Jesus’ enemies were always looking for ways to trap him. In Matthew 22, where today’s Gospel comes from, Jesus is tested three times. The test in this week’s reading centers on the Pharisees asking Jesus what is the greatest commandment of the law. In response, Jesus quotes the Shema, the great prayer from Deuteronomy 6:4, which begins, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord” (RSV). That alone wouldn’t have surprised his audience. In fact, they would have expected him to say something like that.

What does surprise them, however, is that Jesus subtly changes the wording. Instead of saying that we are to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and might, he says we must love with our heart, soul, and mind.

So what’s the big deal? What’s the difference between might and mind?

One insight we can take away is that we must use our intellect to study the truth about God—not just to have “head knowledge,” but because in order to truly love someone, we have to know them. And in order to know someone, we have to know about them. If we are really to love God, we have to know what God is like—his character and his actions.

How can we come to know God? By reading the Scriptures. For if we have never read the Bible, especially the Gospels, we cannot truly say that we love God with our whole mind (as well as heart and soul).

First Reading 
Exodus 22:20-26

If Israel’s behavior is to be exemplary  as a sign  to  the  nations, then those foreigners who cross into her territory will have to be treated in an exemplary manner. It’s the ill treatment of aliens that’s forbidden in the first verse of our reading. And God makes clear that he himself intends to be the protector of widows and orphans. “If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me…My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword; then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans.”

This might sound rough, but we need to recognize that police forces didn’t exist at this time. Might was law. When someone has had a moral restraint forced upon him, he doesn’t develop internal restraints. When the yoke comes off, the slave easily becomes the slave owner. And so, God was speaking in a language that these people, especially those who might be tempted to exercise their might against the weak, could understand. Justice will be swift and sure, God assures the mighty, if you molest my little ones.
 

Second Reading
1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10

This passage, in a sense, illustrates  what’s  been said above. The Thessalonians had been given to the worship of idols, a capital offense in Israel. Through Paul’s preaching they became “models for all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.” Through this new pedagogy, one which is anointed of the Holy Spirit, what humankind could ever do on its own simply happens, a miracle of grace.

After a few weeks of instruction by Paul, idol worshippers become the heirs of the promises made through Israel. Through this outpouring of grace, they’re delivered “from the wrath to come.” That is, justice is no longer held out to them for their sins, but mercy in Christ Jesus. The ancient pedagogy of justice has given way to one of love. Justice hasn’t disappeared of course; it’s still out there for those who choose not to enroll in this school of love. As St. Paul says, it’s still “to come,” but deliverance is now possible; the sentence can be lifted.

Gospel Reading
Matthew 22:34-40

As the opening of this episode  indicates, the Pharisees have come to Jesus having heard that he has confounded the Sadducees, a rival religious faction to the Pharisees, in an argument over the resurrection of the dead. In that exchange, Jesus came down on the side of the Pharisees, who believed in such a resurrection, accusing the Sadducees of knowing neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. The Pharisees haven’t come to try to “trip him up” but to “test” his wisdom further, as one would any rabbi.

The question Jesus is asked by the scholar in the law—“Which commandment of the law is the greatest?”—seems not to be aimed at tricking him or leading him into a rhetorical trap. He responds in a way that wouldn’t have surprised a faithful Jew. Jesus’ answer is, likewise, straightforward, yet magisterial. He answers with authority and without indictment, as is the case when he knows a questioner is sincere. Jesus is really describing the attitude of one who has entered into the kingdom of God, which is precisely God’s sovereignty in the human soul, by virtue of this covenant faithfulness. This passage demonstrates the continuity of Jesus and his message with his— and our—Jewish roots.

MEDITATION:
Picture the scene in your mind. You are at the Temple and you hear one of the leaders ask Jesus what the greatest commandmentis. How would you respond? When you hear Jesus say, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind,” do you agree? Then you hear him add, “The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Now what goes through your mind? Who do you consider your neighbor? How do Jesus’ words challenge you?

RESOLUTION:
Since we are to love God with our minds as well as our souls and hearts, read all of Matthew 22 this week and write down all the attributes of God that Jesus shows us in this chapter. Choose one and practice it in your own life.

Reprinted from  Opening the Word at Formed.org .
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