answered well. After this question was answered Jesus also asked and answered a question about his son ship to God and from then on his answers showed his wisdom and those that questioned him never dared to ask Jesus any more questions. They knew that he was the son of the Lord. All knew and understood that these two Greatest Commandments were to be the law and the prophecies to live by.
Concerning the nature of myths, one can often find that they are built on broad generalization lacking the premises necessary to make a solid conclusion. Such was the same myths, Pier Larson sought to disprove in his essay “The Student’s ‘Ten Commandments’.” Larson discuss damaging and caustic stereotypes that have worked their way throughout history to create a narrative that often subordinates Blacks when promulgated by a more affluent European society . One myth in particular appears to be quite troubling for its contradictory nature-that being the myth: all Africans are Black. Additionally, to be African is to be Black, Africans are not culturally diverse, and that Africans share one, essentially unified culture. Not only do I find these troubling for their outright abasement of African culture, which is plain to see, but rather for the duplicitous logic that lead to the creation of such myths, and why they remain so harmful when they are continued to be spread in contemporary.
S: Well, as followers of Jesus we should fulfill the Jewish law; we should even take it as far and fulfill it better than the Pharisees and scribes. In my opinion, the Gospel of Matthew does not tell to abandon the Jewish law; it in fact, says the opposite. Jesus fulfills this Law and prophecy!
The First Commandment. The first commandment is Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
The core ethical teachings of Judaism are the Commandments of the Torah, the Prophetic Vision and the Book of Proverbs. These ethical teachings are all ultimately derived from the Jewish Bible or Tanakh. The importance of these teachings are to provide Jewish adherents with informed moral choices. One of the most important ethical issues that a Jewish adherent may face is pollution, decisions must be made in favor of methods that involve less rather than greater destruction to the earth because according to Bal Toshkit in the Prophetic Vision, the destruction of God’s creation is prohibited.
Agape is developed more particularly in the New Testament, as a part of Jesus Christ’s teachings. Nearly all of Jesus’ life, right up until the very end, was spent talking of the importance of agape. In the Bible, Jesus says Christians only need two things: love for God and love for others. In turn, most of Jesus’ messages to his followers surround love. For example, Jesus affirms the importance of agape when he preaches the message of “loving your neighbor as yourself,” something that is known as the “Golden Rule” of Christianity. Agape is also emphasized when Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. This is today one of the most well-known Biblical stories by Christians. This is no surprise, considering that it is told to emphasize the importance of brotherly love between everyone. And as Jesus’ final act of agape, he died on the cross for Christian’s sins. This is considered by many to be the paramount act of agape because it shows the love between God and his people. However, the Scripture does not only emphasize agape in the New Testament. It is also mentioned over and over in the Old Testament, notably in the 10 Commandments. The 10 Commandments are a set of 10 laws written in the Bible for all Christians to follow. All ten of these laws, even though they may not all explicitly state it, circle back to the clear theme of agape. Some examples include, “honor
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." [Matthew 22:37-40, AV]
Throughout history, Indigenous Australians and African Americans lived out the 10 Commandments and The Beatitudes. Morality is the concern with what is right and what is wrong in someone’s actions. This report will be addressing that morality exists, even in times of hardship and injustice. I believe that Indigenous Australians and African Americans have suffered from immorality and injustice, throughout history. This paper will be discussing how Indigenous Aboriginal and African American people have lived out the 10 Commandments and the Beatitudes.
