"The first and greatest of all the commandments is this, 'Hear, O ye people of Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.' And the second commandment is this, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.' There is no other commandment greater than these two."
To love God with all the heart is to do God's will, not because we must do it, but because we love to do it and find joy in doing it. And to love our neighbor means to feel an interest in our fellow-men and to do for them whatever we would wish to have them do for us.
"You are right, Teacher!" said the scribe in answer to Jesus. "It is true, as you say, that there is one God; and there is no other God besides him. And to love God with the whole heart, and with the whole mind, and with the whole strength; and to love one's fellow-man as one's self—this is far beyond all offerings upon the altar!"
Ruins at the place where Jesus foretold the destruction of Jerusalem
Jesus saw that this man's words were true and good and that he had the right thought of our duty to God and to our fellow-man. He said to him:
"You are not far from the kingdom of God."
This was the last question put to Jesus. No one ventured to ask him any more, for they were afraid of his wonderful answers. The chief priests and the rulers were more and more angry at him, but the common people listened to him willingly.
While Jesus was teaching he in his turn asked a question of the Pharisees and teachers of the law.
"Tell me," he said, "what you think of the Messiah-Christ, the King of Israel, promised to come. Whose son is he?"