Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-39).
Rabbinic teaching and debating focused around asking and answering questions. When the Sadducees and Pharisees asked Jesus questions, they were not treating Jesus poorly, they were engaging Him in formal debate. Any traveling rabbi (and that was not uncommon) who came to town would be treated the same.
The question, “what is the most important commandment,” was a standard way of discerning where a rabbi stood theologically, and to discern what quality of rabbi he was. If Jesus did not know the answer, it would have been very easy for the Pharisees to discredit Him. Jesus responds by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 respectively.
The most important doctrine to know, the objective truth, the proposition that needed to be known more than any other is Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and Love your neighbor as yourself. And what do these truths teach? They teach that the most important thing is that we live a life of love, with God and with one another. The truth directs us into relationship, first with God, and then with one another.
To understand the law, one must understand that it is relational. To know the law means both correctly interpreting it, and correctly living it out in our relationships.
Christianity is both rational and relational. Healthy doctrine leads to a godly life of love. Christianity involves truth, it involves reason, but this truth finds its ultimate expression not in a creed or doctrinal statement, but in relationship.
Learning To Be Full Of Grace And Truth. 