The first paragraph of this reading forms an introduction. Israel is
entering the Promised Land, and its side of the covenant is to keep
the law of God from generation to generation.
The second paragraph consists of the Shema, which became
the daily Jewish prayer. God is to be loved in response to his prior
revelation of himself as the one God.
That divine unity was revealed through the Exodus event and, for the
Deuteronomist, through the perpetual accessibility to his presence
at the one central sanctuary. To love in this context means to trust
solely in him and to reject the many gods of the heathens.
In Hebraic thought, heart, soul, and strength do not mean separate
human faculties but the person in the totality of his/her being.
Thus, the radical nature of God's claim on Israelite obedience is
emphasized.
Responsorial Psalm: 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51
Psalm 18 is one of the royal psalms (note the third stanza), possibly going back to David. It is a thanksgiving for victory in battle. The refrain, taken from the first verse, forms an admirable response to the Shema.
Having established the qualifications of Jesus to be high priest, the author at last embarks upon an exposition of his main theological theme. It consists of a point-by-point comparison of Jesus with the Levitical priests of the old covenant, demonstrating that at each point Jesus and the effect of his work are superior to them and the effects of their work. These are the main points of comparison in this excerpt:
Levitical Priest
|
Christ
|
many | only one |
impermanent | eternal |
subject to death | alive forever |
sinner—had to offer for himself |
sinless—no need to offer for himself |
repeated sacrifices | once-for-all sacrifice |
appointed by law |
appointed by oath superseding law |
The double commandment of love had a triple attestation. In Mark it
is presented in a Hellenized form. The Shema is directed
against pagan polytheism.
The addition of mind/understanding to the list of faculties brings
out the meaning of the Hebrew word for “heart” (lebab),
which was the organ of intellectual activity, while the higher value
placed on ethical obedience as contrasted with sacrificial cultus is
typical of Hellenistic Judaism.
Matthew’s form lacks these features, and it is couched in a highly
Semitic Greek. Hence it looks more primitive than Mark’s.
Luke’s form, in our opinion, is an adaptation of the Marcan form and
serves as an introduction to the parable of the Good Samaritan.
There has been much discussion about whether the double commandment
is original with Jesus. Actually it is a combination of two
different Old Testament passages, ones from
Deut 6
and
Lev 19, so its contents cannot be regarded as original in themselves. But
what about the combination of the two commandments, and what about
their use as a summary of the whole Torah?
The idea of summarizing the Torah under a single basic commandment
was not unknown to rabbinic Judaism, which occasionally used the
commandment to love one's neighbor in this way. But the rabbis never
combined this commandment with the commandment to love God.
However, the combination is found several times in the
Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, and there are other
hints of it in the writings of Hellenistic Judaism. In fact, it
seems to be characteristic of Jewish wisdom tradition, both
Palestinian and Hellenistic. It must have been from that source that
it came to Jesus.
Is there, then, anything distinctive about his use of it? Yes, for
Jesus understands the interconnection between the two commandments
in a quite radical sense. Love of God is illusory if it does not
issue in love of neighbor, and love of neighbor is refined self-love
if it does not proceed from the love of God
Preaching the Lectionary: The Word of God for the Church Today Reginald H. Fuller and Daniel Westberg. Liturgical Press. 1984. (Revised Edition). |
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from Religious Clip Art for the Liturgical Year (A, B, and C).
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