Hebrews 3:1-13 - Making the choice for Jesus

Towards the end of his life, Moses gathered the people together and recounted to them all that God had done for them. He also repeated the laws, rules, and requirements that God had laid down for the people to follow. Finally, Moses said to the people in Deuteronomy 30:19-20:

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the LORD swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

And in this final exhortation from Moses to the people, the key word is "choose". Make a choice in the direction you will take. Don't go through your life stuck between the call of the world and the call of God. Reflect on your past life. Reflect on God's activity in your life. Reflect on God's provision. God's protection. God's judgment. God's commands, and "choose life".

Going on we find in Joshua 24 that the people have received their inheritance in Canaan. But Joshua, the one who had led them through it all, is now an old man, and he knows that he will soon die. So he calls the elders, leaders, judges, and officials together, and he reminds them of all that God had done for them, from the call of Abraham through to their deliverance from Egypt. How they wandered in the desert because of their refusal to trust God and take the land, and how God later enabled them to enter the promised land and possess it. And in Joshua 24:15, practically on his deathbed, Joshua issues them a challenge.

Now if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.

Now the elders, leaders, judges, and officials turn around and say, "we will serve the Lord". But Joshua challenges them again in Joshua 24:19:

You cannot serve the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.

But the elders, leaders, judges, and officials reply and say in verse twenty-one:

No, we will serve the LORD!

That is our choice. That is our decision. We will not abandon the Lord as our ancestors did in the desert. We will serve the Lord.

Life is filled with choices. And the choices that we make today, will impact upon everything in the future.

I sometimes look back on my life and think, "I wish that I hadn't joined the Navy. I wish that I had gone on to university and become an accountant like my dad wanted me to".

But then, if I hadn't joined the Navy, I never would have come to Australia. If I hadn't come to Australia, I never would have met Stephanie. If I hadn't met Stephanie, we would never have gotten married. If I hadn't married her, I wouldn't have migrated to Australia. If I hadn't migrated to Australia, I wouldn't be here, in this church, today. The choices we make today, even those that look small and insignificant, change everything in our future.

The choices that we make today are important, and so Moses challenged the people to "choose life". Joshua challenged the people to "choose to serve the Lord". And the choices they made, changed everything.

Going on, we read in 1 Kings 18 about the prophet Elijah. At his command, the land had gone through three and a half years of drought, and because of this, he was a wanted man. At the end of this period he challenges the prophets of Baal and the prophets of Asherah to meet him on Mount Carmel so that they could finally have it out.

After the prophets of Baal and Asherah spend all day dancing and crying out to their gods to send fire from heaven to consume their offering, nothing happens. Elijah then calls the people together, and he speaks to them. And there on Mount Carmel he challenges a people who, for years, had had a foot in both camps. A people who were trying to serve both Baal, and the Lord. A people who sought to worship the god of another land, as well as the God of Israel, and in 1 Kings 18:21, Elijah stood before the people and said:

How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.

But as we continue to read in that same verse, the writer of Kings says:

The people did not answer him a word.

The people made no choice. Well, not yet anyway. But they were called upon to make a choice. A choice to decide who they would serve, trust, follow, and honour with their lives.

Choose whom you will serve.

In Psalm 95:1-7a the psalm writer praises God for his salvation, saying:

O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.

The sea is his, for he made it, and the dry land, which his hands have formed.

O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!

For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

He praises God in song, and he encourages, he invites others to join him in praising God in song, just as we have been praising God in song here this morning. But then he continues by saying in Psalm 95:7b-11, in a passage that is quoted in our reading today in Hebrews 3:

O that today you would listen to his voice!

Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your ancestors tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my ways.”

Therefore, in my anger I swore, “They shall not enter my rest.”

It is easy to sing songs of praise, but the writer of Psalm 95 is also calling on people to make a choice. A choice of whom they will serve. Whom they will follow. How they will live. He says, "Choose. And choose today."

Jesus said in Luke 16:13:

No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

No one can serve two masters. And it doesn't matter if that other thing that we try to serve is possessions, power, popularity, patriotism, or fill in the blank with whatever other thing we might desire, Jesus said that we cannot serve them both. And because we cannot serve them both, we have to make a choice.

Moses, Joshua, Elijah, the Psalms, and Jesus; they all challenge us to the same thing: "make a choice". Decide.

