Gospel: The Greatest Commandment

Today is the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time and the Gospel proclamation for the Eucharistic celebration will be lifted according to St Matthew (tap here for the today's complete Mass from USCCB).

This week's Gospel follows close behind the Gospel read last Sunday. It is the last of three questions put to Jesus by the Jewish religious leaders who are trying to trick him into saying something that might get him arrested. This reminds us that the context for today's reading is the mounting tension between Jesus and the religious leaders in Jerusalem.

The Herodians and the Pharisees asked the first question, which was about taxes. The Sadducees asked the second question, which was about the Resurrection (see Matthew 22:23-33). The third question, considered in today's Gospel, is asked by a Pharisee who asks Jesus about the greatest of the commandments.

The question requires Jesus to interpret the Law of Moses. The Mosaic Law consists of the Ten Commandments and many additional rules, numbering to over six hundred. Adherence to Mosaic Law, for a devout Jew, is an expression of faithfulness to God's covenant to Israel (Christians refer to this covenant with the Jews as the "Old Testament"). The ranking of the Commandments was regularly debated among the teachers of the Law.

Jesus answers the Pharisee's question with a two-fold summary. Jesus says that all of the commandments can be summarized into two: love God and love your neighbor. Both of these were central elements of the religious tradition Jesus learned from his Jewish community. Indeed, these continue to be central aspects of contemporary Jewish religious understanding. Jesus' response to his questioners proposed an integral connection between these two aspects of Jewish law: Our love of God finds its expression in our love for our neighbor.

x-----------x

Picture from Pexels.