THE TEXT BELOW IS THE TRANSCRIPTION OF THE VIDEO COMMENTARY BY FR. FERNANDO ARMELLINI

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One of the scribes approached Jesus and asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” 

A good Sunday to all.

For the past three days, Jesus has been in Jerusalem; he has thrown out the temple sellers, and this act made the conflict with religious authority insoluble. The scribes, the priests, and the elders all tried to incriminate him for any reason to remove him from the scene. Today’s text places him in the temple, where a series of discussions and controversies took place, and the evangelist Mark names seven of them. 

We remember, for example, the discussion in which they asked Jesus whether it was lawful to pay tribute to the temple, and then the discussion about the resurrection. Today is the fifth controversy that Jesus has with these religious authorities. Today, Mark presents a scribe who was present at the previous controversies and admired the answers Jesus gave. The evangelist says the scribe “heard the discussion and saw the correctness of the answer.” He proposed a theological question much discussed among the scribes: “What is the most important precept?” the greatest of all, from which all the rest derive. 

One can tell that this scribe is not malicious when he presents himself to Jesus, in contrast to those who had preceded him. He simply wants to know what Jesus thinks about this question. Among the rabbis, the question was debated about which commandment was first. It was not a superficial question because it concerned discerning which commandment all the others derived from. The evangelist Mark uses the Greek verb ‘kremánumi,’ which means ‘to take’ and ‘to search.’ 

In other words, there is a single commandment, the most important one, from which all others follow. An example that can clarify and help: What is the commandment for our life from which all others derive? If, for example, the main commandment is money, then from this commandment hard work, striving to get up early in the morning, and perhaps also possessing, using, stealing, and being clever derive. Then, from this ‘commandment,’ all others derive. The scribes had discovered 613 commandments of the Law, and the question was: Which of these 613 commandments is the most important? From which commandment are all the others linked? It is essential that we also ask ourselves this straightforward question: What is the commandment from which all the behaviors that I have in my life derive? It is not a frivolous question if we ask it for real. What did the rabbis say? 

There were many opinions, just as there are today. Some said that the commandments were all the same and that one had to observe them all. But the opinion that gathered the most consensus held that the most important commandment was the one even God observed: the Sabbath, because even God rested on the Sabbath. Others argued that the most important commandment was not to have another god, therefore, to avoid idols. Then there were the many sayings of Rabbi Hillel: ‘What you do not want them to do to you, do not do it to your neighbor. This is the law, and the rest is comment.’ The saying of Rabbi Akiva is also famous: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself; this is the greatest principle of the Torah.’

Listen to what Jesus thinks: 

Jesus replied, ‘The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord, our God, is the 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.’ 

Contrary to what the scribe expected, Jesus responded by ignoring the commandment of Moses. Instead of a commandment, Jesus cites Israel’s Creed: Hear, O Israel! The first commandment is to listen to God. We know that ‘listening’ means letting someone into our life, because when words, advice, and suggestions enter our hearts, we become and act according to the degree of adherence we give to this listening. Let someone enter our lives, listen… and let the word of God enter our hearts, transforming us. 

Therefore, this is the first commandment for Israel: ‘To hear.’ And interestingly, it is here that the name of the God you must allow to enter is mentioned, because one god is not the same as another. The God of Israel is named three times in this Creed. We do not pronounce this name out of respect for the Israelites, but we call it ‘Adonai.’ ‘Hear, O Israel, Adonai is our God … to the one God, Adonai, and you will love Adonai.’ The name of the God of Israel is given: ‘You must listen to Adonai.’ And what does this God say to you when you let him in? He tells you that He is the liberator, the father of the poor and widows, the protector of foreigners. It is an exact identity. He is a God who loves his people, and he has shown it throughout history. 

Therefore, ‘let him in … listen to the history of your people, and you will know who this God is and what he has done for you.’ And if you listen to him, you will keep his word. If we listen to the wrong god, if we listen to idols (money, career, success, be the first at all costs …), if this is our god and we listen to it, we dehumanize ourselves and walk on the wrong road. ‘Adonai must be your only Lord.’ 