The many commands given to humanity from God show his tough love to us. He starts with the first commandment to show his love and continues with the others in order to promote social order. 4) (Smith
Matthew 12:1-8 highlights the Pharisees opposition to Jesus by recounting his argument with them over the fulfilment of the Sabbath. It describes a passage in which the disciples of Jesus plucked grain on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees accused Jesus of failure in keeping the law. The text also presents insights into how Jesus was intent to transform the mindset of His people. His aim was to clarify, the way things should be, when following his commands to practice the Sabbath. This paper examines Jesus’ approach to dealing with human need over law. The passage reveals that Jesus’ condemnation of the disciples ' actions by the Pharisees came not from any lawful decree, but rather from their impure hearts. In essence, the disciples acted
In Christianity, the emphasis is placed on love of God rather than on obeying his will. People must believe that God is merciful and loves them as well. As a reflection of God’s love, people must also love other people (and the whole humanity in general) and forgive their enemies. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus endorses agape, or selfless love (in contrast to eros, or possessive love), which consists of dedication to another person’s good, even at the expense of our own good and happiness. People should practice peace and nonviolence, return good for evil and love for suffering (“turn the other cheek”).
The Ten Commandments monument should be removed is because it was put there dishonestly. If the circumstances of this situation were different, in that case I would agree that the Ten Commandments monument should stay. Then I take into consideration how the monument ended up in the public courthouse, and I can see why it should be removed. Perhaps the monument should not go away where it will never be seen again, but taken to a place where it can be seen by anyone that wishes.
Furthermore, the law was also given until Christ should come to fulfill the law and to convince mankind of the necessity of a savior (Henry, 1991). Finally, the law was designed to teach and point people to the Messiah (Henry, 1991). In the dispensation of the church, the sacrificial laws were used by Paul as a metaphor for teaching Christian life principles and practices in the epistles (Elwell, 1996). In the New Testament, the sacrifices became a broken spirit, and a broken, contrite heart (Psalm 51:17).
Be Merciful (Luke 6:31). "Be merciful just as your father is merciful." (Matthew 5:7): "Happy are those who are merciful to others; God will be merciful to them." The passage s teaches us mainly about being merciful to our enemy and God will be merciful toward us. Forgiveness of kind especially toward our enemy. We should not harm others even if they done bad things against us. We should show compassion towards others because if we don't people might not show compassion towards us. The passage told us that Jesus is merciful even towards his enemies. Perfect example of this is forgiving Jusus' enemy when he was put on the cross. Jesus even prayed for them to not punish them.
The Messiah left the people hopeful by explaining how easy it is to enter the kingdom of Heaven. According to Matthew 5:3-12, the people with righteous hearts will definitely inherit the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus inspires everyone to be humble, merciful, peaceful, and kind to one another, and he also mentions the importance of forgiveness and love several times, portraying his loving nature. Christ warns the nations to not fear persecution, because their reward in heaven will be great. Jesus mentions that Christians are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. However, salt without saltiness is worthless; hence, Christians without spiritual knowledge won’t get far in life. Christ motivates Christians to stand out by being loving, kind, compassionate; a reflection of Jesus so that unbelievers are eager to become Christians as well (New International Version, Matt.5:13-17). Additionally, he mentions the consequences of murder, adultery, and divorce. He talks about the sincerity of oaths and the importance of loving your enemies and giving to the poor. Jesus preaches about the importance of prayer because it is the way of communicating with the Lord. The Lord favors intimate and personal prayers over hypocritical prayers in public (New International Version, Matt.5.21-33,43, 6.1-5,25). Christ mentions the
In the New Testament, the title, master teacher is given to Jesus Christ. His teachings show that he acted and was regarded by others as a teacher in the Jewish sense of the word (Rabbi/Scribe). He is described as a teacher of the Law because he taught the way of God truthfully. His teaching caused admiration and astonishment because he was teaching “with power”. “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. This scripture lets us know that Jesus had originality of form; that when He departed from the rigid teaching patterns, He was received with hostility by the “religious leaders” of the day. Isn’t it interesting, that our Master Teacher Jesus was indeed a rebel preacher? He was not merely an expounder of traditional teaching; He taught his own positive doctrine and based it upon His personal authority. We must first recognize that Jesus’ authority is all-inclusive in heaven and in earth. It means that the angels in Heaven, the demons in Hell, human beings o earth and the church are subject to Him and are under his great authority. The first imperative of the Great Commission is to go. As they, Christians are to teach or make disciples or learners after him, learning the things they must do and must become if they are to be born into His kingdom.