Scriptures: Leviticus 19:1-2,15-18; Psalm 1; 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8; Matthew 22:34-46
Reflection by Rev. Kathryn Snelling, Deacon
22 Pentecost October 25, 2026
The Rev Kathryn Snelling, Deacon
Testing, Testing, Testing
Tests and testing is nothing new. Not to Jesus. His being tested in the wilderness was only the beginning. In Matthew we read of the Pharisee and religious leaders testing and challenging him repeatedly.
And testing is not new to us, either.
We face tests of various sorts throughout our lives.
During school years we are tested at each grade to see if we have mastered that level of knowledge before moving on to the next grade.
Or we take a test to earn a certificate or degree in a chosen field.
We take driver tests and vision tests
We are tested in situations and relationships.
And there is even the testing our patience. Have you ever been there?
I get the feeling that Jesus may have been feeling that way when this expert in the Law poses his question.
Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?
Now our text this morning doesn’t say Jesus knew the intention of the question was to trip him up, like the time when he was asked about paying taxes, but I’m sure he was aware.
So he answers; (one of the rare times he gives a direct answer) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.
And a second is like it - Love your neighbor as yourself.
Adding - that all the Law and the prophets hang on these two.
Now as a funny aside: my niece, when she was a little girl, hearing this read for the first time, kept staring up at the rafters trying to see which rafter all the laws and prophets were hanging from.
But of course what Jesus was saying is that all the 600 plus laws in the Torah and all that the prophets spoke, rested on these two commandments.
Not only was this first Law well known to the expert but also to all the Pharisees standing nearby and all the Jewish people in the crowd. For it is the Shema, the prayer said every morning and every night by all faithful Jews.
And the second would have been known as well. It is found in the passage in Leviticus which we read this morning.
So it was rather a “no-brainer”. And if the expert meant to use it as a jumping off point to pose another question — Jesus beats him to the punch.
As with all his encounters with people, Jesus sees an opportunity.
An opportunity to open and expand understanding of God and of the Law.
And so he flips the conversation to ask a question of the Pharisees.
He asks them this question about the Messiah; who would he be descended from.
They give the “accepted” answer; King David
But when asked how he can be David’s son if David calls him Lord, they clam up.
In the same way they clammed up about John the Baptist - from fear.
To enter into that conversation would force them to think differently, to open up to possibilities of a wider meaning. Something that didn’t fit into their vision of who the Messiah would be.
So that ended the Pharisees’ trying to trip Jesus up.
But Jesus was less trying to test or trip them up as he was inviting them to be open to something they were unwilling to open.
At least at this time. For we do not know the rest of their stories.
But Jesus is always opening the word - to deepen our understanding and widen our vision of God' s love.
God is always more. Always has more to give than we can even imagine.
Fortunately we have Jesus. And when he put the two commandments together, he was showing that they really do work as one.
We see it in how he lived and in his teaching. He offers this as a plum line to measure our relationship to God and neighbor.
Bishop Mark wrapped it up well at the end of his reflection.
So I quote:
Like it or not, loving God with all your heart and soul and mind IS the same as loving your neighbor as yourself.
You cannot do either one separately. They are indistinguishable in practice. The first is the second and the second is the first.
This is the greatest commandment of all.
To love God is to love your neighbor is to love God. The greatest challenge in all of this, however, may be loving yourself the way God loves you.
Amen