Mark 12:28-34 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.
At the end of this exchange between Jesus and the teacher, there were no other questions, for what else could be said about loving and serving God? Anything else would be mere religious discourse, peripheral to worshipping and yielding to the living God. At all times, the religious leaders’ intended to discredit Jesus’ teachings, but the wisdom in Jesus' responses confounded them. What could they say to counter his words when He lifted up God? The teachers of the law despised Jesus and feared his teaching, for they knew his theology could bring down their kingdom and destroy their position of authority in the Jewish culture. In the above passage, we see Jesus performing the coup de grace to their traditions of men and show of holiness. Their day of religiosity was over if the people followed this man, Jesus. Jesus revealed the essence of serving the living God. Jesus knew as John declared, God is love. (1 John 4:8) He knew as John also said that if you do not have love, you do not know God. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, and all who plotted to destroy Jesus erred in this domain: they did not understand the love of the Father. God’s eternal domain is based upon unreserved, unconditional love. Jesus said we are to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute or abuse us. God’s efficacious love revealed in scripture heals, restores, and sets the captives free. Sin, the opposite of love, found a foothold in God's creation through Adam and Eve’s disobedience. Yet love displayed as the cross dislodges sin's destructive hold on men and women’s hearts. Only love could dislodge sin from it's fierce position of strength in the hearts of sinful people. Christ defeated sin once and for all time through his sacrifice as He gave himself for our sins. God's love conquers all. The victory was won!
When Jesus stated the two royal commandments of love, He said it all. He condensed the gospel into two commands. First we are to love the Lord wholeheartedly with all that is within us. Without that commitment of love, we cannot perform the second command to love others as we love ourselves. This is the love of God at work in our hearts and minds; this is love in action. We see this love in operation throughout the Bible. Cain was to take care of his brother. In answer to God's question: Yes, he was his brother's keeper. He had a responsibility to shelter and to protect the brother God gave to him. Love takes care of brothers and sisters: it does not destroy them. We see Abraham following God’s command to sacrifice Isaac. He proved his love and respect for God by obeying God. Believing God would miraculously fulfill his promises, Abraham willingly gave his all as an offering to his Lord. Jesus said, If you love me, you will obey what I command. (John 14:15) Moses counseled God not to destroy the wayward Israelites, for if He did, his name would be besmirched on Earth. He did not want his God to be mocked, so he offered himself for destruction instead. This is love, God's love. We hear David’s psalms of love, his strong belief in a God of mercy and loving kindness: I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. (Psalm 13:5) We see the steadfast kings and the lonely prophets proclaim God’s righteousness to the people throughout the history of the Jewish nation. In the New Testament, we see Jesus and the disciples give their lives for God out of the love they find in a relationship with the Father. The early church manifested their love for God by facing and enduring great persecution, rejection, and often death. Love is the fulcrum of the Old and New Testament message: GOD IS LOVE.
How does this work out in our lives today? Are we still basing our Christian experience on TOUCH NOT, DO NOT, TASTE NOT, BE NOT. Are we basing our Christian lives on law or are we basing our lives on the Spirit of God: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5: 22-23) Agape love perfects all of these attributes of the Spirit in us. Agape love is a love of CHOICE. You can agape the world or agape God. You can choose to allow the Spirit to make you an instrument of God’s love or you can choose the flesh to make you an instrument of decay and death. Christ came to give you life, and that life entails everything wrapped up in the royal commandments of love. Anything else is not living. Anything else will not end with the praise "good and faithful servant" that all Christians want to hear from the mouth of the Lord. We who are living RIGHT NOW can reveal to the world the image of God by loving others as God loves us. God is love, and He is also light. John wrote, God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. (I John 1:5) As we allow his light to shine through us, his love radiates to others, and his image draws them to the Lord as the Spirit speaks to their hearts. We are lights in a dark world, ready to share the love of the Lord. When Peter and John met the lame man at the gate Beautiful, they could not offer him worldly goods, but they did have something to give. Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” (Acts 3:6) That day the love of God poured over the lame man and he was changed forever! Jesus was glorified. Today, there are no other questions we need to ask our Lord. He has finished the work He came to do. "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" (1 Corinthians 15:55) Love is the foundation of freedom from sin, the foundation for eternal life with our Most High God.
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