There is so much to the law. It seems like it is impossible to distill it all down to any one thing. It seems like trying to do so might render it unrecognizable. The scholar is asking to test him. He might not even believe an answer is possible. He might be trying to silence Jesus the same way Jesus silenced the Sadducees.
But as it turns out there is an answer. It is deceptively simple:
He said to him,
"You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
It all boils down to love. All of the sacraments, symbols, liturgies, canon law, music, and indeed all the aspects of the Church are about love at the core. They exist so that we can be filled with love for God and love for our neighbor. They exist so that we can live out that love. Yet even though it is simple to say, it is difficult to put into concrete practice. The LORD is insistent that if neglect the widow, the orphan, or our poor neighbors then something fundamental is missing:
If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him? (cf. 1 Joh. 3:17).
We are called to love not in word or speech but in deed and truth (cf. 1 Joh. 3:18). We are called to be doers of the word and not hearers only (cf. Jam. 1:22). The disadvantaged have a claim on our excess (yikes) and "If he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate."
We know that we don't love as we ought. Difficult to put into concrete practice? For man this is impossible, but not for God (cf. Mat. 19:26). We are reluctant. We give up things that don't matter, things that are not asked of us. We cling to our desires even when God is calling us to let them go for others. We won't let go of these things because what would we even be without them? We define ourselves with them. We find that we are still at the center of our own lives and that God is at the peripheries. We need transformation.
It turns out that love of God must precede love of neighbor. And his love for us always precedes our love for him. We express the love of God whom we cannot see by loving the neighbor whom we can see. But we do not have the power to do this until we are transformed by God's own love and initiative. We need to receive "the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit". The word needs to penetrate us deeply. It can't be superficial. It needs to cut us to the heart so that we can become a model for all believers just like the Thessalonians. Let's be honest, talking about the claim the disadvantaged have on us doesn't inspire joy on a natural level. So what are we to do? Where does this transformation come from?
We have this transformation first in baptism. But from then on we need to let it define us. We need to continue to let God by first, to let his anointing guide us.
"As for you, the anointing that you received from him remains in you, so that you do not need anyone to teach you. But his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not false; just as it taught you, remain in him" (Cf. 1 Joh. 2:27). There is nothing to fear, "For everyone born of God overcomes the world" (cf. 1. Joh. 5:4). This is baptism. In it we first overcome the world. But ultimate victory means living from that anointing, living our faith, because "This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith" (cf. 1 Joh. 5:4).
The anointing allows us to realize that, after all, "all that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life, is not from the Father but is from the world" and all of that is passing away (cf. 1 Joh. 2:16-17). God's love for us and his anointing allow us to realize the truth of this. It makes us free to love him and love our neighbor the way we should.
I love you, Lord, my strength.
I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
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