Which way are you going to go with your life? Which way are you going to go with your worship? What will you believe? Who will you trust? Who will you follow? "Choose", make a choice. And, as Psalm 95 says, make that choice "today".

The first ten chapters of Hebrews contain that same challenge. A challenge to a group of Christians who are thinking of turning from Christ back to Judaism. Turning from the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, to the sacrifice of sheep and bulls in the temple, and our writer is challenging them to make a choice. He says to them, "Which way will you choose"? The way of Moses and the law? Or the way of Christ and grace?

You must make a choice because you can't have both. You cannot rely on the grace of Christ and the law of Moses. You cannot rely on the sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifices in the temple. You cannot rely on the high priesthood of Christ and on the high priest in the tabernacle. It is either one, or it is the other. It cannot be both.

The writer of Hebrews challenges them in these first ten chapters to "make a choice", and in these ten chapters you can hear the voice of Moses, "choose life".

You can hear the voice of Joshua, "choose this day whom you will serve".

You can hear the voice of Elijah, "how long will you limp between two opinions".

You can hear the voice of Jesus crying out to us, "no one can serve two masters".

So far in Hebrews, the writer has been preparing us to make that choice. So far he has shown us that Jesus is greater than the prophets and greater than the angels. He has shown us that Jesus is totally God. And he has shown us that Jesus was human.

But when he begins chapter 3 by comparing Jesus and Moses, he is challenging his readers to think, "Which of these two is worth following?" Which of these two is worth giving our lives to, and giving our lives for?

This is where the challenge to make a choice will come for this group of Jewish Christians who are contemplating returning to the law. For it is one thing to say that Jesus is greater than the prophets, it is something else again to say that Jesus is greater than Moses. It is one thing to say that Jesus is greater than angels, it is something else again to say that Jesus is greater than Moses.

Moses talked with God face to face. Moses led them out of Egypt. Moses gave them the law. Moses led them through the desert. Through Moses, God provided food, water, security, and direction. Through Moses, the people heard the voice of God. And through Moses, God heard the voice of the people.

And so, for this group of Jewish Christians, here is where the challenge really comes. Will we give our greatest loyalty, love, service, and devotion to Moses, and to the way of Moses? Or will we give our greatest loyalty, love, service, and devotion, to Jesus, and to the way of Jesus?

This is where all of his discussion up to now has been leading us. Later on in his letter he will show us that Jesus is greater than Aaron. He will show that Jesus, as our great High Priest, is greater than the high priesthood of Aaron and his sons. Later on in his letter he will show us that the sacrifice of Christ is greater and has a greater and longer lasting impact and benefit than the sacrifices that are performed in the tabernacle.

But before he can get there, he has to show that Jesus is greater than Moses. For by showing us that Jesus is greater than Moses, he prepares the way for showing that Jesus, and what Jesus has done, is greater than everything that Moses did.

First of all, he says that both Jesus and Moses are "faithful". Hebrews 3:2 tells us:

[Jesus] was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses also “was faithful in all God’s house.”

If God calls us to be "faithful" to his leading, guidance, and call, then the author of Hebrews acknowledges the fact that both Moses and Jesus have been "faithful". They both did what God wanted. They both went where God commanded. They both proclaimed God's word to the people. They were both "faithful", and yet verse three tells us that:

Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.

Why? Why does Jesus, who is faithful, have "greater honour", than Moses, who was also "faithful"? He doesn't say that Moses was "unfaithful", even though Exodus and Numbers show times when Moses did fail to trust God completely. But he says that although both Moses and Jesus are faithful, Jesus is worthy of "greater honour" than Moses. Why?

He says in verse three that Jesus is worthy of greater honour than Moses because the "builder" of a house has greater honour than the "house" itself, and God is the "builder" of all things. And as the builder of all things, God is worthy of greater honour than the things that he creates.

Now, do you remember back in chapter one when the author went to such lengths to prove to us that Jesus is God? Hebrews 1:2-3 said:

In these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds.

He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Then in Hebrews 1:5:

For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”?

God the Father says to him in Hebrews 1:8:

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous sceptre is the sceptre of your kingdom.

And again, in Hebrews 1:10:

In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

Each of these passages were teaching us, and reinforcing for us the reality that Jesus was not only a man, but Jesus is also God, the creator of all things, who became a man.

