Jesus certainly knew the Hebrew Scriptures. When He was asked about the “greatest commandment,” He immediately quoted from Israel’s Shema. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength…” (Deuteronomy 6:5). That love-relationship with God is all-important.


To that command Moses had added the instruction about teaching the Law to their children, “when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” He spoke of keeping God’s Word in front of them, with tefillin (phylacteries) on the arms and foreheads, and with mezuzot on their doorframes.


Jesus, in answering the question addressed to Him, affirmed the vital importance of a relationship with His Father. Our love for God, directed by the Word of God, needs to permeate all of our lives. And the words contained in the Law – words of eternal life – are to be faithfully passed along. Especially for parents, those words are
worth repeating!