You might be tempted to think this teaching comes from the New Testament. And it does. Jesus says it according to Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:29, and Luke 10:27 and both James (James 2:8) and Paul (Romans 13:9 and Galatians 5:14) refer to it as the foundation of the faith. But it was first stated in the Old Testament, in Leviticus.
When Jesus speaks this saying in Matthew and Mark, He is quoting from Leviticus 19:18 in answer to the question: “Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” (Matthew 22:36). Jesus’ full answer involves two Old Testament quotes: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’ (Deuteronomy 6:5), which is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ (Leviticus 19:18). All the Law and the Prophets (meaning the whole Old Testament) hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40).
But just in case you think Jesus is presenting a new interpretation of the Old Testament here, we have Luke’s version to add a twist on this saying. When an expert in the law attempts to test Jesus’ faithfulness to the Torah by asking, “What do I need to do to get eternal life?” (Luke 10:25) Jesus bounces the question back into His asker’s court: “What’s written in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?” (Luke 10:26). And the scholar answers exactly as Jesus does in Matthew and Mark – you should love God and love your neighbor as yourself – proving it was the accepted interpretation of the Old Testament in Jesus’ day.
Luke’s legal expert wants to take the question one step further, however. “And just how would you define ‘neighbor’?” This is where Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37). In Leviticus 19:18 the context indicates that one shouldn’t be unkind to any of one’s own people. In the Good Samaritan parable Jesus implies that anyone who needs your help is your neighbor. Is this a new dimension to the commandment?
Perhaps, but the seeds of Jesus’ point are still on hand in the Old Testament. A few verses away from Leviticus 19:18 is the reading: “Treat the foreigner the same as the native. Love him like one of your own. Remember you were once foreigners in Egypt” (Leviticus 19:34).
The prophet Micah speaks the same sentiment when he says: “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).
This teaching has been around for a long time. And it still makes sense today. The problem is always putting it into practice.
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