The Sadducees had just approached Jesus, telling Him that they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. Jesus answered them saying “Have you not read what was said to you by God, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but the living.” Yet, despite Jesus’ answers that they could not argue with, the Sadducees and the Pharisees continued to constantly try to discredit Him in public.  

This time, they wanted to discredit Jesus over which of the more than 600 religious laws, which they created, was the most important. They were trying to again place Jesus in a position where His answer would anger one faction over the other, as they tried in last week’s Gospel about the validity of the Census Tax. 

When asked which commandment is the greatest, Jesus tells them, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” In the time of Jesus, the heart was associated with the mind or will; the soul was associated with life. What is meant here is that the love of God must be comprised of a total response without distraction or competition. 

Then Jesus immediately added the second great commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” We see that these two commandments are inseparable. How can we love God, whom we have never seen, if we cannot love our neighbors, who we often see? 

God created each of us in His image and likeness. Therefore, each of us is meant to resemble God; just as each child in a family resembles their parents. Jesus is telling the Pharisees and Sadducees, and us, that we are more than neighbors to each other. Each of us is God’s child; therefore, we truly are sisters and brothers to each other. We are called to love each other the way we are called to love God, selflessly and completely.

-Bishop Roy Campbell