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 said to him, "Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, 'He is One and there is no other than he.'
And 'to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself' is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
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.
Source: https://dailygospel.org/M/AM/
Analysis
This passage describes the core message of Christianity as Jesus puts it Himself. If one wishes to read a short biblical passage to understand what is supposed the core teaching of Christ without having to read the entire Gospel, let alone all the other books, then this is the right passage to read. Here, a scribe asked Jesus of the first, or most important and highest order of teachings within the Torah, or as described in this passage, the commandments. Jesus then answered that it is this, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." And the second commandment, which is just as important as this is, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
The scribe then praised Jesus for that saying, even going so far to call Jesus "teacher", and the scribe reaffirms what Jesus has said. He added that those two commandments are worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. Jesus saw that the scribe had understood what Jesus wishes to say, and praised him by saying that the scribe is not far from the kingdom of God. Now, why did I say that this passage summarizes the core message of Christianity, or if it is corrupted, then the core message of Christ? Pay attention to what Jesus said, He clearly stated that the most important command is to love God and to love others, your fellow humans. Neighbor here simply means fellow humans. And the rest of the part of the command to love God simply means to love God completely.
While the commands are very straight forward and is not presented in a metaphor, it does not mean that we can not analyze this passage any further. Notice that Jesus said that no other commandment is greater than the two commandments, we can then infer that these two commandments are equal in degree. This tells one thing, that we can not prioritize one commandment over the other, we can't love God without loving our neighbor nor can we love our neighbor without loving God. If we remember our concept of God, this fits very well, since God encompasses everyone, if we wish to love our neighbors we must love God, if we wish to love God we must love our neighbors. Notice as well how it says that we must love our neighbors as we love ourselves, or as if our neighbors is ourselves. This message is both metaphoric and literal, as in our understanding of God, we are all the same entity, as such, loving others would mean loving ourselves as well and so on.
The scribe then showed incredible wisdom, by saying that loving God and your neighbors is worth more than burnt offerings and sacrifices. While I have a feeling that the scribe is simply saying it to impress Jesus, but the fact that Jesus answered positively, the scribe may be sincere in saying it. So what is the implications of the scribe's words? If we compare it to the context of modern day religions, including the religion that is supposedly based on the Gospel, it means that loving God and loving your neighbors is so much more important than any ritual or traditions. This includes devotional prayers and even the Eucharist, or perhaps sacraments. If in any case, such traditions and rituals are in the way of fulfilling the two most important commandments, we must prioritize the two first, that is to love God and love your neighbors, that is what the scribe is saying.
While Jesus' respond seems simple and easy to understand, it is not that easy. As we know, the kingdom of God in Jesus' definition is not a place, it is more of a condition, where peace and love is the rule. The kingdom of God is also a condition where the truth of God, that is the universal and objective truth rules supreme. To reach the kingdom of God, we must not only use our heart, but we must also use our brain, that is our logical thinking to find the truth. The scribe had showed Jesus how he has used his mind to understand the words of Christ. As such, Jesus exclaimed that the scribe is not far from the kingdom of God. If he searches for the truth more, he would eventually reach the kingdom of God, but does it happen? No one knows for certain. I believe that is all I have to say for now, have a nice day and see you later.
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