The Whole Law, standing on one foot! A Homily For the 30th Sunday of the year
There was an expression common among the rabbis of Jesus’ time, wherein one rabbi would ask another a question, and request that the answer be given while “standing on one foot.” This is a Jewish way of saying, “Be brief in your answer.”
And that sort of expression may be behind the question that is raised in today’s gospel by the scholar of law, who asks, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
Just as an aside, it is likely that the scholar of the law is not asking just for the sake of brevity, since he is in a hostile stance with Jesus. (The text says he speaks to Jesus in order to “test” him.) In effect, he says to Jesus, “All right, let’s get right to the point. You’re talking about a lot of new things but what is the greatest commandment?”
For this reflection, though, let’s just set aside the background hostilities and allow Jesus to recite the Law, standing on one foot. In so doing, Jesus recites the traditional Jewish Shema:
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד.
Šĕmaʿ Yisĕrāʾel Ădōnāy Ĕlōhênû Ădōnāy eḥād.
Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.
The fuller text recited by Jesus is from Deuteronomy 6:
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts (Deut 6:4-6).
And then Jesus adds, also in common Rabbinic tradition, And the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
That’s it, the whole Law, standing on one foot. The first table of the law (the first three Commandants): love the Lord your God. The second table of the law (Commandments 4-10): love your neighbor.
There is value in noting several aspects of this summary of the law.
I. The Leadership of Love. Jesus says that the whole law and the prophets depend on the command to love God and your neighbor. Love comes first and is the foundation, the power of the law. Jesus says elsewhere, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). In other words, it is love that enables us to keep the law. When we want to do something, then the doing is both joyful and, in some sense, effortless. Love changes our desires so that we want what God wants and we keep His law not because we have to, but because we want to.
II. The Layers of Love. The text says we should love God with our heart, our soul and our mind. These layers of our existence encompass the whole of the interior person. Thus:
- Mind – Through love we come to a new mind, that is, a new way of thinking.
- Heart – We also receive a new heart wherein our desires are reformed and conformed to God.
- Soul – And a new soul is given, whereby we begin to live a whole new life, since the soul is the life-giving principle of the Body.
III. The Lavishness of Love. There is the little word ALL. We love the Lord with ALL our heart, ALL our mind, and ALL our soul. When we love we are not minimalists, we are lavish. Our response to God is wholehearted, not perfunctory. Love does not ask, “What is the least I can do?” Love asks, “What more can I do?”
It is said that the ancient Rabbi Hillel, being even briefer, said of the second table of the law, Do not do unto others that which you would hate done unto yourself, and all the rest is commentary.
We like to make it more complicated, but it really isn’t. If elaboration is required, consider the Ten Commandments understood and expressed in the light of love:
- No other gods - If I really love God, should I need separate laws that tell me I ought not put other gods, whether things or people ahead of him? No! I want to be faithful and would never dream of being unfaithful by “sleeping with other gods” of any sort.
- I Love His Name – Neither do I need rules that tell me not to use God’s name hatefully, or in vain and empty ways. I love His name and just to hear it lights up my heart with love.
- I love to Praise Him – And if I love God I do not need to be compelled by law or fear to come to Church on Sunday and worship Him. I want to worship Him and praise His name.
- I love my family, Church, and country – And if I do, then I do not need to be told to revere those who have lawful authority in those places. I love my parents and my family and am willing to honor, revere, and pray for them for all. I also love my Church and willingly love our leaders and pray for them. And I follow the teaching of the Church with joy, trusting that I am hearing the voice of the Lord, who teaches me through the Church. And I love my country and pray for our leaders that God may uphold and guide them. I willingly follow all just laws and work for unity based in truth and for the common good.
- I love my neighbors, – And if so, why would I want to kill them, whether physically, emotionally, or spiritually? If I love others I revere their life and act in ways that build them up and encourage them and help them to have a richer and more abundant life rooted in the truth. I would never act recklessly to endanger any of them. Of course not; I love them.
- I love human life – And if I love my neighbors, why would I tempt them, or exploit them sexually? If I love the human family, why would I endanger it by treating lightly the great sacredness of human sexuality by which God calls us into existence? Why would I want to look at pornography or laugh at crude jokes that demean something so sacred? If I love others why would I merely want to gratify myself at their expense? If I love, I grow away from these unloving things.
- I love others by respecting what is rightfully theirs – And if I love others, why would I wish to steal from them, or harm or endanger what belongs to them, or unjustly deprive them of what is rightfully theirs? Why would I want to act unjustly toward others by refusing them just wages? Why would I be unjust to the poor by refusing to help them when it is in my ability to help them? For if I have two coats one of them justly belongs to the poor. If I love others why would I steal or act unjustly? No, I want to help them and am glad when they are blessed. I respect what they rightfully have and share in their joy.
- I speak the truth in love – And why would I lie to those I love? Or why would I seek to harm their reputation or gossip about them? Why would I pass on hurtful things that I don’t even know are true? And why would I fail to share the truth in love? Love rejoices in the truth, so why would I lie or suppress the truth?
- I rejoice in the good fortune of others – And if I love others why would I seek unjustly to possess what they have, or resent them for what they do have? No, I love them and am happy for them. Perhaps their blessings mean that I too will be blessed.
- I reverence the families of others – And why would I ever seek to harm the marriage or family of another or resent them for the gift they have in their spouse and family? No, I am happy for their blessings. I am happy that my friend has a beautiful wife and well-behaved children. Out of love I seek to encourage him to rejoice in his gifts!
So there’s a little commentary if you need it. But it all comes down to love. Love rejoices in God and wants whatever God wants. Love rejoices in the other and wants what is best for them.
Now of course love is the key. And many of us struggle to love. But God can give us a new heart, a heart that actually starts loving God, fully and freely; a heart that has a deep love, even affection, for everyone. God can do that for us. Yes, if we want it, God can do it:
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws (Ez 36:26-27).
A thousand questions and doubts may come to mind when we are called to love. It is true that even when we love, we cannot always say yes. Love sometimes must say no, and love cannot approve of everything. Love must sometimes correct and reprove. But in the end, people know if you love them or not, and they know if you love God or not. And if people know of your love and experience it, it is possible to say even difficult and challenging things. Yes in the end, our thousand questions are still answered by love.
And now we ought to stop. For since Jesus is giving the law “standing on one foot,” then the preacher must also brief. You and I like to complicate things and ask a lot of question. But in the end, the answer is simple enough: love! And all the rest is mere commentary.