God made an everlasting covenant with Israel, saying that He “will not turn away from them, to do them good” (Jeremiah 32:40). It all started with God and His great love: “On your fathers did the LORD set His affection to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day” (Deuteronomy 10:15).[1] And God has kept that lovingkindness for Israel throughout all the ages and generations.
Israel responded back to God in what is called the Shema and V’ahavta prayers. In English they say, “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:4–5). When it says, “Love God with all your might,” it really means to love Him with all your means: your wealth, your possessions, and your physical strength and ability. You are to give everything back to God in this deep expression of love.
Yeshua (Jesus) taught this principle in the New Testament. In Mark we read that one of the scribes asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” Yeshua answered with the Shema and V’ahavta prayers: “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL 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, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:28–31). Get this! There is no other commandment greater than these.
These two commandments are the greatest ones in Judaism, greater than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. Think about that. People often claim that Judaism is about laws and legalism. But the scribe in this story was well-studied in the Scriptures and said that to love one’s neighbor as himself “is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mark 12:33). In other words, there is nothing else greater in the Law or the commandments or the covenant. After voicing the Shema and V’ahavta prayers, Yeshua followed up with Leviticus by saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18; Mark 12:31). These love principles are the foundation of Judaism.
This story is repeated in Matthew where Yeshua responds, “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:40). All the instruction of Torah, all the Prophets, and everything about the Hebrew Scriptures is dependent on this love. When something depends on something else, it cannot exist without it. So without this revelation of love and these expressions of God loving His people, His people loving Him back, and His people loving one another as themselves, there is no Law; there are no Prophets. All these things are dependent on this idea of love.
Paul repeats this concept in the book of Romans: “He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. … And if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:8–10). Judaism is not a legalistic religion. It is a religion founded on love, and as Christians we have been grafted into this great law of love.
Listen to this entire message: GIG24 Love the Jewish Roots of Our Faith
[1] All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995).