Bible Discourse 53 Fulfilling the Two Greatest Commandments

Discourse 53

Fulfilling the Two Greatest Commandments

And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, “Master what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

He said unto him, “What is written in the law? How readest thou?”

And he answering said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.”

And he said unto him, “Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.”

But he, willingly to justify himself, said unto Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?”

And Jesus answering said, “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving  him half dead.  And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.  But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came when he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his breast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, “Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.’  Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?”

And he said, “He that shewed mercy on him.”

Then said Jesus unto him, “Go, and do thou likewise.”

it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.  And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.  But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, “Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?  Bid her therefore that she help me.”
And Jesus answered and said unto her, “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

                                                                            Luke 10:25—42

And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, “Master what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

He said unto him, “What is written in the law? How readest thou?”

And he answering said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.”

And he said unto him, “Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.”

                                                              Luke 10:25—28

Parallelreference:

Then one of them, what was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, “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 a 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 neighbor as thyself.  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.            Matthew 22:35—40

And one of the scribes came, and having heard tem reasoning together, and perceiving that he answered them well, asked him, “Which is the first commandment of them all?”

And Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God will all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength’: this is the first commandment.  And the second is like, namely this. ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.’ There is none other commandment other than these.”

And the scribe said unto him, “Well, master thou hast said the truth: and there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, “Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.”  And no man after that durst ask him any question.  

                                                              Mark  12:28—34

Jesus said: Man thinks that he is a soul separated from God, but in reality he is not. He must realize this. It is some thing like sun and rays. “This do, and thou shalt live,” Jesus told lawyer to obtain eternal life.  You can love God wholly in actual communion in daily meditation.  And show this by your actions your love for your neighbor even as you love yourself.  Then you will realize that God exists within you and everywhere. So meditation and loving your neighbours, on these two commandments hang all the law and prophets proclaimed to the lawyer. Love for God is the preeminent cosmic law for soul liberation.  “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.” 

To worship Lord be His friend, His son, and one with Him.

He is the cleverest who wholeheartedly seeks God first.  Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa.

You do meditation. Your true meditation brings experiencing God and love for God automatically.

“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”   Micah 6:6—8

“Love God with all your mind”.  India has specialized in the science of concentrating the mind one-pointedly through kriya yoga techniques.

Pray without ceasing – l Thessalonians 5:17

“Love God with all your soul.” – Enter the state of superconscious ecssatsy.

“Love God with all thy strength.”— Interiorize your life energy with pranayama.

When one sleeps, conscious mind is inactive.  Strength is withdrawn from the sensory-motor apparatus of the brain, muscles, and nerves.  It  concentrates on on the sub-conscious mind.

One can go into the subconscious sleep state passively. Life force switched off from the conscious sensory and motor nerves system

One can go to super-conscious state transcending from subconscious state.

*without consciuously  switching off the life energy from the senses and muscles.

You must master your life energy to love God. For this Posture i.e., asana is required. Motionless meditation is a must.

Then you must do breathing exercises for life-force control i.e. Pranayama techniques to quieten the breath and heart is required. Otherwise the breath will make the man tied to body consciousness. The Yogi then concentrates on God without the intrusive pull of flesh.

Then the mind disconnected from senses.  It is transcendentally interiorized that is known as Pratyahara.

The mind free from all bondage now is in communion of love to God.

That inwardly concentrated mind make the yogi to feel love for God continuing in his heart. The yogi started feeling the presence of god becoming more and more. It becomes Great love in his heart.

Yogi started feeling the presence of God everywhere. It is called samyama of yoga. Dharana, dhyana, and Samadhi.   

If you behold God in everything that amounts to expansion of love. Love for God, and for God in all, is the essence of spiritual law for man’s salvation.

He is the true devotee who prays to God: “Lord, naughty or good, I am Thy child; You made me in Your image, I may have been naughty, but that is when Your child needs You even more.”  “God, I love You.”

When the love of God fills one’s being, it embraces everyone in a universal consciousness of love, service, and compassion.

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”

                                                         First Epistle of St. John 4:7—8

 

But he, willingly to justify himself, said unto Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?”

And Jesus answering said, “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving  him half dead.  And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.  But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came when he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his breast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, “Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.’  Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?”

And he said, “He that shewed mercy on him.”

Then said Jesus unto him, “Go, and do thou likewise.”      Luke 10:29—37

Jesus said: A Good Samaritan understands one’s duty to serve and give aid to others. Human life is short and one must do whatever one can do in that limited time period. Even Jesus said that he came mostly to minister the needs of a certain segment of people during his limited time period.

The Levites were members of the priestly tribe descended from Moses; brother Aaron, or those assigned ceremonial temple fuctions by the priests. Jesus supported the scriptural command to “Honour thy father and mother” but love God supremely. Time should be utilized to its best advantage my meditation.

Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.  And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.  But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, “Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?  Bid her therefore that she help me.”
And Jesus answered and said unto her, “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”                Luke  10:38—42

Jesus said: Martha and Mary are both sisters. Martha was interested in material duties. Mary was interested and hence withdrawn from worldly duties. She was doing spiritual duties. Jesus extols the better part of God alone chosen by Mary.  Spiritual aspirant reaches perfection. He/she serves with a devoted heart. He/she desires to serve both God and man both. As such He/she receives quickly enlightenment and divine grace.