Jesus has entered Jerusalem (Mark 11:1-11) and has had several confrontations with the priests, scribes, Herodians and Saducees, who questioned him about a variety of isues in the hope of trapping him. He must have been very disheartened at the refusal of his own people to listen to him and exhausted with all their hostile challenges. Then, unexpectedly, one of their number presented himself with a very different attitude. He wanted to know what was the greatest commandment. This would probably have been a topic of daily discussion among the learned people of the day, for there were over six hundred commandments! Unlike his colleagues, his learning drew him towards Jesus rather than against him.
Jesus gave an answer which was embedded in Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Leviticus 19:18, texts which treated the topics of love of God and neighbour. Jesus was drawing on the richness of Jewish teaching and speaking of the law of love rather than empty observance. It reminds us how much we owe to the wisdom of the chosen people, accrued through the centuries, from whom our Saviour was born and in whose beliefs was nourished.