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Blessings to you, the readers of this page, in Jesus Christ our Lord. May He guide you and protect you always.
"THE GREATER COMMANDMENTS OUTRANK THE LESSER"
The Bible teaches us that the greater commandments take priority over the lesser ones. Jesus makes this very clear when He criticizes the Pharisees for following the lesser ones while ignoring the greater, more important ones.
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye
pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted
the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and
faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the
other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and
swallow a camel." (Matthew 23:23-24 KJV)
Yes, it is best if we can follow all the commandments all of the time. In
the passage above,
Jesus does say "not to leave the other undone."
However, sometimes two commandments conflict with each other. In these cases, we should follow the greater and break the lesser. This is what Jesus did in the following example, where the greater commandment (to have mercy) took priority over the lesser one (to do no work on the Sabbath, which itself was a very great commandment!)
LUKE 14:1-6 (KJV)
1
And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of
the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that
they watched him.
2
And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had
the dropsy.
3
And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees,
saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?
4
And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed
him, and let him go;
5
And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an
ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway
pullhim out on the sabbath day?
6
And they could not answer him again to these things.
<><
Jesus repeatedly used this example of healing on the Sabbath, because
observing the Sabbath was very serious business for the Jews, one of the
Ten Commandments. Yet Jesus routinely broke this commandment in order to
show that mercy (Spirit of the Law) is more important than blindly
observing the Sabbath (Letter of the Law). Other references to healing on
the Sabbath are found in Matthew 12:10, Mark 3:2, Luke 6:7.
The greatest commandment of all, the one which outranks all others, is the commandment to love: love God first, then love all others the same as you love yourself.
MATTHEW 22
35
Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a
question, tempting him, and saying,
36
Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy mind.
38
This is the first and great commandment.
39
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself.
40
On these two commandments hang all the law and the
prophets.
When He was questioned about "who is my neighbor?," He answered by giving the parable of the Good Samaritan, which shows that everyone is our neighbor.
LUKE 10:25-37 (KJV)
The Good Samaritan
25
And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him,
saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26
He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
27
And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
28
And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and
thou shalt live.
29
But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is
my neighbour?
30
And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from
Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped
him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him
half dead.
31
And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and
when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32
And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and
looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33
But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was:
and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34
And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and
wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn,
and took care of him.
35
And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and
gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and
whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay
thee.
36
Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him
that fell among the thieves?
37
And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto
him, Go, and do thou likewise.
<><
May the Lord bless this presentation of His holy Word.
Rev. Bill McGinnis <><
bmcgin@patriot.net
See more pages like this, at our Index of Pearls Of Faith, a treasury of Biblical truths.
Please also see our related pages . . .
CHRISTIAN
ETHICS & HUMAN RELATIONS
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May the Lord bless this presentation of His holy Word.
Rev. Bill McGinnis <><
bmcgin@patriot.net
See more pages like this, at our Index of Pearls Of Faith, a treasury of Biblical truths.
Please also see our related pages . . .
CHRISTIAN
ETHICS & HUMAN RELATIONS
POLITICS & PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Blessings to you in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rev. Bill McGinnis, Director - LoveAllPeople.org
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