Eyes 2 Jesus

Jesus' Commands Versus God's Commandments

This article could be considered an extension to the last article in this Christians and the Torah series. In the last article, I wrote a bit about Jesus, and posed the question of if He was Torah Observant or not. In this article, I'd like to look at the similarities and differences between God's Commandments, and Jesus' Commandments.

Jesus is God. However, Jesus/God came in the form of man, and He is our one and only Mediator (1 Tim. 2:5), and our one and only High Priest under the New Covenant(Heb. 3:1). Therefore, there is a distinction between God's Commandments, and Jesus':

"If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." -John 15:10

The Father's Commandments were the laws of the Torah, including the Ten Commandments. Jesus' Commandments are laid out in the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus says:

"Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:19

Which commandments? These, as per Matthew 5:

You shall not kill, and not be angry with your brother without cause

You shall not commit adultery, even if it is only lust in your heart

No divorce (except for adultery, or if the unbeliever leaves, as per Paul's Epistle)

No oaths. Your yes or no is good enough

Don't return evil for evil

ETC

Do you notice a common theme in the above commandments? They all boil down to one of two of Jesus' main commandments. Before we go there, which of the Ten Commandments did Jesus teach? He taught the ones (as we read in the Gospels) that were in relation to loving God, and to loving others. He never instructed us to keep ceremonial laws, such as keeping the Sabbath. Do you know why? Because He IS our Sabbath rest, as has been clearly and Scripturally explained in earlier articles in this series.

Jesus boils down His Commandments to two:

"Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." -Matthew 22:36-40

Jesus' commandments are the spirit of the Ten Commandments and the other commands given in the law and prophets. See 2 Corinthians chapter 3 for more on the spirit of the law.

Because Jesus' commandments are different from the Father's commandments, yet at the same time they are the same, the Bible explains it this way:

"Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth." -1 John 2:7-8

The two old, yet new commandments, on which now all of the Law and Prophets hang, are the following:

"And this is his commandment, [1]That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, [2]and love one another, as he gave us commandment." -1 John 3:23

"On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." -Matthew 22:40

Next in this series - "Let the Scriptures Speak for Themselves"

Build Your Foundation on the Rock of Salvation