Deuteronomy is the fifth book of Torah or the Law, the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures—Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. These books combine narrative and law—stories about Israel’s earliest ancestors, the escape from Egypt, and wanderings in the desert; and collections of laws that include the 10 commandments. Like Jesus, many rabbis considered Deuteronomy 6.4-5 the heart of the Law.
Moses Sums Up the Whole Law
Moses told the people: Fear Yahweh, your God, and all the days of your lives keep the laws and commandments which I enjoin upon you, your children, and your children’s children; thus, your days will be long. Hear, Israel, and carefully do these things, that you may grow and prosper in keeping with the promise of Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, to give you a land flowing with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel, the Holy One is our God, the Holy One alone! Therefore, you shall love the Holy One, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take these words which I command you today to heart.
Deuteronomy 6.2-6
It is not often that our Sunday scriptures provide us with the very same words in the First Reading and in the gospel. But by citing Deuteronomy’s so-called “Great Commandment,” Jesus invites us to remember that our Christian heritage is rooted in that of our Jewish ancestors.
Jesus himself was a Jew and had no interest in presenting his gospel in opposition to the Law of Moses. The ancient Israelites also had love as the ultimate purpose for their faith and their laws as their heirs still do today.
Sadly, we have had a history of not remembering that consistently, and Jewish people have sometimes suffered greatly at the hands of so-called Christians. Thankfully, the past 50 years have seen a great mellowing of bad feelings between the two traditions, thanks to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.
With the encouragement of Christ’s epitaph today—which is really a very Jewish one—we may dare to pray for the strength to make this first and greatest commandment real in our daily lives. We may dare to expect from God the “fortitude” (as Major Stewart might call it) to be a true and loyal disciple, and so one day to experience the “calms of eternal felicity.”
- What is a way you have experienced the holiness and mystery of God?
- Whose God is your God?
- How much do you know about the Jewish religion and its practices?