Today we have gathered together on 30th Sunday of the ordinary time and heard from the Gospel of Mathew chapter 22. We find the same text in the Gospel according to St. Mark also. In the Gospel of Mark it is the question of the first commandment and in the gospel of Mathew the greatest commandment as we heard from todays Gospel. Pharisees asked Jesus: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” The hearers of St Mark were mainly pagan Christians who among the Greek and Roman population got baptised and became Christians. The hearers of Mathew were the Jewish Christians.
With the question about the first commandment or the greatest and the most important commandment the Pharisees wanted to set Jesus in a trap. But Jesus answered their questions from their own Jewish law and Jewish Bible.
Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy, the Jewish book of law and from the book of the Levites, the third book of Moses on priesthood and priestly duties, both belonging to Pentateuch, the five books of Moses and answered them from their own books.
We heard today in Gospel reading: „One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Dtn 6, 5 and Lev 19,18).
Perhaps we could accept immediately the commandment to love God. But the manifold ways of love and the manifold practice of love towards many different objects and subjects of love make this commandment complicit. Love of God, loving oneself, love of relatives, loving the neighbours, love of the foreigners, love of friends or colleagues are different and it makes the commandment difficult. For example love of neighbour as one loves itself is a very difficult commandment. We all have experienced the problems and difficulties of it in one way or another.
Jesus gives his own life as example. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (Jn 13:34-35). To follow the example of Jesus is also not that easy, if we want to follow him really. Jesus loved and supported the outcasts, sinners, poor, homeless, refugees, marginalised or socially weak people very much. Jesus loved such people as he loved himself.
Although it is not easy for this commandment to love God and to love our fellow humans we could try to understand Jesus and accept the meaning of this commandment even if we may not be able to practice it in its full sense. At least we could make a small beginning and a little progress in its practice. Let us start today itself. Let us begin to follow the example of Jesus. Let us begin to live people among us and around us and start to love God by loving our neighbour.
Fr Joseph Pandiappallil MCBS