Then come the prescriptions, the commandments: “You will love him with all your heart ….” We know that the heart is the center of all decisions; the Israelites decided, ‘thought’ with their hearts. Loving God with all your heart means that He is at the origin of all our decisions. Our behavior is always in tune with our decisions. If we have understood who this God is, we trust Him. And we let Him enter into our lives with His word. 

Then, “with all your soul.” The soul = ‘nefesh’ = life. All moments of life must be oriented by the light that comes from God; the concrete life must be spent fulfilling the will of the Lord. Therefore, there are no compartments for options suggested by idols. All life must be oriented to the Lord. ‘You will love the Lord with all your life.’ 

Then, “with all your strength.” The Hebrew text says ‘bejón meodeja,’ which means with everything you possess, with all the gifts you have received from God, you must put everything in service of your project for the world. 

And then Jesus adds something to this Creed of Israel. You will love him “with all your mind” = ‘dianoia’ in Greek. With all the mind … If you want your adhesion to God to be solid, unbreakable, serious, and well-founded, it is necessary to love him ‘with the whole mind,’ with intelligence and study. The option to love this God must be weighed and reasoned. 

This is important and very current for us because we adhere to the God of Jesus of Nazareth, who has nothing in common with false faith, superstition, or certain devotional practices. Devotions to relics are often not distinguished from the use of talismans or amulets. He who does not devote time to the study of the Word of God, who is disinterested in theological themes and ecclesial problems, and who is not able to give a reason for his faith cannot certainly say that he loves God ‘with all his mind.’ 

Then comes the second commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” Without being asked, Jesus added this second commandment. The context in which Jesus cited it is interesting. It is found in the Old Testament, in Leviticus chapter 19. The context is interesting because that is where the order is given to landowners: when they plow their fields, they should not plow along the borders, and they cannot collect everything because they must leave something for the poor. 

The rabbis said that if you forget a bunch of grains and later realize it, you cannot go back to pick them up, because God made you forget them so He would care for the poor. In this context, God’s prescription in Leviticus is to love your neighbor as yourself. To love means to make an achoic choice in favor of a brother or sister’s life. Therefore, in each choice, one must ask: With what I am doing, do I give life to the brother? Even our words: we must always ask ourselves whether what we say produces life or creates pain and suffering. 

Do I give hope? Is it a word that encourages, that helps overcome difficulties … or is it a word that takes away the smile? We must always ask ourselves this question because loving our neighbor means supporting him and taking part in his life. And “love him as yourself.” This is the apex of the Old Testament, but it was not the last frontier. As Jesus speaks with a rabbi, he uses words the rabbi can understand, referring to the Torah the rabbi knows very well. 

We still need to clarify the relationship between these two commandments: love God and love your neighbor. There is a widespread, dangerous interpretation. It holds that there is a time to dedicate ourselves to work so that no one lacks clothing, food, help, instruction, or anything necessary for life. It is necessary to dedicate time to this, but you also need to dedicate time to the Lord, to prayer, devotions, and Sunday liturgical celebrations… 

This interpretation is dangerous because it treats these two commandments as opposed to each other, as if what is given to one is taken from the other. It seems as if God and neighbor are at odds. Remember that only the Gospel of Mark mentions the ‘two commandments’ in hierarchical order: one first and one second. 

Matthew goes a step further. He says that ‘the second is similar to the first.’ Luke, however, puts neither first nor second; he says there is only one commandment: ‘Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.’ And it does not end here. In the rest of the New Testament, the two commandments are never again mentioned, but only a single commandment: love for the brother/sister. 

Remember the Gospel of John, chapter 15, which says: “This is my only commandment: to love one another.” In the letter to the Romans, Paul says: “All the commandments … do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, they are summarized in these words: you will love your neighbor as yourself.” Full compliance with the law is love. It is even clearer in the letter to the Galatians: “The whole law finds its fulfillment in a single precept: you will love your neighbor as yourself.”

