ALL THREE gospels recall how Jesus taught his followers to love both God and neighbor. Moreover, the gospels clarify that to love God only or one’s neighbor only is to fail at both. The Gospel of Mark is the only gospel that ascribes to Jesus the direct quotation from the Old Testament regarding love for God. There, in Mark, Jesus quotes the great Shema (Heb. hear) in a form utterly recognizable to his Jewish listeners: “Hear, O Israel…” [cf. Mk 12:29-30] Mark's passage is an echo of Deu 6:4-5: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”
NOTE HOWEVER that the Deuteronomy passage does not make mention of one's neighbor. Love of neighbor may be found in Leviticus, another of the Books of the Pentateuch: "You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord." [Lev 19:18] Note what is being said and not said. Regarding fellow Israelites, one is to love all of them as his neighbor. What is not said is less apparent but no less powerful: Non-Israelites are never your neighbor.
HISTORICALLY, ISRAEL emphasized its exclusivity and uniqueness. This helped to insure Israel's survival through the millennia, but it also encouraged Israel to regard personal honor and the defense of one's name with greater value than social bonds and a merciful disposition. This is why Israel and its neighbors are historically referred to as societies of agony.
AS THE Christ, Jesus has married the theological concepts of love of God and neighbor and made them indissoluble. In this sense, he fulfills love's destiny not only in a new teaching but in the essence of his own personhood. As our Holy Father has said, Redemptive love must give way to nuptial love. More than anything, it is this that caused Jesus to be reviled in his own country. The Good Physician repeatedly invited sinners to share his table. The table is ultimately a reference to the nuptial banquet. Consider God's prophecy entrusted to the visionary John on Patmos: "And the angel said to me, 'Write this: "Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, 'These are true words of God.'" [Rev 19:9]
HENCE, JESUS has recalled a truth about one's neighbor rooted in Israel's relationship with God. Yes, the commandment to love God is found in the Mosaic Law. Likewise, the commandment to love one's neighbor is found in Mosaic Law. But, as the Son of God, Christ has revealed the fullness of these teachings in light of his sacrificial offering on the cross. No longer are we permitted to ask, Who is not my neighbor? No longer can we interpret the golden rule in terms of revenge. No longer can we separate the character of our human relationships from the relationship we seek with God.
THIS IS the A-N-D where the stipes (Lat. post, stake) and patibulum (Lat. yoke, gibbet) of the cross converge: You and I. He and she. Them and us. Jesus came to unify, or he is not the Christ. He came to form a people, or he is not the Son of God. Jesus came to decisively heal human relationships, or he is not the divine physician of the soul. Jesus has conformed the teachings of love into his own perfect and humble image. Now we know the glory of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church in the new covenant which Our Lord founded in his name and which will endure throughout time and space until the parousia!
