Gospel in Art: On these two commandments depend all the Law

A small pendant Cross, made in Constantinople, Byzantine, 1100 AD, Gold and enamel cloisonné, © Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 22 August 2025
Matthew 22:34-40

At that time: When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 'Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?' And he said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.'

Reflection on the Gold Pendant

In the time of Jesus, Jewish tradition held that there were 613 commandments within the Law, each to be observed with fidelity. Yet, in practical terms, not all carried the same weight. Some were seen as foundational, others as extensions or expressions of those core principles. When the Pharisee asked Jesus in today's Gospel reading, "Which commandment in the Law is the greatest?" it wasn't merely an inquiry. It was a test, designed to trip Him up, hoping He might downplay one law in favour of another. But Jesus responds with striking clarity and wisdom. He doesn't choose one commandment alone, but instead unites two: the call to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and the command to love our neighbour as ourselves. While both were known in Jewish tradition, placing them side by side and giving them equal weight was a profound and uncommon move.

Jesus makes love the cornerstone: not just one commandment among many, but the very heart upon which the entire Law and the Prophets depend. Love for God must be total, nothing held back, no area of life untouched. Yet that divine love cannot remain enclosed; it must overflow into love for others. In loving God with all that we are, we are drawn into God's own love for the world. Our love for neighbour thus becomes not just an ethical duty, but a reflection of God's own heart. Love goes full circle. Thus, the path of discipleship is both vertical and horizontal: reaching upward in devotion and outward in compassion. The horizontal and vertical together, making up the cross.

Speaking of crosses and circles, it made me think of this small Byzantine pendant cross, circa 1100, featuring circles on the cross. This small cross is among the earliest known examples of a Christian crucifix designed specifically to be worn around the neck. While crosses and crucifixes had long been crafted for liturgical use in churches or for private devotion within the home, the practice of wearing a crucifix as personal adornment and a public declaration of faith was still relatively new in the 11th and 12th centuries. Such pendants were initially reserved for the Byzantine elite, combining devotional function with exceptional craftsmanship. The cross is decorated with intricate floral patterns worked in multicoloured cloisonné enamel, on a single sheet of gold, a tour de force of enameler's art.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's Reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/matthew-22-34-40-2025/