LUKE 10:25–28
THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT
BRIEF INTERPRETATION
Text – Luke 10:25–28
25 There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test him and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?”
27 He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
28 He replied to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”
Historical and Jewish Context
The “scholar of the law” was an expert in the Torah, trained to interpret Scripture and apply it to daily life. His question reflects a common rabbinic concern: identifying the core of the Law. Jesus responds in typical rabbinic fashion—by turning the question back to the questioner. The scholar quotes two well-known passages: Deut 6:5 (love of God) and Lev 19:18 (love of neighbor). Jewish teachers often debated how to summarize the Law; combining these two verses was already part of Jewish thought, but Jesus affirms their unity and centrality. “Inherit eternal life” reflects Jewish belief in the resurrection and life with God.
Catholic Theological Perspective
Jesus reveals that the heart of the moral life is love—total love of God and genuine love of neighbor. Love is not merely an emotion but a wholehearted commitment of heart, soul, strength, and mind. The unity of these commandments expresses the inseparable connection between love of God and love of neighbor. Catholic theology emphasizes that eternal life is not earned by works alone but received through grace, yet lived out through the obedience of love. Jesus’ affirmation—“Do this and you will live”—points to the transformative power of charity, the highest theological virtue.
Parallels in Scripture
Deut 6:5 – The Shema, central Jewish confession of faith.
Lev 19:18 – Call to love one’s neighbor.
Mt 22:34–40; Mk 12:28–34 – Jesus identifies these as the greatest commandments.
Rom 13:8–10 – Love fulfills the entire law.
1 Jn 4:7–12 – Love of God and neighbor as inseparable.
Key Terms
Scholar of the law – Expert interpreter of Torah.
Inherit eternal life – Participate in God’s life through covenant fidelity.
Love the Lord… and your neighbor – Foundation of all moral and spiritual life.
Do this and you will live – Call to active, lived charity.
Catholic Liturgical Significance
This teaching is proclaimed frequently in both weekday and Sunday Masses, forming a cornerstone of Christian moral instruction. It guides catechesis on the Ten Commandments, virtue, and Catholic social teaching. It also provides the foundation for examining conscience and understanding the primacy of charity in Christian life.
Conclusion
Jesus brings the scholar to articulate the heart of God’s law: love of God and neighbor. This commandment is the path to true life. Christianity is not merely a set of rules but a relationship rooted in love.
Reflection
Do I love God with all my heart, mind, and strength? How do I show love to my neighbor, especially those who are difficult? Jesus invites me to live out this commandment daily, allowing love to shape every part of my life.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, fill my heart with genuine love for You and for my neighbor. Help me to live Your commandments fully and joyfully. May every thought, word, and action reflect the love that leads to eternal life. Amen.
DETAILED INTERPRETATION
INTRODUCTION
Luke 10:25–28 presents a dialogue between Jesus and a scholar of the Law that goes straight to the heart of Jewish faith. In first-century Judaism, the Law (Torah) was understood as God’s gift that guided life, worship, and moral conduct. The question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” reflects a sincere concern rooted in covenant faithfulness. By asking this question, the lawyer acknowledges that eternal life is connected to obedience to God’s revealed will.
Historically, Jesus responds by directing the lawyer back to the Scriptures themselves. The answer—love of God with one’s whole being and love of neighbor as oneself—draws from Deuteronomy and Leviticus, texts central to Jewish daily prayer and identity. Jesus affirms this response, showing continuity rather than opposition between His teaching and the Law. Yet He adds a crucial challenge: knowing the commandment is not enough; it must be lived. Eternal life is found not in intellectual mastery of the Law, but in faithful love expressed through action.
Luke 10:25 — “And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’”
A lawyer—Torah expert—tests Jesus publicly, seeking eternal inheritance formula amid Kingdom discourse. This initiates pivotal dialogue probing love’s fulfillment, contrasting intellectual probe with disciple intimacy.
Luke transitions from private beatitude to public scrutiny: lawyer’s question echoes Deuteronomy’s covenant life (Deut 30:15-20), testing Messiah’s authority on salvation’s core.
Historical and Jewish Context
Lawyers (nomikoi) mastered oral Torah, debating halakha; “inherit eternal life” invokes Second Temple eschatology (Dan 12:2), fusing Mosaic obedience with messianic hope.
Catholic Theological Perspective
Catholic soteriology roots here: faith works through love (CCC 1814-1816, Gal 5:6), answered fully in parable. Question reveals human quest for security, fulfilled in Christocentric charity.
Spiritually, believers echo lawyer: eternal life demands action, answered by double-love commandment.
Key Terms
Lawyer stood up — public challenge posture.
Put him to the test — probing orthodoxy.
Inherit eternal life — covenant/eschatological reward.
Conclusion
Luke 10:25 launches salvation inquiry: lawyer tests Jesus on eternal inheritance, bridging law to gospel love.
Reflection
What tests my grasp of eternal life? Do I seek secure inheritance through love?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, tested Teacher, reveal eternal life’s path clearly. Guide lawyers’ questions to neighborly love. Amen.
Luke 10:26 — “He said to him, ‘What is written in the Law? How do you read it?’”
