Let me first take a moment to remind you of how we got to this particular moment in the story.
In the preceding verses, we have seen a master plan that was conceived by the religious leaders. Why did they need a plan? Because Jesus presented a threat – a great threat – to their power and prestige. So the leaders schemed to confront Jesus and ultimately to defraud Him. They do so with four questions:
- By whose authority do you do what you do?
- Should we pay taxes to Caesar?
- What happens at the resurrection related to God’s law about marriage?
- What is the greatest commandment?
This final question has a different tone to it, as does the response of the scribe towards Jesus after He responds. Because of this, many people believe that this encounter was not to trap Jesus – and perhaps it wasn’t. But I believe it was originally meant to be because Mark places it within the context of seven statements of conflict – this is number five. (Numbers 6 and 7 were covered during my vacation, but I do not have a post for them at this time.) Again, I think this man may have been a part of the plot originally, but likely changed his demeanor and became open to the teachings of Christ as he witnessed the previous exchanges between Jesus and the other religious leaders.
So, the scribe asked the question of the greatest commandment, and Jesus responds. The man agrees with Jesus assessment, and Jesus says the man is not far from the Kingdom of God. But, it is one thing to know the truth, it is another to live it. As for the love Jesus speaks of here, it requires us to choose. And it requires us to act.
Before we move forward with this post, I want you to do a little exercise.
1. I want you to write down some things you like to do for yourself. That is, if you do not have any responsibilities and had a few hours or even days to do something, what would it be?
2. What are some things you do not like to do?
3. What are some things others ask you to do that you wish you would not have to do?
Ok, with that complete, let’s move forward. In Part 1, I focused more on the love of God portion, today, we will focus more on the love of others.
The Response: A Central Principle
The principle Jesus stated in response to the scribe’s question centered on love. But we should define love a bit. Because we use the word so superficially today. I love tacos. I love my wife. My wife should hope I don’t love her the same way I love tacos. I love God. I love dog. Again, this should be more than a re-arranging of the letters – a different type of love should be involved.
You may be aware that the Greek language (the language of the New Testament) has multiple words for the different types of love. Four different words exist, but two are prevalent in the New Testament. The first is phileo which is a brotherly type of love (from where we get the word Philadelphia). The second is agape – which is a full and complete love – like the kind God has for us. These are both healthy kinds of love and are frequently used in the NT. The opposite of agape is eros, from where we get our word – erotic. Let me briefly pit these two words against each other.
This may or may not surprise you, but the word eros is not in the NT? Agape and phileo are used throughout the NT, but not eros. (Storge is the fourth type of love, which is a familial type of love, and it is also not used in the Bible). Agape, the kind of love which is characterized by God (1 John 4.10), is present throughout the Bible. It is a love that finds value in others. It is a love that shows the worthy of others – even, and especially, when they do not deserve it.
Romans 8.35-39 says, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Take a moment to process that! Nothing you can do, nothing I can do, nothing others can do can separate us from God’s agape-type love. Consider 1 John 3.1-3. It begins, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us…” The NIV gets this right. It says, the kind of love that is lavished on us.
Let’s say you are hungry and the food before you is not just good, but you know it will be great. It looks good, it smells good, and it will be good. Do you want to be given a little food? No, you want a heaping portion. Perhaps the food is mashed potatoes. Next to the potatoes is a bowl of gravy. If you like gravy then you do not want someone to put gravy on your potatoes with an eye dropper. No, you want someone to drown these potatoes in gravy. That is what lavished means. And that is the kind of love that God has for us. He lavishes us with love – even though we are not worthy. Nothing can separate us from that love. NOTHING! Look what John says next: He lavishes us so that “we should be called children of God; and so we are.”
Here is the key. God does not lavish His love on us just so that we can be loved. As His children, He wants us to spread His love. Let’s jump back to our primary text and see Jesus’ words.
