Loving God and Others
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One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?”
Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord;
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.’
“The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that He is One, and there is no one else besides Him;
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 himself, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions.
I. A Scribe Submitted a Question to Jesus
A. The Scribes were a class of learned Jews who devoted themselves to a scientific study of the Law and made its exposition their professional occupation. The Greek word grammateís means the learned ones. Sometimes in the New Testament they are called lawyers, nomikoí, men of the law, or nomodidáskaloi, doctors or teachers of the Law.
B. The scribe asked which commandment was the greatest because the commandments had proliferated to 613, 248 positive and 365 negative. These rules constituted the tradition of the elders or rabbis (Josephus Antiquities, XIII. x. 6; XVIII. i. 4). Due to there being so many commandments, there were those considered more important than others; and God’s basic intent was often lost (see ). It was this confusion which caused the scribe to inquire of Jesus which one was most important (; ).
C. He came to Jesus because he had been impressed with the way Jesus had handled the Sadducees on the issue of the resurrection (). This scribe is obviously a Pharisee because he agreed with Jesus answer about the resurrection. This one doesn’t appear to be trying to trap Jesus in a question, as the Saducee had. He heard a good answer and is now testing out Jesus’ theology. Can this wandering preacher be as smart as the doctors of the Law? Where was his formal education? What school did he go to? How can he know what he knows? Illustration - Some of the smartest people I know, don’t have any letters following their name. Those letters don’t necessarily mean you are smarter. But we often see people look down their noses as they don’t understand wisdom is more than just book smarts.
D. The scribe agreed with Jesus concerning the resurrection, but it seems he could not tolerate the idea that Jesus could be superior to in His knowledge of the Law.
II. Jesus Answered the Scribe
Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord;
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.’
“The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
A. “The first” in Jesus’ answer meant both chronological (the first to be given by God) and in importance ().
B. He then proceeded to give the commandment found in , : “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord …”s
This is where it all starts, with honoring and acknowledging God.
1. This declaration stressed the sovereignty of God, that He is Lord. He is above everything
2. It also set God apart from the many gods of the pagans. He is not part of a pantheon of gods. There was a god for everything and if you needed a god you could carve one out of a piece of wood. Not much of a god there, is there? No, The Lord our God is one Lord. He is the Lord.
3. Don’t miss the little word “our” in this statement.
He also indicated that God could be known personally, “our God.”
4. He also indicated that God could be known personally, “our God.”
Our god wants a personal relationship with His people. He is not this faraway god who is unapproachable. He is not a god that must be appeased with sacrifices. Scripture makes it clear God desires relationship over sacrifice. This is our God, who loves us and desires us to know Him intimately.
But if we are going to posses this God, we must be devoted to this God.
The Privilege of Possessing God Requires Devotion
The Privilege of Possessing God Requires Devotion
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.’
A. “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment” (). The verb agapḗseis, “shalt love” is the future indicative used as an imperative.
A. This is a command, not a suggestion.
We must love God
We must love God
B. Our devotion must also be wholehearted, “with all thy heart.” The heart is considered to be the seat of the affections, emotions, and passions, all of which are to center around God. This phrase reminds me of why our relationship with Jesus is couched in marriage terms. You love the other person with all your heart. There is no 25 or 50%. Nobody would settle for that type of relationship. I want to know my wife loves me 100% and she wants to know I am 100% committed to her. That is the only way it works. What kind of relationship can you have with God if you are only committted to it half the time? All your heart!
C. Next, it consists of the whole soul, psucheḗ, which constitutes the personality of a man, as distinguished from his body. The soul denotes a person’s conscious state, as well as his spirit or pneúma, which is immortal.
D. Furthermore, God commands us to love Him with our whole mind. The word used here indicates mature thought. Our thoughts should honor God God demands that our minds also be transformed, in addition to our desires and personalities. This doesn’t mean we will never have bad thoughts. they will come and go. It means they will not rule us. We will hold those thoughts captive and focus on loving God.
E. Finally, He requires all our “strength,” ischús, or capacities be directed toward His service. In effect, then, we give Him everything ().
Your heart, soul and mind, pretty much covers all of you. Love God with all you have, in all you have.
Secondly, We Must Practice Love to Others
Secondly, We Must Practice Love to Others
“The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
A. When one loves God fully, one cannot help loving his neighbor (, ).
For years when I read this passage I understood where the first part came from, the Shema, but I thought the second command was one Jesus just added on. Love your neighbor. I didn’t realize he was quoting from the book of Leviticus.
‘Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during her menstrual impurity.
‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.
When you love God fully, you cannot help but love your neighbor
When you love God fully, you cannot help but love your neighbor
A. When one loves God fully, one cannot help loving his neighbor (, ).
By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.
Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?
Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.
1 John
John goes on to say we should be willing to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. Love is displayed in action, not simply in words. I can say I love you all day long, but if you never see evidence of that love in action, the words become hollow and meaningless.
B. The parable of the Good Samaritan defines our neighbor as anyone we are in a position to help.
Conclusion:
Our love for other people should be equal to the love we instinctively have for ourselves. The reason the Lord never commanded us to love ourselves is because it is a trait of our fallen nature. Instead, God orders us to love Him first, others second, ourselves as little as possible. What a contrast to modern thinking, which demands that we love ourselves first, others second, and leaves out God entirely!