Jesus counters the lawyer’s test with Socratic redirection: Torah holds eternal life’s answer—what does the expert read there? This invites self-examination, shifting from provocation to personal interpretation of sacred text.
Luke models dialogic wisdom: Messiah elicits truth from questioner, fulfilling rabbinic method while exposing legalism’s limits before unveiling gospel charity.
Historical and Jewish Context
Jesus invokes Deut 6:5 and Lev 19:18’s Shema/holiness code, central to Pharisaic catechism. “How do you read” probes hermeneutics—letter vs. spirit—echoing Hillel/Shammai debates.
Catholic Theological Perspective
Catholic exegesis sees here scriptural primacy guiding conscience (CCC 131-133, Dei Verbum 21). Jesus affirms Law’s goodness, fulfilled in Christocentric reading loving God/neighbor wholly.
Spiritually, believers heed personal reading: Scripture demands heart-response, not mere recitation.
Key Terms
What is written — Torah’s authority.
How do you read — interpretive responsibility.
In the Law — Mosaic covenant core.
Conclusion
Luke 10:26 turns test to teaching: Jesus directs lawyer to Torah’s text, probing personal love-reading.
Reflection
How do I read Law’s love-command? Does Scripture convict or confirm my heart?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, Torah-Teacher, attune our reading to Your fulfillment. Turn questions to love’s obedience. Amen.
Luke 10:27 — “He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’”
The lawyer responds accurately with Torah’s double commandment: total love for God from heart, soul, strength, mind, matched by neighbor-love paralleling self-love. This encapsulates covenant life, uniting vertical worship with horizontal charity as eternal inheritance’s path.
Luke unveils salvation’s summary: lawyer grasps orthodoxy intellectually, yet Jesus probes praxis next, bridging Deuteronomic Shema with Levitical mercy for gospel wholeness.
Historical and Jewish Context
Combines Deut 6:5’s Shema (total God-love) with Lev 19:18’s neighbor command, Hillel’s “whole Torah” summary. Lawyer’s fourfold “all” intensifies OT devotion, anticipating rabbinic golden rule.
Catholic Theological Perspective
Catholic moral theology crowns this “greatest commandment” (CCC 2055, 2196), fulfilled in Christ’s two tables: God-love through sacraments, neighbor-love through works of mercy. Beatitudes incarnate this dual axis.
Spiritually, believers pursue holistic integration: interior affections fuel outward action, mirroring Trinitarian communion.
Key Terms
Love the Lord…with all — total, undivided devotion.
Your neighbor as yourself — empathetic self-identification.
Heart, soul, strength, mind — comprehensive human faculties.
Conclusion
Luke 10:27 distills eternal life: lawyer cites perfect Torah summary—total God-love plus neighbor charity—as salvation’s way.
Reflection
Do I love God with all faculties and neighbors as self? Where does partial obedience limit inheritance?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, who affirmed love’s summary, consume our hearts wholly for God and neighbors. Fulfill Torah in our charity. Amen.
Luke 10:28 — “And he said to him, ‘You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.’”
Jesus affirms the lawyer’s Torah summary as correct, commanding its practice for eternal life: intellectual orthodoxy demands obedient praxis—love God/neighbor concretely to inherit salvation. This bridges theory to action, exposing knowledge without works as insufficient.
Luke advances dialogue: right answer merits divine commendation, yet fulfillment requires living the double commandment amid testing context.
Historical and Jewish Context
Echoes Deut 30:6’s “do this and live” covenant formula, affirming Mosaic path fulfilled christologically. Rabbinic tradition stressed praxis over gnosis, probing lawyer’s consistency next.
Catholic Theological Perspective
Catholic soteriology insists faith working through love (CCC 1814-1816, Jas 2:17): sacraments vivify commandment, meriting life through grace-enabled obedience. Jesus calls total charity incarnating Law’s spirit.
Spiritually, believers heed imperative: “do this” demands daily mercies mirroring self-love toward God and others.
Key Terms
Answered correctly — doctrinal orthodoxy affirmed.
Do this — praxis imperative.
You will live — covenant/eternal vitality.
Conclusion
Luke 10:28 approves love-commandment: correct knowledge plus obedience secures eternal life.
Reflection
Do I merely know love’s law or live it daily? What “doing” proves my inheritance?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, who commended obedient love, empower us to do Torah’s summary perfectly. Grant life through charity’s works. Amen.
CONCLUSION
For believers today, Luke 10:25–28 reminds us that the core of faith is love. Christianity is not primarily about complex rules, but about a relationship with God that transforms how we love others. Jesus affirms that love of God and love of neighbor cannot be separated; one proves the other. This passage invites us to examine whether our faith is lived out concretely in compassion, justice, and mercy.
At the same time, this Gospel challenges us to move beyond minimal obedience. The command to love “with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind” calls for total commitment. Eternal life begins not only after death, but here and now, when our lives are shaped by self-giving love. To “do this and live” is an invitation to a way of life rooted in love that reflects God’s own heart.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, You reveal that the greatest commandment is love. Teach us to love God with our whole being and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Free us from a faith that remains only in words, and shape our lives through genuine acts of compassion and mercy. May our love reflect Your love, leading us into the fullness of life You promise. Amen.