The Problem

If we are honest, then we must admit that our Christian faith has quickly become an afterthought to modern society. The world waits for no one. Who has time to read an old collection of ancient texts? 

 

And all the Jesus stuffThe bible and the faith formed around it can sometimes seem to be a meandering catalogue of behavioral prescriptions and rites.  "Don't do this!" "Don't do that!" "When you do that, do it like this!"  As a believer striving to abide in the will of God, it's not always easy to extract the relevance of the bible's diverse stories, characters and teachings. Many of us believers share in the sentiment of being overwhelmed and confused on the original purpose of our shared faith. So much so, that when an opponent of Jesus asks that question, we perk our ears and wait for the response.

 

Luckily for us (not so much for the disingenuous questioner!), Jesus responded not with parable or prose, but with a straightforward answer that cuts to the heart of the matter. He said:

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"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. But there is a second like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

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The first thing that should stand out is that although Jesus was asked for a single commandment, he provided two. Secondly, Jesus boldly proclaims that everything God had ever required of His people - either through ritual ordinance or through the stern prophetic warnings handed over in times of peril - could be accomplished in the fulfillment of two simple commandments: love God, and love others. Finally, love of God and the love for one's fellow man are related and find their perfection in one another.  

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