• May. 20, 2007 - Dyanamis Reading: "Love the Lord Thy God with..."
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
The Holy Myrrhbearer Mary, the Wife of Cleopas
Kellia: Deuteronomy 6:1-9 Apostle: Acts
23:1-11
Gospel: St. John 16:15-23
With All our Heart: Deuteronomy 6:1-9, especially vss. 4-5 LXX: "Hear, O
Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy mind, and with all thy soul, and all thy strength."
The fourth verse, as just quoted, contains the most well-known words of
Scripture among devout Jews. It is a principal liturgical text in
synagogue worship. The ten words that follow the colon in the English
version quoted above reduce to just five words in the original Hebrew:
"Lord our God Lord echad."
The last word, echad, a transliteration from Hebrew, has at least three
meanings: "one, alone, and unique." Because Hebrew has no present form
of the verb "to be," and because of the many meanings of echad, the
Shema, as this entire verse is known among Jews, may be rendered in many
ways in other languages, all of which are implied in Hebrew. A
contemporary Rabbinic scholar translates these into English for us: "The
Lord is our God, and the Lord alone; the Lord is our God, one
indivisible Lord; the Lord our God is a unique Lord; the Lord is our
God, the Lord is unique." One can see why this scholar also calls the
Shema "a precious gem, in that the light of faith made its words sparkle
with rich brilliance of varied colors."
For Christians, the second verse quoted above (vs. 5), is even better
known, and occurs in two Gospels in two different forms (see Mt. 22:37
and Lk. 10:27). Still another form of the verse will be found in the
Septuagint version of this Deuteronomy passage (Deut. 6:5 LXX). The
point to be grasped when comparing all these versions is this: love for
God is enjoined on His People, Jew and Christian alike, and this love is
to be expressed actively in concrete behavior. Hence, the quote from
Deut. 6:5 in St. Luke serves as a prelude to the parable of the Good
Samaritan, and, thereby demonstrates how love for God is to be expressed
(Lk. 10:25-37).
Crucial to a correct application of the Shema and the Greatest
Commandment, is the requirement that follows these commands of God:
"these words, all that I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart
and in thy soul." (Deut. 6:6). The logic of God's word dictates that
"the love of God without obedience is not love," and God surely expects
us to act upon that which He commands. Hence, the Lord requires
heart-centered and continuous inward awareness of His commandments; for,
if love for God is truly established within heart and soul, it will
surely result in obedience to God's command to loving "your neighbor as
yourself" (Lev.19:18; Lk. 10:27).
Consider these thoughts, which are in the tradition of the Lord Jesus'
teaching, though from the Jewish scholar, Rosenzweig: "Of course, love
cannot be commanded. No third party can command it nor extort it. No
third party can, but the Divine One is able. The commandment to love
can only proceed from the mouth of the Lover. Only the Lover can and
does say: Love Me! - and He really does so. In His mouth the
commandment to love is not a strange, alien word or commandment; it is
none other than the voice of Love Himself!" Yes, Christ appeals to us.
Finally, how shall we Orthodox Christians fulfill the prophetic demand
to teach the Lord's commandments "to thy children?" (Deut. 6:7). Well,
if they are spoken from our hearts, then they will most certainly
communicate to our children in a manner that will make a difference,
heart to heart. That is the only way God's commands can be conveyed
with pure, lasting results. Only words from the heart ever enter a
heart to become established. If not from the heart, then our talk of
God's commandments when sitting in our homes or when we "walk by the
way" will only be head talk and our children will not embrace the words
of life.
May the saying of my mouth be unto Thy good pleasure, and the meditation
of my heart be before Thee for ever, O Lord, my Helper and Redeemer (see
Ps. 18:14 LXX). |
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