Spiritual Hiccups - What Must I Do?

Today's gospel contains the famous parable of the "Good Samaritan."  The parable is intriguing enough in own right, with its use of a despised Samaritan to demonstrate acting neighborly.  But I was struck by the lawyer's original question to Jesus, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

Now I presume that if the lawyer were to ask this question today to a group of Christians, a significant number of them would say something to the effect that "You must believe in Jesus and profess him as your Savior."  But the curious thing is that Jesus' own answer says nothing of the sort.  Jesus simply queries the lawyer (a religious scholar and not what we mean by "lawyer" today) about what the law says. The lawyer responds by quoting Scripture, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your  soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." 

Upon hearing his answer, Jesus responds, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live."  There is no "You need something more," no "You lack but one thing."  Jesus simply says that if he loves God and neighbor, that is sufficient.

Now I am acutely aware of the hazards inherent in creating grand theologies from small snippets of Scripture.  But if Jesus thinks that loving God and neighbor is enough, who I am to insist otherwise?

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