And that leads us to this statement in Hebrews 3:3-4 that Christ is worthy of greater honour than Moses, just as the builder has greater honour than the house that is built. Christ is the builder of all things, and being the builder, being God, Christ is worthy of greater honour than Moses; and being worthy of greater honour than Moses, they of necessity needed to listen to Jesus, follow Jesus, and give their loyalty and devotion to Jesus.

In Mark 9, Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on to a mountain to pray. While they were there, they saw Jesus speaking with both Moses and Elijah. Peter was both excited and frightened by all of this, and so he wanted to build three "shelters", one each for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, and by building three shelters, Peter was wanting to honour each of these three, equally. And by honouring each "equally", he was saying that they were worthy of "equal" honour. But Mark 9:7 says:

A cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”

Listen to the son, not Moses and Elijah.
Follow the son, not Moses and Elijah.
Honour the son, not Moses and Elijah.
Worship the son, not Moses and Elijah.

He is worthy of greater honour because he is the builder of all things. Therefore honour him in every way.

And going on in Hebrews 3:5 we read that "Moses was faithful in God's house" as a servant, while Christ, according to verse six, is shown to be faithful as a son "over" God's house. In charge of God's house. Ruling God's house. The "builder" of God's house.

Yes, both Jesus and Moses were "faithful". But there was a status within the house, Moses as a servant, but Christ as a son, that shows us which should be esteemed as having greater honour, greater glory, and which should be more deserving of our loyalty and our attention.

Which of these two should we choose to honour? The servant, who was in the house, or the son, who both built the house, and who is "over", in charge of, the house?

And through these first three chapters of Hebrews, our author, having made his case about the greatness of Jesus and his superiority over prophets, Angels, and even his superiority over the great man, Moses; to this group who were drifting away from the "apostle and high priest whom we confess", he gives them the warning of Psalm 95:

Today . . . if you hear his voice.

"Today . . . if you hear his voice", make a choice.

Will you turn back to that which is inferior and cannot cleanse or save? Will you harden your hearts as your ancestors did and turn away from the Living God? Will you refuse to enter into all of God's promises, into God's "rest", through unbelief? Or will you follow the Son, the creator, the sustainer, the one who became a man, our great high priest? The one who said, "come to me . . . and I will give you rest".

He says to them, "what will you choose"?

Now, some here may think that this doesn't apply to them. After all, we aren't going to turn to Judaism. Really? How often do people say, "we need to keep the Ten Commandments"? As Christians, we sometimes try to have it both ways. "You have to obey the Ten Commandments". But as soon as we say that, what we are saying is: "I choose, law".

Some years ago, there was a trend among some Christians which said, "we need to keep the feasts of the Old Testament". The feast of Tabernacles. Passover. Firstfruits, and so on. This was, of course, part of what was happening in the church in Colossae. But Paul showed them that what they were saying is: "I choose, law."

In the churches in Galatia, they were saying that they needed to turn to circumcision. But Paul said that in so doing, they were "choosing law” and rejecting "grace".

What is the way of Jesus? The way of Jesus is to "love one another".

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.[1]

And this is repeated by Peter, John, and then by Paul in Romans 13:8:

Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

"He has fulfilled the law". In other words, if I love my neighbour, then I have automatically done what the law commanded. But I have done it, not because it was a "rule to be followed", but because it was the response of love.

If I truly loved my neighbour, I would never steal from him. I would never lie to him. I would never cheat on my spouse, by trying to seduce his spouse. If I truly loved my neighbour, I would never seek to kill my neighbour. And I would never be jealous or envious of how God has blessed him. And I would respond to my neighbour in this way not because of a set of rules that told me I "had to", but because of a response of love to the love which we have received in Christ.

Likewise, if I truly loved God, I would never have idols. I would never use the name of God in vain. I would never have other gods before him. And I would make sure that I slowed down for times of worship. But again, I would do this not because of rules laid down, but because of love.

The Ten Commandments are good, but only if we see them not as rules to be obeyed, but as the outward expression of what genuine love for God and our neighbour looks like, and this would be the fulfilment of what Jesus said in Mark 12:30-31:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. [And] you shall love your neighbour as yourself.

