What Is the Jesus Creed?

Daily, when awaking and when retiring, the observant Jew recites aloud a creed. This creed is lifted from the Bible, from one of the books of Moses, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, along with two other texts. (It is completely presented in the

section at the end of the book.) This sacred Jewish creed is called the

(pronounced, Ske-me or Sh'ma). Anyone who wants to understand what Jesus means by spiritual formation needs to meditate on the

of Judaism. It is the Jewish creed of spiritual formation, and Jesus liked it and, as we will see, transformed it for his followers:

According to a specialist of modern Jewish devotion, the

"is the first 'prayer' that [Jewish] children are taught to say," and it is the "quintessential expression of the most fundamental belief and commitment of Judaism.

The

expresses what is most important for spiritual formation:

(the sacred Hebrew name for God) alone is Israel's God, Israel is chosen by God, and Israel is to love God--with heart, soul, and strength. The

outlines a

lifestyle for spiritual formation: memorize, recite, instruct, and write out the

, and wear

(fringes) to remind themselves of

. There is promise attached to living life according to the

: when Jews lived by the

they would be "blessed" beyond imagination.

One can say, then, that the creed of Judaism is this: Love God by living the

. So where does Jesus stand in a world of Judaism that affirms a

of loving God by living the

?

As a good Jew, Jesus devotionally recites the

daily. Later in his life, he encounters an expert in the law who asks him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" For a Jew this man's question is the ultimate question about spiritual formation. He is asking for the spiritual center of Judaism. He thinks Jesus might know. He does.

Jesus answers the man by reciting the

but adds to it, and in so doing, transforms a creed so he can shape the spiritual center of his followers. I call it the

Jesus Creed

.

"Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,

with all your mind, and with all your strength." [So far, so good;

this is Deuteronomy. 6:4-5.1]

[And now Jesus adds a verse from Leviticus. 19:18.] The second is this: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

There is no commandment greater than these.

Right here we discover the

for spiritual formation. As Thomas a Kempis puts it, in the

Jesus has "put a whole dictionary into just one dictum:" Everything about spiritual formation for Jesus is shaped by his version of the

. For Jesus, love of God and love of others is the core. Love, a term almost indefinable, is unconditional regard for a person that prompts and shapes behaviors in order to help that person to become what God desires. Love, when working properly, is both emotion and will, affection and action.

We cannot overemphasize the importance of the

for Jewish spiritual formation. So when Jesus amended the

, we need to take note. To be sure, Jesus accepted the

, but he also added to it. The question we then ask is this: Is Jesus suggesting only a subtle amendment? No. It takes real pluck (or chutzpah) to add to the sacred

, but this addition reveals the heart of the

.

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