Matthew 22:34-46
34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: 42 “What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying, 44‘ The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”’? 45 If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?” 46 No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
"Action Reveals the Nature of Love"
Matthew continues to tell us about how Jesus' authority is questioned. His opponents are trying to trap Him in order to make people doubt His Messianic Personality and strip Him of His credibility.
Verse 34 suggests that Jesus was exposed to a challenge from the Sadducees and He silenced them. The Pharisees return to try Him again, but this time about the most important commandment.
We know that the Pharisees believe that God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. These were extended by the priests and elders into 613 commands, 365 negative commands (corresponding to the number of days in the solar year) and 248 positive commands. (Babylonian Talmud, Makkot 23 b.) Which one is the greatest?
Jesus is, as usual, very human in His reaction. He doesn't argue about the number of commandments or who multiplied their number. He just responds to the heart of the question in v. 37-40. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38This is the greatest and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Let us read the text in depth, reflect upon:
- ALL your heart, ALL your soul and ALL your mind;
- Love God first and, as we love God in response to His love, He lives in us. Then we can love our neighbor as God loves us through Christ;
- God's love is active and should be manifest through our love to our neighbor. "Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen." 1 John 4:20;
- God is one and so Love is one. If we love, All our heart, All our soul and All our mind should be in full harmony with God's Love;
- Great are those who give priority to God's love and can say with St. Paul, "I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." Galatians 2:20; and
- Faithful Love is a commitment with constant confidence.
Let us ask the Lord to grant us the grace of being faithful to His Love and to do our best to love our neighbor.
