Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

a. Mark 12.28-31 pars.
Matt. 22.35-40
35 ... one of them [Pharisees],
a lawyer,
asked him a question to test
him. 36 'Teacher, which
commandment in the law is the
greatest?' 37 He said to him,
'"You shall love the Lord vour
God with all vour heart, and
with all vour soul, and with all
your mind".
38 This is the
greatest and first commandment.
39 The second is like it: "You
shall love vour neighbour as
yourself. 40 On these two
commandments hang all the law
and the prophets'.
THE MISSION OF JESUS
Mark 12.28-31
28 One of the scribes came
near and heard them disputing
with one another, and seeing
that he answered them well, he
asked him,
'Which
commandment is the first of
all?' 29 Jesus answered, 'The
first is, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord
our God, the Lord is one; 30
and vou shall love the Lord vour
God with all vour heart, and
with all vour soul, and with all
vour mind, and with all your
strength".
31 The second is this, "You
shall love vour neighbour as
yourself. There is no other
commandment greater than
these'.
Luke 10.25-28
J14.5
25 Just then a lawyer stood up
to test him, saying,
'Teacher, what
must I do to inherit eternal life?'
26 He said to him, 'What is
written in the law? What do you
read there?' 27 He answered,
'"You shall love the Lord vour
God with all vour heart, and
with all vour soul, and with all
your strength, and with all vour
mind;
and vour neighbour as
yourself". 28 And he said to
him, 'You have given the right
answer; do this, and you will
live'.
There is no doubt that the injunction to 'Love your neighbour as you love yourself
was a central principle and key motivation in earliest Christian paraenesis;
the attestation puts that beyond question. 181 Such a consistent singling out of just
this commandment (Lev. 19.18) can hardly be coincidental. Nor is it likely that
the emphasis was due to some unknown teacher or that it arose spontaneously at
the same time in several Christian circles. 182 When the Jesus tradition contains
such a clear memory that Jesus had elevated Lev. 19.18 to such prominence, the
most obvious explanation must be that it was the impact of just that teaching
which ensured its continuing importance among those who named Jesus as
181. Rom. 13.8-10; Gal. 5.14; Jas. 2.8; Did. 1.2; 2.7; Barn. 19.5; GTh 25; cf. John 15.12.
In the same spirit is the consistent Pauline exhortation to consideration for others (as in Rom.
12.9-10; 15.1-2; Phil. 2.1-5).
182. Explicit references to Lev. 19.18 are lacking in Jewish literature prior to Jesus, and
such allusions as there are give it no particular prominence, though subsequently the opinion is
attributed to Rabbi Akiba (early second century) that Lev. 19.18 is 'the greatest general principle
in the Torah' (Sipra on Lev. 19.18); see my Romans 778-80, referring particularly to
A. Nissen, Gott und der Nächste im antiken Judentum. Untersuchungen zum Doppelgebot der
Liebe (WUNT 15: Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1974), and K. Berger, Die Gesetzauslegung Jesu I
(WMANT 40; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener, 1972) 50-55, 80-136; data also in Davies and
Allison, Matthew 3.237-38; Theissen and Merz, Historical Jesus 384-90; M. Reiser, 'Love of
Enemies in the Context of Antiquity', NTS 47 (2001) 411-27.
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