One God, One Law, One Life, One Love

When a scribe asked Jesus what he thought was the greatest commandment, the answer Jesus gave may have seemed odd to the scribe and certainly to us. It is odd, because the first thing Jesus points to doesn’t appear to be a command at all. It’s a confession that every Israelite said every day – “Hear, O Israel, ‘The Lord, our God, the Lord is one.’ Or, is it? If we look more carefully, it is a command—a command to “hear”.  But who do we hear, and what do we hear? How do we hear it, and what happens to us and to others when we hear the voice of the God who gives life by his words?