What Are Jesus’ Commandments?
Most believers sincerely want to live to please and honor God, but only a few know what God really expects from them. This ignorance has robbed many of the wonderful blessings that result from having faith in God, obeying Him, and doing His will.
Scripture shows many laws given to God’s people. But two of these commandments that stand out are the Ten Commandments and those that Jesus gave during His earthly ministry.
When we grow in understanding of what these commandments mean and how they apply today, we can please and honor God with our lives.
Join us in this exciting study about Jesus’ commandments, the Ten Commandments, and their importance to Christian living today. We will answer questions like, “How many commandments did Jesus give?” and “What is the greatest commandment?” among others.
The Great Commandment
When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching. Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”(Matthew 22:33-36)
Jesus was an excellent teacher of the Scripture during His earthly ministry, and His teachings won the hearts of many people. The multitude in Matthew 7:29 submitted that He taught as one with authority and not as their teachers of the law.
But that influence that Jesus had on people was enough for the religious scholars of His days to dislike Him.
In the Bible text above, a Pharisee lawyer approached Jesus to catch Him with His words. The man asked, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?”
Not minding that the man asked to test Him, Jesus answered, saying:
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39)
Here, Jesus referred to our love for God as the first and the greatest commandment. But notice how He said we should love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, and minds.
The heart, soul, and mind are by far the most important components of our being. Matthew 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Your heart is the seat of everything you hold dear and all that matters to you.
If God asks us to love Him with the essential parts of our being, He simply expects us to love Him with all we are and have. Another way to put that is to place God first above everything else. This is the first and the great commandment.
And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Dealing with people is one of the hardest things in life. But Jesus commands us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. “Neighbors” refer to those around us, those connected to us, and even random people who cross our paths.
When Jesus’ listeners asked Him who a neighbor is in Luke 10:25-37, He replied with the parable of the Good Samaritan.
The Good Samaritan didn’t live on the same street as the robbed man. They were strangers to each other. But that was a good enough reason for the Good Samaritan to care for him.
The parable teaches that God expects us to love not only our family and friends but strangers, too. God wants you to love the people you meet on the bus, at work, at the gas station—you name it.
One thing we often miss in this second commandment is the phrase “as yourself.”
“Love your neighbor as yourself.”
God doesn’t want us to love ourselves above other people. Instead, He wants us to do unto others as we want them to do unto us.
Other Commandments of Jesus
Besides the two great commandments above, Jesus gives other commands in his teachings. Some of them include the following:
- Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you.
You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I tell you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5:43-44)
To be honest, this commandment sounds impractical. It doesn’t even sound fair.
Our human instinct urges us to pay people back in their coin, but God doesn’t want us to do that. Stephen exemplified this godly character when he was stoned to death in Acts 7:59-60. Instead of cursing the people, he asked God not to hold their sins against them.
As believers, vengeance and retaliation should not be our way of handling conflicts with people. God wants us to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us.
- Forgive others.
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matthew 6:14-15)
Forgiveness is often easier said than done. Nothing prepares anyone for hurt, abuse, wickedness, and offenses from people. The worst is when the offenses come from people we least expect.
Family, friends, colleagues, children, spouses, and random people may treat us offensively or simply get on our nerves. Sometimes, the hurts inflicted by others can be as extreme as theft, abuse, or even murder.
However, Jesus commands that we forgive our offenders and those who hurt us. As you rely on the Holy Spirit, you will have the grace to love and forgive people of their sins (Ephesians 5:1-2).
- Do not judge others.
Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Matthew 7:1-2)
God doesn’t see and condemn people the way we often do.
Let us reflect on our lives before we met the Lord and God started His work in us. Some of us were drunkards, quick-tempered, and always in pursuit of our worldly desires.
Despite who we were, God still chose us and gave us multiple chances to repent. Seeing that we obtained such mercies, it is ironic how we quickly judge others and look at them a certain way for doing the same things we did.
John 8 records an incident of a woman caught by the Pharisees committing adultery. With stones in their hands, they brought her to Jesus to see what He would say.
To their surprise, the Lord Jesus didn’t condemn her. Instead, He wrote on the ground and said anyone who had not committed any sin should cast the first stone. Interestingly, no one could. John 8:10-11 reads:
Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
God doesn’t want us to judge anyone. But this doesn’t mean we are permissive towards sin. Rather, the commandment to judge not is a call to give people a chance to repent.
- Give to the poor and needy.
Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Matthew 19:21)
Some people are not as financially blessed, and Jesus commands that we give to them. You don’t have to be a millionaire before giving to the poor and needy. You can actually start with the little you have.
As long as you give cheerfully without making a noise about it, God will reward you (Matthew 6:3-4).
- Be humble and serve others.
Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:26-28)
Jesus was a servant leader. In John 13:5-20, He washed his disciples’ feet. The Apostle Paul said, “He made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant,.. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:5-8)
God wants us to imbibe this attitude. Let us learn from Jesus today and allow Him to use us to serve other people. As we serve others, we’re serving God, too. (Matthew 25:40)
- Pray for your enemies.
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5:44)
Other people may hate their enemies, but we shouldn’t. Our Father God is loving, and we ought to imitate Him (Ephesians 5:1).
God wants us to love our enemies and pray even for those who do us harm. As we saw earlier, Stephen obeyed this commandment when the Jews stoned him (Acts 7:59-60).
As you yield yourself to the Holy Spirit’s help, you will be able to do the same.
- Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)
We will understand this commandment better if we check Matthew 6:31. It reads, “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’”
The desire to provide for our needs and people close to us can easily get in the way of our devotion to God. But God is faithful, and we can trust Him to meet our needs.
God wants His children to seek Him first. He doesn’t want us to place our needs above Him. Thankfully, with the instruction to prioritize Him comes a promise to provide other things we need.
When you seek God first in all you do, He takes on the obligation to provide for you. As you obey this commandment, you will begin to see things you didn’t even know you needed come to you.
A Deeper Look at Jesus’ Commandments
If you take a close look at the commandments of Jesus highlighted above, you will see that they all focus on three things:
● The importance of love
● The call to discipleship
● The challenge of living a life of radical obedience
The Great Commandment, for example, instructs us to love God with all our hearts, minds, and souls. We are also instructed to love our neighbors as ourselves, judge not, forgive and pray for our enemies, serve others, and give to those in need.
The truth is that obeying all these commandments will remain a struggle if we don’t love people genuinely. For instance, you can’t give cheerfully to someone if you don’t give out of love, and the same applies to other commandments.
God Himself is love personified, and He wants us all to be expressions of His love to other people.
Jesus’ commandments also give us a call to discipleship. Discipleship means learning to be more and more like Jesus. God wants us to know Him from His Word and seek Him first.
As we seek Him through prayer and Bible study, we allow ourselves the opportunity to know Him more. And the more we know the Lord, the better we love Him.
Imprinted in all the commandments of Jesus is the challenge to live a life of radical obedience. Generally, instructions are given to be obeyed. And there is no such thing as partial obedience.
God wants our obedience to be total. This can be a huge undertaking if we go by our own power. Rather than trying to obey God by our own effort, we can rely on the Holy Spirit to help us. God is ever willing to help, but we must allow Him to work in us.
For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. (Philippians 2:13)
What Is the Relationship Between Jesus’ Commandments and the Ten Commandments?
The commandments of Jesus and the Ten Commandments have the same purpose, which is to inspire godly living. However, the two differ in their approach.
While the Ten Commandments focus on rules of worship and forbidden actions, Jesus’ commandments center around our love for God and fellow humans. But at that, we can’t say one is superior to the other.
The Lord Jesus Himself cleared the air in Matthew 5:17:
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Jesus came to fulfill the Law. He gave His commands in the four Gospel accounts only to summarize the Ten Commandments, centering them around our love for God and the people around us.
The Implications of Jesus’ Commandments on His First-Century Jewish Audience
Jesus’ first-century audience comprised Jewish people who were zealous about the law. Many of their leaders disliked Jesus because He often convicted them of their hypocrisy (Luke 16:14, Matthew 23:2-5, Matthew 23:23-28).
Through His commandments and teachings, Jesus did His best to enhance their understanding of the Scripture and their relationship with God. His interaction with Nicodemus in John 3, among others, proves that He cared for their spiritual status.
Jesus Christ’s Commandments and the Christian Life Today
God’s word is everlasting. Even though it’s been thousands of years since Jesus gave those commands, we must obey them. Time may have changed, but God’s commandments, including those given by Jesus, remain valid.
God still expects us to love our enemies, pray for those persecuting us, and give to the needy. That is why the apostles emphasize the same truths in their epistles.
For example, Paul, Peter, and James encouraged their audience to walk in love and give to the needy (Ephesians 5:2, Romans 12:9, 1 Peter 1:2, 1 Peter 4:8, James 2:15-16, 1 John 3:18-20).
As a Christian, bear in mind that God expects you to obey all His instructions, including those that Jesus gave during His earthly ministry.
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Let God Help You to Obey His Commandments
We can never perfectly obey God’s commandments on our own. We need God’s help. And since He’s always willing and able to give us the grace to obey, we should never hesitate to run to Him.
As we read and meditate on God’s Word, we allow it to penetrate deep into our hearts. When God’s Word becomes rooted in our hearts, obedience becomes natural to us.
As Christians, we must also surround ourselves with a community of believers who will point us toward pleasing God. After all, our relationships will either aid or prevent us from obeying God (1 Corinthians 15:33, 2 Corinthians 6:14).
As you yield to God’s help and obey His commandments, you will begin to enjoy His blessings, know Him better, and live to please Him.