So, how do we understand the love of God? ‘Love him with all your heart … with all your mind … with all your strength … with all your life …’ What does this command mean? Only one thing: it means to welcome God’s design of love. God wants to introduce his life and his love into the world. Loving him means letting himself be involved in this project and in his design, and sharing love with his brother and sister, communicating the life that He wants to give to all. And this is done in the love of the brother, in the love of the neighbor. We cannot return God’s love directly to Him; we must make it pass through the brother. 

And loving your brother is not always easy, because it is not about loving our friends but about loving the ‘brothers.’ We cannot look for the brother; we seek friends, not brothers. And the love of the brothers means receiving those who reach us, and it cannot be otherwise. Among the brothers, some are false, hypocritical, aggressive, and violent. And it is difficult to practice the command to love them. And here we come to the last frontier indicated by Jesus: to love the brother, everybody, and the enemies … not as ourselves, but as God has loved them. One cannot go any further. 

It is important to recognize that loving a brother who has hurt us is hard. This is why we should refer to the first commandment, that is, the adherence we must give to this project of love, which is God’s design. If we eliminate God, it becomes challenging to find a solid foundation for unconditional love. A love that leads us to commit ourselves to life and only life, always, even for the life of the enemy. If there is no God as a reference point, it is difficult to practice this commandment. Now listen to the response of the rabbi who asked Jesus the question: 

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.’ 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.

We now wonder what the remarkable thing this rabbi said was that earned such a beautiful compliment from Jesus. In fact, he has only repeated what Jesus had said. On the other hand, Jesus did nothing but cite two well-known passages of Scripture. The evangelist notes that this man has answered wisely, even though he has repeated what Jesus had said. 

Jesus adds, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” Why this praise? Because, in the words of the rabbi, there is a union: the union between the practice of the two commandments, that is, the practice of love and the practice of religion, including the rites and sacrifices offered in the temple. Jesus has just expelled the sellers from the temple and has condemned the religious practice that was thought to secure a good relationship with God; the reduction of the relationship with God to religious rites. Jesus praises the rabbi because he has understood that God is not interested in religious practice without a life of love. 

This rabbi knows the Scripture. The book of Proverbs says in chapter 21: “Practice justice and equity for the Lord; this is worth more than the sacrifices.” There is another well-known text that Jesus has cited twice because he appreciated it so much, and it is found in the book of the prophet Hosea. When Jesus argues with the rabbis, at one point he says: “Go and find out what it means: I want works of love, not sacrifices.”The only thing that interests God is not the perfume of the incense that rises to heaven from the temple. God is interested in only one thing: that we love our brothers and sisters; that we worry about the brother’s life. 

And Jesus adds: “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” It is a somewhat enigmatic statement. We wonder why Jesus did not tell him what he lacked and what he should do… For example, remember the young man who presented himself to Jesus. He had observed all the commandments, and Jesus said: “You still lack one thing; go, sell everything and then you can enter the kingdom of God.” But to this rabbi, Jesus does not tell him what he lacks. He only says, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” It is enigmatic. And I would say that, on purpose, it must be left in suspense. This will lead him to create a rupture with the diffuse conception of how to love God. 

In Israel, the relationship with God was expressed through the cult, and impeccable religious practice was sufficient to be in a good relationship with the Lord. This rabbi is not far from the kingdom of God. After having understood this, Jesus invites him to keep it in mind. Jesus is at the end of his journey; he is about to give his life as a total gift. It will be the centurion who will recognize him as the Son of God, that is, as the image of the God of Israel, the authentic face of the God of Israel. 

This enigmatic answer is an invitation for us as well. To truly enter the kingdom of God, we must be attentive to the gift of life Jesus offered. Once we understand this, we will need to make the choice Jesus made. 

I wish everyone a good Sunday and a good week.