SCRIPTURE: Matthew 22:35-40 – One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “’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.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
COMMENTARY: We won’t spend too much time on this idea that Jesus was being questioned al l the time at this point in his ministry about all the minutia in the Law. There were honest seekers, but most often these are traps laid to get Jesus to say the wrong thing. Jesus always turns it around on the trap setters and challenges their hearts in order to engage them back into the work of the kingdom and not just the protection of the laws of the kingdom.
There were so many laws to cover – hundreds. How do you choose which one is the most important law? Which would you choose as the most important one? Jesus not only selects the most important, but the second one and then ties it up in a nice package by saying that all the laws and the teaching of the following prophets have these at their heart.
All of our religious rules and laws can be of a great benefit in leading us to obedience, but only if they reflect these two laws at their heart. Loving God first immediately leads us to loving others. This should be our basis and motivation. (see 1 John 4:19)
REFLECTION: What are some characteristics of people who love God? Why is the second commandment to love others “like” the first one? Is the Lord beautiful to you? (see Psalm 27:4 & Psalm 63:1, 3) What do you think of the statement, “We only love God as much as the person we love the least.”?
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