He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And [Jesus] said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” What is it all about? Why am I here? What am I to do? Those are all worthy questions. I suppose we ask them more when we are younger. Perhaps when we get older, we have figured a lot of that out or at least have settled on who we are. Then again, perhaps not. In any event, these questions should remain in front of us. We should remain always slightly unsettled, maybe even uncomfortable. Searching for an answer is a process.
He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And [Jesus] said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”
What is it all about? Why am I here? What am I to do?
Those are all worthy questions. I suppose we ask them more when we are younger. Perhaps when we get older, we have figured a lot of that out or at least have settled on who we are. Then again, perhaps not.
In any event, these questions should remain in front of us. We should remain always slightly unsettled, maybe even uncomfortable. Searching for an answer is a process.
The lawyer goes to Jesus with a planned test. I imagine behind the scenes he too was a little uncomfortable with those exact questions of What is it all about? Why am I here? What am I to do?
We call the lawyer’s response to Jesus the ‘Greatest Commandment.’ Factually, Jewish sages and teachers, including the lawyers did discuss and rank the most important principles of the Torah long before Jesus. They knew this well. Seeking to summarize the Law’s 613 individual commandments into its core meaning was the result. To this day devout Jews recite the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4–5, "Love the Lord your God...") twice every day, viewing it as foundational.
For us, the Greatest Commandment is not just a summary, it is more than foundational, it is the answer to What is it all about? Why am I here? What am I to do?
For life as God’s Kingdom people it is all about love. We are here (and not just in church) to love. We are to do love.
We can go through all of Jesus’ teachings and instructions and that is what it boils down to. Go the extra mile – love. Give more than what is asked – love. Pray – love. Serve – love. Turn the other cheek – love. Be generous – love. Teach and preach the Kingdom – love. Baptize – love. Give our all, even unto our lives for our brothers and sisters – love.
In Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan, we see the antithesis of love. The priest and Levite saw love as turned completely to self and those like themselves. Their love never turned outward. The Shema they prayed twice a day was not a lived reality for them. It was all about them. They were here for themselves. Their doing – taking care of themselves.
The Samaritan shows the Greatest Commandment lived in practical reality - being about love, there for love, doing love.
Let us remember Jesus’ conclusion: “do this, and you will live.”
