One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
"Which is the first of all the commandments?"
The scribe seemed genuinely interested to hear the answer Jesus would give. He wasn't asking a question that he believed was impossible to answer in order to entrap Jesus as so many had done. Perhaps he was tired the various precepts of the law opposed to one another in whatever way was convenient to individuals at the moment they spoke. The Pharisees always seem to have the law ready at hand to justify they attitudes and actions. Yet their hearts seemed far removed from God. Perhaps there was a better way to understand morality, one that could not be abused by the ego for the sake of self-justification.
Jesus replied, "The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
On the one hand, citing the Shema did not seem that surprising. It was, after all, literally the first commandment of the Decalogue. But was it enough to summarize everything about the Law? After all, the Pharisees were able to use the law as a convenient excuse to neglect even the love of their own parents (see Mark 7:11). They would be the first people to get all of the rituals right, to celebrate to the letter all of the appropriate liturgies, neglecting no sacrifice or burnt offering. Was the Shema a sufficient answer to the question of the scribe?
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.
Jesus seemed to think that the only way to give a complete answer to the scribe's question was to cite both the Shema and this commandment. This was not so much because two separate and unrelated statements were needed to cover everything as because they were in fact two aspects of the same thing. Loving God necessarily implied also loving those whom he created in the way he himself wanted them to be loved. Loving neighbor necessarily implied loving them in reference to their ultimate origin and destiny in God. Loving God and hating one's neighbor was in fact a contradiction.
If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen (see First John 4:20).
This must be the reason why the Matthean parallel says "the second is like it" (see Matthew 22:39). It was not merely filling in pieces the first commandment missed. It was uniquely similar to it in a way surpassing all of the other commandments. Once this was understood the whole hierarchy of the law follows naturally. This kind of love was worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices because those were meant to be based on a true love of God and neighbor. The most perfect sacrifice, that of Jesus on the cross, most perfectly embodied both of these aspects. Jesus was motivated both by a loving obedience to his Father as well as a loving desire to offer himself for the salvation of the world.
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
"You are not far from the kingdom of God."
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
The scribe agreed with Jesus. But it was not enough to agree with Jesus to enter the kingdom of God. He would need to actually embody what Jesus said. He would actually need to apply his heart, soul, mind, and strength, all that he was, to putting it into practice. This, we know, is easier said than done. It was no doubt the reason why no one dared to ask Jesus any more questions. But it is interesting that there was something hidden in the answer of Jesus that actually made less unapproachable. The basis of love of neighbor was the fact that God loved them, rather than some arbitrary duty or decision on our part. This meant his love for us preceded any love we might show him or one another. "We love because he first loved us" (see John 4:19). And this meant we never need to imagine ourselves striving and struggling alone.
Therefore, he is always able to save those who approach God through him,
since he lives forever to make intercession for them.
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