The Great Commandment

Mark 12:28:34

The Great Commandment

(The Commandment of Love in Greek ἀγαπήσεις agape love)

Mark 12:28-34

28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And 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 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 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, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Sermon Outline

First Passage: Joshua 22:5

Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the Law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep His commandments and to cling to Him and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Read the passage

Questions to think over

So how do we return the favor towards God? How do we show our Love towards Him? How do we follow the great commandant to Love your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength? Why is loving your neighbor so important?

Big Idea: we must give all your ourselves over to God. He doesn't want just a part of us, he requires the whole thing—heart, soul, mind, and strength—full tilt all the time without fail. God must come first in everything we feel, think, and do. This also includes loving our neighbor the same way we love each other

Shema: how the Jews read this every time at temple to honor Yahweh

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Opening statement

Agape love is to cherish, have affection for, to love, take pleasure in, prove one’s love, to love, to regard with affection, loving concern, love. All these types of Love are the Love our God has for us. He loves us unconditionally, He loves us more than anything else, He has a jealous love for us because we are His and nobody else’s. He loves us so much that He wants to have an intimate relationship with us through prayer. He wants us to completely rely on Him because He is our Father in Heaven who Loves us and knows best for us. To rely on Him for everything we do in life is showing our love towards Him.

Background in verse 28 of the scribes and why they ask the question. He is a lawyer

Verse 29

-Opening of getting their attention

-The unity of God He is One and there is only Yahweh no other

- The command to Love Him we are commanded

-Love with all our Heart

-To feed our Soul with His words is Love

-To retain His knowledge is Loving with our Mind and spreading that knowledge to others is Love

-With all the strength (energy) in you defend Gods Words is Love and loving Him with all your strength and body is love. There needs to be no weakness in our body or soul when loving the Lord our God.

Second greatest Commandment verse 31

-Love God by Loving people

-To love your neighbor as yourself

- if you love yourself fully then you must love your neighbor the same way no matter your indifferences

-respect each other shows love to each other

-discipling your neighbor shows love

-spreading Gods words to neighbors shows love

- honoring your neighbor’s spouse and goods shows love

-if you love yourself then you must love your neighbor in the same way

Shema

Leviticus 19:18

The Scribe response Verse 32-33

-He new Jesus was correct and new Jesus was a great teacher of Gods words.

-above all offerings and sacrifices these 2 commandments are important.

Jesus Response

- Told the scribe you are not far from the “Kingdom of God” His heart reflects Gods.

- When we obey these commandments, we are not far from the kingdom of God. We our not far from the Kingdom of Heaven when our hearts reflect Gods heart.

- Nobody asked another question because they didn’t dare because all that was important was answered.

Conclusion/Application

Let’s, be a church Trinity that loves God by loving our neighbors. With a respect for God in our hearts lets reach out to ourselves and our community, to bring people closer to God. When doing this you our showing love for God and our neighbors. Let’s show are love for God by relying solely on Him for need, by praying to Him, having that deep relationship with Him. Let’s walk a life alongside God and live out a good Christian life because shows love towards God.

The most important thing is that we obey His commandments of Loving Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love your neigbor as you love yourself. You follow and obey those commandments you will not be too far from the Kingdom of Heaven just like the Jesus told the scribe.