When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
they gathered together, and one of them,
a scholar of the law, tested him by asking,
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
The Pharisees probably expected to hear something clever, which they could pick apart. They would then not only expose Jesus to be the fraud they believed him to be, but also prove their superiority over the Sadducees who had been silenced by him. Jesus answered them in a way that left them no room whatever to assert their superiority.
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.
The response of Jesus was something so simple, so basic to the Jewish faith, that it left no room for argument. Yet to the complicated this response can seem too simple. Isn't there more that is needed in addition to simply loving God and neighbor? Won't the world fall apart if these are our only concerns to the exclusion of all others? How could the whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments which had thus far been unable to set the world aright?
If we insist the more is needed it is because we have never truly loved with all of our heart, soul, and mind. Those leftover bits that remain in our control are the things that seem to be missing, things which the commandments appear to omit. But they only appear neglected because we are still clinging to them instead of God. Because we see the parts of ourselves that are trying to manage these errata rather than looking at God we do not see the ways in which ordering our lives toward him orders all the rest in turn.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (see Matthew 6:33).
In order to respond to and understand what Jesus is telling us, that we must put love of God and neighbor above all else, we cannot continue to be fragmented. It is as though are bones are scattered across the plain. Bones separated from bones cannot act as they are meant to act. Hearts divided do not have the full power of life within them. What then do we do? One response which is clearly impossible is for our own bones to pull themselves back into place. We need the word of God to make us able to live again.
Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones:
See! I will bring spirit into you, that you may come to life.
I will put sinews upon you, make flesh grow over you,
cover you with skin, and put spirit in you
so that you may come to life and know that I am the LORD.
It is more than ourselves, properly ordered, that makes us truly alive. Even with every piece in place from a natural point of view, we do not experience true life until we are filled with the Spirit.
Prophesy to the spirit, prophesy, son of man,
and say to the spirit: Thus says the Lord GOD
From the four winds come, O spirit,
and breathe into these slain that they may come to life.
So let us pray to hear the word and to be filled with the Spirit, so that we can live as we were meant to live. Jesus is clear: we are meant to live for of love.
They cried to the LORD in their distress;
from their straits he rescued them.
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