Or as Paul said in Romans 13:10:

Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

We have not been called from sin into salvation so that we might again follow Moses and the law. Instead, we have been called to follow Christ.

We have not been called to follow capitalism, Marxism, communism, feminism, social activism, monarchism, or republicanism. We have been called to follow Christ.

We have not been called to follow Calvinism, Arminianism, fundamentalism, liberalism, or evangelicalism. We have been called to follow Christ.

We have not been called to follow the latest author, speaker, teacher, or TV personality. We have been called to follow Christ.

We have not been called to devote our lives to making money, advancement, or the accumulation of material possessions. We have been called to follow Christ.

We have not been called to follow the latest trends or fads in worship or evangelism. We have been called to follow Christ. For when these things become a substitute for Christ, or take the place of Christ, or become more important than Christ, then we have placed ourselves in the same position that this group of believers in the first century placed themselves. A place where they began to move away from Christ.

And if we find ourselves in that position, then we need to "hear his voice", and hear it "Today". We must not allow our hearts to be hardened. We need to encourage one another and be encouraged by one another in the life of faith. Through listening to the voice of the Spirit, and through mutual encouragement, we must not allow ourselves to be "hardened by the deceitfulness of sin".

This is where these people were. They were at a crossroads. And here was our author, standing like Jeremiah at those crossroads, and pointing them to the "good way", and telling them to walk in the good way, and assuring them that they will find rest for their souls.[2]

Just as Moses stood there and told the people to "choose life".

Just as Joshua challenged the people to serve the Lord.

Just as Elijah told the people to make a choice.

So also, our writer is telling us today, "choose". "Choose Christ". The son of God. The saviour of the world.

What are you choosing? Which direction are you going?

The way of life? Or the way of death?

The way of Grace? Or the way of law?

The way of God? Or the way of the world?

Choose today the way of Christ and find that "rest" that God has promised to us. The "rest" that Jesus came to give us, and which he invites us to receive.

Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.[3]

[1] John 13:34

[2] Jeremiah 6:16

[3] Matthew 11:28

Hebrews 3:1-13 - Making the choice for Jesus

Towards the end of his life, Moses gathered the people together and recounted to them all that God had done for them. He also repeated the laws, rules, and requirements that God had laid down for the people to follow. Finally, Moses said to the people in Deuteronomy 30:19-20:

Now if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.

Now the elders, leaders, judges, and officials turn around and say, "we will serve the Lord". But Joshua challenges them again in Joshua 24:19:

You cannot serve the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.

But the elders, leaders, judges, and officials reply and say in verse twenty-one:

No, we will serve the LORD!

That is our choice. That is our decision. We will not abandon the Lord as our ancestors did in the desert. We will serve the Lord.

Life is filled with choices. And the choices that we make today, will impact upon everything in the future.

I sometimes look back on my life and think, "I wish that I hadn't joined the Navy. I wish that I had gone on to university and become an accountant like my dad wanted me to".

The choices that we make today are important, and so Moses challenged the people to "choose life". Joshua challenged the people to "choose to serve the Lord". And the choices they made, changed everything.

How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.

But as we continue to read in that same verse, the writer of Kings says:

The people did not answer him a word.

The people made no choice. Well, not yet anyway. But they were called upon to make a choice. A choice to decide who they would serve, trust, follow, and honour with their lives.

Choose whom you will serve.

In Psalm 95:1-7a the psalm writer praises God for his salvation, saying:

O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.

The sea is his, for he made it, and the dry land, which his hands have formed.

O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!

For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

He praises God in song, and he encourages, he invites others to join him in praising God in song, just as we have been praising God in song here this morning. But then he continues by saying in Psalm 95:7b-11, in a passage that is quoted in our reading today in Hebrews 3:

O that today you would listen to his voice!

Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your ancestors tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my ways.”

Therefore, in my anger I swore, “They shall not enter my rest.”

It is easy to sing songs of praise, but the writer of Psalm 95 is also calling on people to make a choice. A choice of whom they will serve. Whom they will follow. How they will live. He says, "Choose. And choose today."

Jesus said in Luke 16:13:

No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

Moses, Joshua, Elijah, the Psalms, and Jesus; they all challenge us to the same thing: "make a choice". Decide.

Which way are you going to go with your life? Which way are you going to go with your worship? What will you believe? Who will you trust? Who will you follow? "Choose", make a choice. And, as Psalm 95 says, make that choice "today".