A Combined Precept
Jesus response to the question begins with a call to love God and to do so with every part of our being. (Again, you can get more details in the previous post.) In Deuteronomy (6.5), the command includes heart, soul, and strength, but hereJesus includes the mind. Thus, our love should be with all of our heart (emotions), soul (spirit), mind (intelligence), and strength (will).
However, after answering with this statement, Jesus continues, which likely surprised most everyone there. He adds the element of loving our neighbor (Leviticus 19.18). The question was what is the greatest, but Jesus gives two answers and then combines the two into one concept. Notice the end of verse 31: There is no other commandment (singular) greater than these (plural).
This theme of love was carried throughout the rest of the New Testament. Reggie compiled a good list of verses related to loving others which can be found here.
A Challenging Practice
The reality is that it is very difficult to love others. How can we love others? Only through Christ. The reality, as one commentator mentioned, is that our “love for God releases the love of God.”(1)
The reality is that as difficult as it is to love certain others, it is not an option. We are commanded to do so. And then, John gives us a wake-up call by stating that our love for others is a reflection of our love for God. Listen to these words from 1 John 4.19-21:
“We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
Now, I know these verses are specifically talking about our brothers and sisters in Christ. It reflects the commandment Jesus gave His disciples on His last night as recorded in John 13.34-35:
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
But the overall idea of loving others is evidenced in the story of the good Samaritan. The truth is that by our love for one another in the church, people will know we are His disciples. But by our love for those apart from the church, others may give glory to God in heaven (Matthew 5.16), and seek to become a part of His church, and His Kingdom. Our love for one another does not mean that we will not have disagreements, but it does suggest that we seek to resolve them, not let them linger. And in our world today, we need to exhibit the kind of love that God has to bring about healing. Just consider the headlines today (especially the political one) and imagine what a difference it would make if love, not partisanship prevailed.
The fact is that the love of God is so profound, it can change us. It must change us. The truth is that God’s love will change us. If you haven’t been changed by God’s love, either you have forgotten how profound it is or you may not know God. But once we are changed by God’s love, then we must share God’s love. And all of this is only true and possible for those who know Jesus.
CONCLUSION
It doesn’t matter how much we love (heart), how much we care (soul), how much we know (mind), how much we serve (strength) if we don’t know Jesus. For those that know Jesus, you are a child of God. Again, 1 John 3.1 says that God has lavished His love on His children. It is the children of God that can change the world. But does the world know we are different?
- How will the world know we are His children if we act like the world?
- How will the world know if we bash others because they have a different political view than us?
- How will the world know if we are not living in the world, even though we are not being of the world?
As we prepare to close, let me make this practical as we consider our JOURNEY letter.
JOURNEY: This week’s JOURNEY letter is: Y – You.
You are the one that has to choose to love. You have to make a choice to love God and you have to make a choice to love others. As Jesus said, these two ideas are not mutually exclusive. The two ideas are merged into one command.
Earlier in this post, I asked you to write a few ideas down. Take a look at those ideas now. Now, consider this.
- How can you do for others the things you wish to do?
- How can you do for others things they might not like to do?
- How can you not do to others the things you don’t like them doing to you?
Why? Because a part of loving others is doing unto others what you want them to do unto you – whether or not they do it to or for you. Jesus statement doesn’t promise others will do what you want, He simply says to do it for them because you would like it done to/for you. Again, that is one way to know if you love others – whether or not you personally know them. If we are to truly love God, then we must truly begin to love others!
OPPORTUNITY: We are to express our love to God. We are to share His love with others.
REMEMBRANCE: Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.
NEXT STEP(S): LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR
Love: The next step this week focuses exclusively on love. I encourage you to do three things as it relates to loving others.
1. Write down a name.
2. Pray about what you will do for that person.
3. Commit to do it – in February!
The details of who and how much are up to you. But whatever you do, do this knowing that by loving others you can express your love to God as well.
1. (Edwards, J. R. (2002). The Gospel according to Mark (p. 373). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos.)
1. (Edwards, J. R. (2002). The Gospel according to Mark (p. 373). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos.)
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