Please read the passage before the commentary.
What is the greatest commandment of the law? Jesus answers the question first by quoting the superiority of God and then proclaims that therefore we must love God first and most of all (cf. Deuteronomy 6:4). He then quotes another scripture to the effect that we must love our neighbors as ourselves. Jesus, however, did not invent this second commandment, it is found in Leviticus 19:18.
It is also worth noting that this dialogue with the scribe and Jesus flows from a sincere desire of the scribe for Jesus’ opinion. The question was frequently discussed in Jewish circles.
We might note that Jews use the passage from Deuteronomy as a profession of faith, while Christians use it as a saying of Jesus, and Muslims use it as a call to worship (Allahu Akbar, God is greater).
The scribe and Jesus had a good discussion on the primacy of God. Perhaps this is a sign that Jewish, Muslim and Christians should be discussing the first of all the commandments of God instead of lobbing missiles and sinking each other’s ships in acts of war.
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