Jesus' Final Visit to JerusalemIsampula
The Greatest Commandment
But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again. One of them, an expert in religious law, was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he tried to trap him with this question: “Teacher, of all the commandments, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’14 This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’15 No other commandment is greater than these. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
The teacher of religious law replied, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other. And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law.”
Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
Footnotes:
14 Deut 6:4-5.
15 Lev 19:18.
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God with Us: The Four Gospels Woven Together in One Telling is a captivating new book that looks and feels like a paperback novel. But it’s not a story based on Jesus’ life, with fictionalized embellishment. It is the story of Jesus’ life, told entirely in the words of the four Gospels in the New Living Translation. This reading plan is not the full account of God with Us but takes you through select events during Jesus’ final week as he visits Jerusalem for the last time leading up to his death and resurrection.
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