⭐WEB · Matthew 22:38
What does Matthew 22:38 mean?
"This is the first and great commandment."
— Matthew 22:38 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him.
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?”
Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
This is the first and great commandment.
A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question,
Explanation
In Matthew 22:34-40, a religious scholar (identified as a Pharisee and lawyer) approaches Jesus with a test question: "Which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus responds by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 — "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." Matthew 22:38 is Jesus' immediate follow-up statement, declaring that this command to love God completely is "the first and great commandment." In plain language, Jesus is saying that above every other rule, regulation, or religious duty, the single most important thing a person can do is to love God with their whole being — not partially, not with divided loyalty, but totally.
The context matters a great deal here. This exchange takes place during the final week of Jesus' ministry in Jerusalem, where various religious groups — Pharisees, Sadducees, and leg
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