And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
Matthew 22:39 and 40
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As yourself
The first commandment is to love God. Jesus takes the second from Leviticus. There it sits among rules about the harvest, a day labourer's wages and fair judgment in court. Ordinary, practical love, in other words. And he adds that everything in the Law and the Prophets depends on these two.
Without even thinking, you look after your own food, your own home, your own good name. Jesus asks you to give that same care to someone else. In Luke, an expert in the law names the same two commandments and then asks: who is my neighbour? Jesus answers with the parable of the good Samaritan.
Question for today
Who is my neighbour today, and what would I need if I were in their place?
Prayer
God, you ask me to love you, and to love the person next to me as well. Teach me to care for someone else the way I care for myself. Amen.
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