Mark 12:28-34 (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)
One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one;30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; 33 and ‘to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question.
Here is a man who is serious about his faith.
He knows that God is real and that God cares enough about us to communicate with us.
God communicates, this man was convinced, especially through Scripture.
I want to know, he asks Jesus, how to sort it all out.
If I’m to live well, what is the one truly important thing to hold on to?
Which commandment is greatest of all?
Jesus turns to a beloved portion of the book of Deuteronomy that devout Jews recited twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. It’s called the Shema, which means hear, because it starts like this, Hear, O Israel.
It says, listen up, this is important. It’s important to know that the Lord our God is one. And it’s important that you lovethe Lord, not just a little bit but completely, with your whole self, your heart, your soul, your mind, and your strength.
So there you have it. Love the Lord.
Jesus could have stopped right there. Love the Lord. That is first of all the commandments.
But Jesus adds something else.
.
There is a second commandment. And the two belong together.
To really sort out what is important in our life with God, you need both commandments.
It’s not that Jesus is dismissing the importance of the Shema, not at all. He is saying that there is a second commandment that is also great. This is, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Here are two things, easy to remember.
They’re easy to remember because they’re both concerned with love.
Jesus tells us to love God and love our neighbor.
This makes perfect sense because, even after so many material things and venerable institutions have vanished forever, these two will remain, God and our neighbor.
So we love the Lord and we love our neighbor. Theres two will never come to an end.
They are forever.
But how do we love God? How do we love our neighbor?
The Shema, Love the Lord, is calling for worship. The one God is worthy of praise.
Nothing less than total commitment to the Lord makes sense.
We express our love for God through worship.
The first commandment invites us to worship.
Along with worship, it calls for us to live with gratitude for all that the Lord has done for us. And it calls us to love the Lord our God by doing what God commands us to do.
How do we love our neighbor?
I suppose that there is no end to the number of ways we can fulfill that second great commandment.
But it seems that, if you’re a Christian, you cannot love your neighbor without praying. Sometimes that’s all you can do. Are you praying to the Lord for the people in your world?
Of course, there will be plenty of opportunities to serve. What is needed? What are you able to do? One particular way of serving that is in short supply these days is to listen well. There is a lot of pretend listening going on, but the real thing is an act of love, a costly act of love. We love our neighbor as ourselves when we put ourselves out, suspending our own agenda long enough to pay close attention to our neighbor.
I heard a podcast the other day called “Politics, the Bible. and the 2024 Election”. The speaker, Matthew Myer Boulton, took us back to these same two great commandments, love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor as yourself. This is great counsel for Christians who are taking part in our political life. How can I love my neighbor as myself in the way that I vote as well as in the way that I listen and speak on all of the matters that are on the ballot this year? What a great thing it would be if everyone would aim to keep the two great commandments during this 2024 election!
Jesus lays out these two commandments and says, There is no other commandment greater than these. It’s not that we write off all the others. They have their place.
But he helps that scribe, and he helps us, his current followers, by cutting through all of the complexities and all the clutter.
In Christian life, there are two things we must never neglect. Love the Lord your God with your whole self. And love your neighbor as yourself.
