The Sadducees and Pharisees were political enemies. Much like political parties today, when the Pharisees heard that the Sadducees had failed to trap Jesus in his words, they tried their hand at it. They sent someone who was proficient in getting someone tangled in their own words. They sent a lawyer.
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” The attorney was sure he had crafted the best of question. Whichever command Jesus chose, the questioner could point out the significance of another one.
Jesus left the Pharisees dumbfounded when he said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great command. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and Prophets” (Mt 22:3-40). There was nothing the attorney could protest. These two commandments indeed covered all commandments.
If all our interactions with others are based on these two statements, we cannot help but please God.