The writer of Hebrews challenges them in these first ten chapters to "make a choice", and in these ten chapters you can hear the voice of Moses, "choose life".

You can hear the voice of Joshua, "choose this day whom you will serve".

You can hear the voice of Elijah, "how long will you limp between two opinions".

You can hear the voice of Jesus crying out to us, "no one can serve two masters".

So far in Hebrews, the writer has been preparing us to make that choice. So far he has shown us that Jesus is greater than the prophets and greater than the angels. He has shown us that Jesus is totally God. And he has shown us that Jesus was human.

But when he begins chapter 3 by comparing Jesus and Moses, he is challenging his readers to think, "Which of these two is worth following?" Which of these two is worth giving our lives to, and giving our lives for?

Moses talked with God face to face. Moses led them out of Egypt. Moses gave them the law. Moses led them through the desert. Through Moses, God provided food, water, security, and direction. Through Moses, the people heard the voice of God. And through Moses, God heard the voice of the people.

And so, for this group of Jewish Christians, here is where the challenge really comes. Will we give our greatest loyalty, love, service, and devotion to Moses, and to the way of Moses? Or will we give our greatest loyalty, love, service, and devotion, to Jesus, and to the way of Jesus?

But before he can get there, he has to show that Jesus is greater than Moses. For by showing us that Jesus is greater than Moses, he prepares the way for showing that Jesus, and what Jesus has done, is greater than everything that Moses did.

First of all, he says that both Jesus and Moses are "faithful". Hebrews 3:2 tells us:

[Jesus] was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses also “was faithful in all God’s house.”

Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.

He says in verse three that Jesus is worthy of greater honour than Moses because the "builder" of a house has greater honour than the "house" itself, and God is the "builder" of all things. And as the builder of all things, God is worthy of greater honour than the things that he creates.

Now, do you remember back in chapter one when the author went to such lengths to prove to us that Jesus is God? Hebrews 1:2-3 said:

In these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds.

He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Then in Hebrews 1:5:

For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”?

God the Father says to him in Hebrews 1:8:

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous sceptre is the sceptre of your kingdom.

And again, in Hebrews 1:10:

In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

Each of these passages were teaching us, and reinforcing for us the reality that Jesus was not only a man, but Jesus is also God, the creator of all things, who became a man.

A cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”

Listen to the son, not Moses and Elijah.

Follow the son, not Moses and Elijah.

Honour the son, not Moses and Elijah.

Worship the son, not Moses and Elijah.

He is worthy of greater honour because he is the builder of all things. Therefore honour him in every way.

And going on in Hebrews 3:5 we read that "Moses was faithful in God's house" as a servant, while Christ, according to verse six, is shown to be faithful as a son "over" God's house. In charge of God's house. Ruling God's house. The "builder" of God's house.

Yes, both Jesus and Moses were "faithful". But there was a status within the house, Moses as a servant, but Christ as a son, that shows us which should be esteemed as having greater honour, greater glory, and which should be more deserving of our loyalty and our attention.

Which of these two should we choose to honour? The servant, who was in the house, or the son, who both built the house, and who is "over", in charge of, the house?

Today . . . if you hear his voice.

"Today . . . if you hear his voice", make a choice.

He says to them, "what will you choose"?

In the churches in Galatia, they were saying that they needed to turn to circumcision. But Paul said that in so doing, they were "choosing law” and rejecting "grace".

What is the way of Jesus? The way of Jesus is to "love one another".

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.[1]

And this is repeated by Peter, John, and then by Paul in Romans 13:8:

Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

"He has fulfilled the law". In other words, if I love my neighbour, then I have automatically done what the law commanded. But I have done it, not because it was a "rule to be followed", but because it was the response of love.

Likewise, if I truly loved God, I would never have idols. I would never use the name of God in vain. I would never have other gods before him. And I would make sure that I slowed down for times of worship. But again, I would do this not because of rules laid down, but because of love.

The Ten Commandments are good, but only if we see them not as rules to be obeyed, but as the outward expression of what genuine love for God and our neighbour looks like, and this would be the fulfilment of what Jesus said in Mark 12:30-31:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. [And] you shall love your neighbour as yourself.

Or as Paul said in Romans 13:10:

Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.