So , it should be no surprise or feel like a ‘ heavenly leap ’ ( Deut . 30:11-12 – again pun intended ) to see how Yeshua was correct and exact when He said that the Sh ’ ma is the greatest commandment and that the second greatest ( Lev . 19:18 ) is like the first . ( Matt . 22:36-40 )
[ Side note , clearly in those same Gospel passages others already agreed and taught the Sh ’ ma as the greatest commandment , so it was discernible from Scripture even before Yeshua ’ s teaching on the matter ].
We should thus understand Yeshua ’ s interpretations of Torah as the original intentions of Torah . He did not just bring a better understanding than those before His earthly life – He brought the proper and intended understanding of the One who wrote it .
Yeshua Himself said that on these two commandments hang all the Torah and the Prophets . That is no small statement . You could argue that our understanding of the 10 Commandments is incomplete without the two greatest commandments to explain them . It also means that the rest of the Scriptures are invalid and fall apart without these two essential commandments . This means that Yeshua ’ s fulfillment of so many prophecies and those yet to be fulfilled is based on His keeping of those two commandments . Just as Yeshua says that He is “... the Way , the Truth , and the Life and no one comes to the Father but through Him ”— there is no correct , alternative moral code than the Torah , summarized in the 10 Commandments , summarized in the two greatest commandments , and lived perfectly by Yeshua in love . ( Romans 13:10 )
Try this exercise for the month of Elul to see what I mean … First , read the 10 Commandments and be honest with yourself and Adonai about your own sins . Again , if you have not read the article on the 10 Commandments in the previous month , please read it in order to enhance this exercise . Then read the two greatest commandments and again be honest with yourself and the LORD about your own sins . Are you able to find that these two greatest commandments have uncovered something you did not see in the 10 Commandments or vice versa ? For myself , I find the 10 Commandments help me to see specific sins , but the two
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