Jesus was asked a lot of questions during his earthly ministry. In Marks’s gospel, he is asked a series of them by the Sadducees and teachers of the law. They were leading questions, questions of entrapment. And the questions kept coming until Jesus answered the one about what’s most important. His answer, love.
“By what authority are you doing these things?”
“Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”
“Teacher, at the resurrection whose wife will the widow be, since she married to seven brothers who all died before her?”
“Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
“Did Adam and Eve have belly buttons?”
Ok, that last one wasn’t asked by the religious leaders, or at least it wasn’t recorded.
When the teacher of the law asks, which commandment is most important? He wants to know which commandment is fundamental to the obedience of all the others. What’s the linchpin commandment?
Reflect on this: What is the fundamental ideal that leads you? What determines the decisions that you make and how you treat others?
In later Rabbinical teachings, it was determined that there were 613 commands in God’s law. Out of these, 365 were prohibitions and 248 were positive. Some were determined to be lesser commands and others were greater. So, out of all those, which one ranks highest?
To love God and to love your neighbor, according to Jesus is the greatest command. When you love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength it leads you to love your neighbor.
Your relationship with God shapes your relationship with others. This is what makes love great! This kind of love fulfills God’s law.
If we claim to love God and hate others, God’s love is not in us. James, the half-brother of Jesus says that loving others is keeping God’s royal law, and that’s “doing it right.” Not loving others makes us a royal pain. And just like Lorde sang in her 2013 hit song, “…we’ll never be royals.”
The teacher of the law does not dispute this. He answers with wisdom. This is uncharacteristic of most of Jesus’ interactions with religious leaders.
His answer is wise because he says that loving God and neighbor is “more important than burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
In doing so he assumes a superior position in his response to Jesus’ answer. He takes Jesus’ answer one step further, but not far enough. Jesus tells him that he is close, but he’s not in.
To be in the kingdom of God takes more than approving of what Jesus teaches. Simply agreeing with Jesus does not change your life. A changed life doesn’t occur until you’ve given God your all. Love does that every time.
Love cannot be tithed. Loving God means you give him your mind, soul, body, and strength. Loving God and your neighbor is not simply the most important thing, it is everything.
That the kind of love is a sacrifice that anyone with faith in Jesus can give. It is the one sacrifice that is always pleasing to God.
The religious leader didn’t go far enough. He was trapped by his love of self, but the true love of Jesus could release him. He did not go-all-the-way by accepting Jesus as the son of God. This is where the love of God leads.
The religious leaders weren’t led by this kind of love. They had a love of recognition. They wanted to be seen by men so this determined what they wore, how they prayed publically, and where they sat at dinner parties. This is what demonstrated their authority, but Jesus’ authority was represented by how he taught God’s word.
Reflect on this: How has the approval of men led your life more than God’s love?
Jesus’ authority was also demonstrated in how he loved. Jesus let his love for God and others lead him to the cross.
Jesus didn’t write off the teacher of the law, someone who was an opponent and an enemy. He loved him.
Love silences opponents and opens the door for salvation.
Love can change the hearts of everyone, including enemies.
That kind of love, the love of neighbors that includes our enemies can feel like a rocky path. Yet, with Jesus, it is the most rewarding, life-changing and most impactful path. It is the way of the loving servant. That path offers you the best vantage point and the most incredible views.
With faith in Jesus, anyone can make the offering of love and anyone can make a difference with love.
Let love lead you.
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Jovan preaches for the Littleton Church of Christ near Denver, Colorado. Visit here to listen to sermons preached at the Littleton Church.