👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽#The #Law and #Prophets #Stand #On #These #Two #Commandments (#Matthew 22:40)
(Part 1)
Beloved followers of the Orthodox faith, we greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose word is eternal, whose commandments are unshaken, and whose love is the foundation upon which all the law and the prophets stand. Today, we present to you a reflection on the supreme teaching spoken by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, a teaching that encapsulates the entirety of divine law: Love.
The Primacy of Love
Love, dear brethren, is the bond of all things. It is the golden thread that weaves through the fabric of divine law and prophetic utterances. It is the seal that perfects all virtue, the principle that breathes life into every righteous deed, and the fulfillment of every commandment given to mankind. If a person possesses love, he possesses the essence of the law. Without love, all knowledge, all prophecy, all miracles, and all acts of religious devotion are but empty noise and vanity.
The wise Apostle Paul, speaking by the Spirit of God, affirms that among all divine gifts prophecy, tongues, wisdom, knowledge, and miraculous power love is the greatest. He declares: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13:1). Love is superior to the working of miracles, greater than raising the dead, more excellent than healing the sick, and above the offering of one's body for sacrifice. For these gifts are distributed according to God’s will and given only to some, while love is a universal commandment, bestowed upon all.
Understanding the Nature of Love
Who among men can fully grasp the depth of love? Who can express its nature in a single word or phrase? Love itself is divine, for God is love (1 John 4:8). Just as the infinite God cannot be contained within human language, so too can love not be reduced to mere words. To know love is to know God, for love is His very essence. We perceive God’s love through His grace, His fatherly kindness, and His unwavering protection, yet we cannot confine such a mystery within the limits of speech.
Saint John the Evangelist, that great disciple of love, expounds the teaching of our Lord with the utmost clarity. Love surpasses all laws, all sacrifices, all miracles, and all wisdom. It is not bound to a select few, as are the gifts of healing or prophecy, but is granted to all who truly seek God.
The Diversity of Gifts, The Universality of Love
The divine economy has ordained that not all men receive the same gifts:
He who possesses the gift of healing may not be granted the gift of preaching.
He who has the wisdom to teach may not be endowed with the power to work miracles.
He who performs great wonders may not be given the ability to instruct the ignorant.
Each man, according to his measure, receives from the Lord’s treasury the gifts appropriate to his calling. Yet, love is given to all, without exception. There is no soul so impoverished that it cannot love, no mind so simple that it cannot understand love, no heart so hardened that it cannot be softened by love. Since love is granted universally, each person is obligated to cultivate it, to nurture it, and to express it in every deed.
Continues 👇🏽