20150313 No Commandment Greater than These

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” 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. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”
The scribe repeats it agreeing with Jesus that it is the first of all the commandments when he said “Well said, teacher. You are right ….” And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding, he said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
Even though Jesus had harsh words for the Scribes and Pharisees, Jesus could tell that this person before him was really seeking the truth. That is why Jesus told him that he was close to the Kingdom of God.
Yesterday, Jeremiah talked about the lack of faithfulness and sincerity to God. Even for the faithful, little things creep into our lives that affect our sincerity toward others which eventually affects our sincerity to God. Today, Jesus leaves no doubt about what it takes to serve God. The Scribe, a Doctor of the Law, asked Jesus which was first of all the commandments.
Jesus gave him a very detailed list. Love your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. This takes care of the entire body: the heart takes care of the physical, the soul the spiritual, the mind the mental and the strength the things which we are passionate about – the emotions.
But Jesus did not stop after he stated the first of all the commandments; he then gave the path for action to share our love for God through our neighbor. When we love God with our whole being, we just naturally share that love with others.
In the Gospel Jesus said “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Sometimes, we can get discouraged and depressed. We may even feel that we are worthless or unworthy. When we love God with our whole being, we will love ourselves and every one we meet. We will respect each person for their human dignity for we are all made in the image of God. And it is obvious to others that God’s love dwells within us in how we treat others; whether it is a stranger, a family member or a close friend.
The world is torn apart by our inability to love each other and treat each person with respect. That is obvious by the turmoil in Ferguson Missouri, the racist chants on college campuses and the hatred that ISIS has for others – Muslins as well as Christians.
We need to pray for peace in our world, to pray for the aggressors and persecutors of the Christians, for the racist (regardless of their color) in our country and for the unrest and turmoil in our families.
We must love God with our whole being and our neighbor as ourselves so that we too, like the scribe, can be close to the Kingdom of God.

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