29 ἀπεκρίθη ὁ Ἰησοῦς ὅτι πρώτη ἐστίν· ἄκουε, Ἰσραήλ, κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν κύριος εἷς ἐστιν, 30 καὶ ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς διανοίας σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ἰσχύος σου. 31 δευτέρα αὕτη· ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν. μείζων τούτων ἄλλη ἐντολὴ οὐκ ἔστιν.
Jesus answered, “The first one (commandment) is, ‘Hear, Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord, and you will love the Lord your God from your whole heart, from your whole soul, from your whole understanding, and from your whole strength.’ The second one is this, ‘you will love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:29-31
πλησίον (neighbor)
In the Old Testament, a neighbor was a fellow hebrew, but Jesus expanded that role in his teaching.
“According to the teaching of Christ, any other man irrespective of race or religion with whom we live or whom we chance to meet (which idea is clearly brought out in the parable Luke 10:25-37)” Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament
How have we been treating our neighbor’s lately? Do you think Jesus would approve?
And Jesus asked those around Him, "who is my mother, my brother, and my sister?"
ReplyDeleteHe might have also asked, "who are you"?
Great reminder, thanks.