(Part Two in the Two Greatest Commandments series.)
In 1 John, love of neighbor is synonymous with loving God.
“Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” (1 John 4:20)
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(Read this series from its beginning here.)
A popular Jewish wisdom proverb says that before each person there walks an angel proclaiming, “Behold the image of God.” Every member of our human family bears the image of God. Think about that for just one moment. In this life, the closest encounter we will ever have with anything God-like is with our fellow members of the human family, or neighbor. This teaching prioritizes community over individualistic or isolated personal piety. It’s not about how holy one may be all alone but about how we all engage the world around us. How do we relate socially, economically, and politically to those we share a home with on our planet?
The Archbishop of Constantinople Saint John Chrysostom was born in Antioch around 347 C.E.,was one one of four great doctors of the Eastern Church. On this subject he stated:
”This is the rule of most perfect Christianity, its most exact definition, its highest point, namely, the seeking of the commonwealth; for nothing can so make a person an imitator of Christ as caring for neighbors.”
This idea was so central to the Jesus movement when the gospels were written that they equated loving one’s neighbor to loving Jesus himself.
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me . . . He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’” (Matthew 25:40, 45)
We’ll consider one way we can love our neighbor, right now, next.
(Read Part 3)
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