2018-3-9

朋友们，今天的福音重点在于天主的圣言自己告诉我们法律的核心。有个经师试探着问了这个问题：“哪条诫命是最大的？” 犹太教体系里有很多法律，所以辣彼们最爱做的事情就是找出能阐明整套法律的某条规则。

 

于是，耶稣给出祂著名的回答：“第一条是：‘以色列！你要听！上主我们的天主是唯一的天主。你们当全心、全灵、全力爱上主，你的天主。’第二条是：‘你应当爱近人如你自己。’再没有别的诫命比这两条更大的了。”

 

这个回答是什么意思？法律归根到底就是爱，爱天主和爱近人是紧紧相联的。如果我们爱天主，但憎恨近人，那就是浪费时间。

 

为什么这两种爱如此紧密联系？因为耶稣的身份。耶稣不仅仅是人，也不仅仅是天主。祂是天主和人的结合，既有神性也有人性。因此，我们无法只把祂作为天主来爱，而不爱祂亲手创造并欣然接受的人性。

 

Friends, our Gospel for today features the Word of God himself telling us what stands at the heart of the Law. A scribe posed, as a kind of game, the following question: “Which is the first of all the commandments?” There were hundreds of laws in the Jewish system, so it was a favorite exercise of the rabbis to seek out the single rule that somehow clarified the whole of the Law.

 

Then Jesus gives his famous answer: “The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”

 

What does that mean? The law is finally about love, and the love of God and neighbor are inextricably bound to one another. If we love God, but hate our neighbors, we’re wasting our time.

 

Why are the two loves so tightly connected? Because of who Jesus is. Jesus is not just a human being, and he is not just God. He is the God-man, the one in whom divinity and humanity come together. Therefore, it’s impossible to love him as God without loving the humanity that he’s created and embraced.