Nov. 3: 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Love of neighbor

Dt 6:2-6; Ps 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51; Heb 7:23-28; Mk 12:28b-34

For the past months, we have been considering the portrayal of the Pharisees in our New Testament readings. We have noted how the Gospels often paint them in a negative light. This negative portrayal likely reflects much later disagreements and tensions between Jews who wanted to follow Jesus and those who did not. It does not truly show us who the Pharisees were or how they acted.

This negative presentation of the Pharisees has contributed to a long history of antisemitic beliefs and readings of Scripture throughout Christian history. For this reason, it is important that we not only acknowledge this but also start to talk about it and learn how to understand our Gospel stories better.

In part because of the Gospels’ presentation of the Pharisees, Judaism, both ancient and modern, fell under scrutiny. One of the most maligned aspects of Judaism is Jewish law. Gospel passages involving Jewish law have consistently been interpreted not only negatively but also incorrectly.

The Gospels do not present the law as negative or as something to be disposed of. It is not presented as a rigid system devoid of compassion. Many readings that have been interpreted as criticizing the law itself are instead criticizing the people in the story for not following the law. In part, what these stories try to show is that, if the people in the story had followed the law, they would have acted with compassion (for example, Lk 10:25-37; Jn 8:1-11).

Jesus cites two central laws from Judaism that are also very important in our tradition. The first is from Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and is also part of our Old Testament reading today. Here, the Israelites are instructed to love God with all their hearts, all their beings and all their strength. The other is from the book of Leviticus (19:18), where the Israelites are commanded to love their neighbor.

The books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus cultivate this connection between our inner virtues, like love and compassion, and the law. They do not see them as two separate things. They try to show readers that the law guides us to act with love because it is rooted in love. Acts of love help us to build a better world.

So, when the scribe in our Gospel today concludes with a statement about sacrifices, he is not criticizing the sacrificial or legal systems (Mk 12:33). He is commenting on the significance of the first two laws. He is saying that sacrifices done without the love of those first two laws at their core would be empty.

Jesus ensured that these two laws remained significant for his followers. All the synoptic Gospels present Jesus as affirming these two laws as central, a position with which no Jew at that time would have disagreed. These commands were passed down the line of Jesus’ followers and are now a part of our own call from God.

There are many ways to love one’s neighbor. Loving one’s neighbor can mean taking the time to unlearn harmful stereotypes about them, like we have tried to do above. Sometimes our call to love our neighbor means getting them groceries when they are struggling financially. Sometimes it looks like rejoicing in good news with them. Other times, it means sitting with them in their grief and despair.

Loving one’s neighbor can also mean taking care of our shared home, the Earth. Teaching one’s children about systemic injustices, and making sure they are aware of the world around them, is another way to love one’s neighbor.

All the examples listed above are relatively small gestures. They may seem insignificant, especially in our very broken world. But we cannot know or see what God knows and sees. Who can say that our small acts of loving care for our neighbors are not integral to the healing of the world? Perhaps that is why these two commandments carry such weight in Judaism and in our own faith. It is the everyday love we show to each other, whether anyone sees it or not, that can transform the world.