Just a few days before He went to the cross, Jesus was teaching in the Temple. He had just answered a trick question from the Sadducees concerning resurrection. When the Pharisees saw that Jesus had silenced their rivals, they asked a question of their own. “. . . One of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” (Matthew 22:35–36).

Jesus answered by citing a key passage of Scripture called the “Shema Yisrael.” The title comes from the Hebrew word for “Hear, O Israel.” This passage is a call to the nation of Israel to pay attention, to listen, to give earnest heed to the commandment about to be given.