Fr. Nicolae Steinhardt: Commentary on the Parable of the Last Judgment
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In the text of the Last Judgment (Matthew 25:31-46), the emphasis suddenly falls on the human being. Throughout the New Testament (and in the Old Testament as well), the priority is to love God: the commandment tells us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love for others, even though it is deemed no less important, is included in the second commandment, somehow subordinated to the first, as a sort of consequence of the first (Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27). This is how it appears in Matthew, Mark and Luke (‘“Love your neighbor as yourself “ appears in the Old Testament - Leviticus 19:18 - in passing too). In the parable of the Last Judgment, however, the love for one’s neighbor is not only the first but the only commandment mentioned.
Fr. Nicolae Steinhardt: Commentary on the Parable of the Last Judgment
Fr. Nicolae Steinhardt: Commentary on the…
Fr. Nicolae Steinhardt: Commentary on the Parable of the Last Judgment
In the text of the Last Judgment (Matthew 25:31-46), the emphasis suddenly falls on the human being. Throughout the New Testament (and in the Old Testament as well), the priority is to love God: the commandment tells us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love for others, even though it is deemed no less important, is included in the second commandment, somehow subordinated to the first, as a sort of consequence of the first (Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27). This is how it appears in Matthew, Mark and Luke (‘“Love your neighbor as yourself “ appears in the Old Testament - Leviticus 19:18 - in passing too). In the parable of the Last Judgment, however, the love for one’s neighbor is not only the first but the only commandment mentioned.