This verse, as well as the parallel verses Matthew 22:37-40 and Luke 10:27, are the foundation for what a Christian is commanded to do. But there seems to be some confusion in the church about these verses. I've heard people say before that both commands are equal in value, and that all commands from God are equal. They dismiss the idea that some commands have higher value and supercede others in cases where they conflict. They would say that loving your neighbor is just as important as loving God. But what about when they conflict and you can't do both? Is there an answer for that? There is not if you believe that all commands from God have equal value. The fact is the Bible and Jesus himself have given us the answer. You see, even Jesus had to face situations where certain commands from God conflicted with other commands from God. Do you remember when the twelve year old Jesus was left behind in Jerusalem written in Luke 2? You might think the whole thing was nothing more than an accident but look at what is written. His mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you." It was Jesus' responsibility to stay with the family (the whole extended family went), and by staying behind at the temple Jesus dishonored his parents. So what are we to think, that Jesus sinned? No way! Look at how Jesus responds to his mom: "Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" Honoring his Father in Heaven was more important than honoring his parents. But in order to emphasize that Jesus was not a disobedient child, Luke then writes "Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them."If all you do is look at the verse you can see quite clearly that loving God is given priority, and it says loving your neighbor is second. And it says that we are to love God with our whole self and love others like ourself. It does not say that we are to love God like ourself, nor that we are to love others with all of our soul, mind, and strength. The wording of it is very purposeful. Of course that does not mean that loving your neighbor is not important, it just means that loving God is more important. So if ever there is a conflict between the two, you should choose to obey the greater command. These two commands sum up the Ten Commandments. If you take a look at the Ten Commandments you see that the first 4 deal exclusively with loving God. The 5th, honor your parents, is meant to symbolize both loving God, as God is called Father, and loving your neighbor, since your parents are human. Then the last 5 deal exclusively with loving other people. It was no accident that the commandments were put in that order. Loving God comes first and loving other people comes second. For all those people that disagree and want to believe that all commands are of equal value, I want to present a challenge. How do you make sense of Matthew 10:34-37 or Luke 14:25-27? Explain how you reconcile those passages with your belief. Or how about Abraham and Isaac? If God had not sent an angel to stop Abraham from sacrificing Isaac on the altar, Abraham certainly would have done it. If Abraham was not fully intent on obeying God's command "sacrifice your son" he would have committed a serious sin. But that would be murder wouldn't it? The command from God to sacrifice Isaac supercedes God's command not to murder. Of course God was not going to allow Abraham to do the final act, because that would have sent a message that child sacrifice is ok, and God is clearly against it! Nevertheless, Abraham would have done it if not for the angel, and it would have been the right thing to do.
It is not a sin to disobey an inferior command when a greater command requires it. And it is not the idea of doing the lesser evil, but it is doing the greater good. Also, this should not be confused with the idea of an ends justifying a means. It requires discernment to know what to do in tricky situations, but the Bible gives a tremendous amount of guidance for that. There are numerous stories and teachings that shine light on what is right and wrong when the commands clash. I'm sure some people will disagree with me, and I welcome that. The comments section exists for a reason, and I welcome comments. But I will say: if you can't argue with me using the Bible, then your argument means nothing. You can go by the authority of pastor Joe Blow or rev Somebody if you like, but what is his word against the word of God? Nothing! The basis for concluding any argument about God is whether it conforms to the Bible or not.
Amen.
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