Love God and Neighbor

Mark 12:28-37

28 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?”

29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 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: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 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.”

34 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.

35 While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? 36 David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared:

“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet.”’

37 David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?”

The large crowd listened to him with delight.

The Big Question: How should I live? What are the foundational principles that make my life and our lives work best?

 

 

  1. Love God First
  2. The Shema: Deuteronomy 6:3-9

3 Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

 

  1. The first four commandments
  2. No other Gods: The most foundational. You cannot serve God and money. Greed amounts to idolatry etc.
  3. Do not make an idol to represent YHWH or other thing to worship
  4. Honor God’s name
  5. Honor the Sabbath

 

613 commands: 248 positive, 365 negative

 

The point is not that some commands are not necessary. All specific laws are related to more general laws. And ultimately, there are two laws that undergird all moral behavior.

  1. The first commandment

No other Gods= Love God first. Loving God is the foundational love that sets all of life in its proper order. Think about the priority of your spouse in your life, when marriage is healthy:

Obey God first- obey your spouse before another man or woman!

Serve God first- serve your spouse before another man or woman

Honor God first- honor your spouse before another man or woman

This is what your marriage vows state!

 

 

  1. Love Neighbor as an Equal

 

  1. The last six commandments

It is no coincidence that the first four of the Ten Commandments relate to God and the last six relate to people.

 

Honor your father and mother

        You shall not:

                Kill, steal, bear false witness, commit adultery, and                     covet

 

 

  1. Love is acting in the best interests of someone

 

Matthew 7:12 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

 

Romans 13: 8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.

Matthew 5: 17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

 

John 15: 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command.

 

John 13: 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

 

Leviticus 19: 18 “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

 

Micah 6:8 8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

 

  1. Define neighbor broadly

“Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.”

“Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you.”

We are living in a time of hating enemies. Politics are more and    more like sports.

 

        Human value comes from God. Man cannot remove that value.

We must be careful:

  1. Do not wrestle with flesh and blood
  2. Strongholds of ideas are pulled down
  3. Do not repay evil for evil. Let God manage this.
  4. Love is patient, love is kind, not jealous or boastful. It         does not take into account a wrong suffered!

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails.

“You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

 

This expert in the law has the right answer to the question of how we should live best in God’s world. But, he is still not entering the kingdom of God. Why is this?

 

Finally, we see Jesus, in the light of the nearness of the questioner to the kingdom of God, encouraging any questioner to enter into the kingdom of God. What is necessary? He must…

 

III. Accept Jesus as King

Verses 35-37:

35 While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? 36 David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared:

“‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies under your feet.”’

37 David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?”

The large crowd listened to him with delight.

 

 

  1. David was the greatest king

This is culturally accepted and obvious.

David was a Messiah.

 

  1. The Son of David is called Lord

In Psalms 110 Jesus quotes this passage that seems to make more of the Son of David than David himself.

 

  1. The Son of David and the Kingdom of God

John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.

John 15: 9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command.