<p>22:39&nbsp;<em>And the second is like it</em>- The Lord is thus putting two commandments together to form one. Hence Mk. 12:31 records Him concluding, having quoted the two commandments: &ldquo;There is none other commandment singular greater than these plural&rdquo;.</p><p><em>You shall love your neighbour as yourself</em>- This is indeed a challenge; not only to love ourselves, but to relate to our neighbour as to ourselves. It suggests a unique unity between us and our neighbour within the Israel of God. That humanly impossible unity is only achievable by loving the one God. To love God and our brother is all part of the same thing. It is indivisible; the two commandments are in fact one commandment in practice. To claim to love God but not love or even be involved with our brother means, therefore, that we don&rsquo;t actually love God. John makes this explicit in 1 Jn. 4:1, and much of the Lord&rsquo;s teaching does likewise. Yet our tendency is to isolate them, claiming to love God whilst ignoring our brother, and maintaining a strong sense of separation from him.</p>