When asked what the most important commandment of the whole Law of Moses was, Jesus did not hesitate: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment” (Matt. 22:37-38). Across five books spanning 300 pages containing over 600 individual commandments by our counts, that was the one Christ identified. With good reason, too. Originally recorded in Deuteronomy 6, Jesus was quoting Judaism’s foundational passage: the shema, from the original Hebrew for its first word: “Hear.”
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD 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,” says its original translation (Deut. 6:4-5). Historian Everett Ferguson reports, “The faithful Jew recited the Shema not only in the synagogue but daily” (Backgrounds of Early Christianity 561). Yet to fully appreciate just what they were reciting, there is some nuance to the word shema that needs explored. For us, we “hear” something when its sound waves vibrate our eardrums. Going a step further, we might even comprehend it: parents and perhaps some spouses can appreciate the distinction between hearing and listening. Shema includes all of that – and goes further still. It includes hearing, listening…and obeying. In Hebrew, when you “heard” what God said, it was automatically expected you would do it.
So, when “Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one” was proclaimed, you heard that God is one – that He alone is God, with no other so-called “gods” before Him – but then you also obeyed that. To publicly recite the shema in a synagogue service or to privately pray it as a family was to participate in an exclusive relationship with the One True God. He alone received your worship, devotion, and loyalty. It was so much more than the “statements of faith” we might think of today. Yes, it said, “I believe this to be true” – but then it went further into a personal, heartfelt commitment to love God with your all.
Humanity’s problem – from when the shema was first commanded 3,400 years ago through Jesus’ day and on to now – is that we stop too soon. Maybe we “hear” the words, but we don’t comprehend them. Maybe we understand what they mean, but we don’t actively obey them. All-encompassing love of God isn’t what shapes our daily thoughts, feelings, words, and actions, nor does it have much affect on our priorities, schedules, and budgets. That can change, though. Hear that God really is over all. Obey that reality by loving Him with everything. Then see just how blessed you are when you are truly keeping the great commandment.
Learn more ways to build your life on Christ through our series Firm Foundation.