Scripture Reflections

On Sunday, we read Jesus’ response to the question, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered the question by quoting Deuteronomy 6:4-5—"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
 
These verses (called The Shema, which means “hear”)—are the centerpiece of the Jewish prayer life. Every morning and evening, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one…” was recited by Jews in the time of Jesus (and continues to be recited by Jewish communities all around the world even to this day). According to rabbinic teaching, saying this prayer was a means of saying “yes” to the kingdom of God. (This makes Jesus’ response to the scribe, “You are not far from the kingdom…” make sense!)
 
The declaration that the LORD is one might seem a bit odd to our ears, and a Christian might wonder how the Trinity fits into this declaration. (The answer is that God is indeed one, but this singular God exists in three persons.) The statement has little to do with counting, though! Its implication is that the LORD is unique; he alone is God—there is none other besides him. Of all beings that a person might worship, he is before the others, in a class by himself. We might say, “He is preeminent, singular, and different.” When Moses followed this declaration with, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might,” he was making it clear that the LORD alone deserves our full affection, obedience, and worship.
 
This declaration is as needed now as it was then. True, we are unlikely to be tempted to worship some other divine being or some manmade idol. But we are still tempted to give our love, our affection, our obedience, even our worship to things and people that are not the LORD. In this election season, when we are tempted to look for deliverance, security, and prosperity from the hands of political leaders and parties (or despair of ever receiving deliverance, security, and prosperity because of those same leaders!), let us remember that the LORD is unique. He alone is God, and he alone deserves our love and service.
 
In Christ,
Steven+