Love is the key!
Notes
Transcript
But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
We must love GOD (vertical love)
Jesus’ earthly enemies, Pharisees and Sadduccees, made foolish attempts to damage his reputation because of their unbelief. They first questioned him about paying taxes to Caesar and then the truth concerning resurrection, and Jesus shut both attempts down. This passage was their third and final attempt on this particular day, to catch Jesus up with his statements. They figured if they could just get him to say something inaccurate, people would be convinced to reject him. But it is from Jesus’ response that we gain great insight into the essential purpose of this life. Their question was, what’s the most important command in all of the law. Jesus responds with one that they cited daily.
Commands are instructions one must adhere to, and the sphere in which they are regulated is ones entire life. One must absolutely love GOD. This is quoted from D 6:5. Love is ones affection for something. Encompassing how much one cares for something. Well loving GOD seems simple, but how should one love GOD?
With our motivations
Jesus says the first manner which one must breathe after GOD is with every component of the heart. Heart being used metaphorically to describe internal features, thoughts, volition, emotion, and understanding right from wrong. The idea is that GOD must be loved with all motivation.
Application: When we consider our hearts, with the idea of motivation, there is intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic is doing it because someone tells you to, and the aim is receiving external rewards, money, status, etc. Intrinsic, which is what Jesus refers to, is doing it because we’re interested, and enjoy it. Interest and joy doesn’t grow with whom you don’t know. Thus we must ask ourselves, how interested am in GOD? Do I love him for what I can get physically? Or am I internally driven?
With every aspect of our life
The second manner Jesus says one must love GOD is with all the soul. Soul is the living being.
Application: Because of God’s breath in us, we are living souls! Wherever we are, the soul is alive. Whatever we’re doing, the soul is alive! Thus the question here is do we have an affection for GOD with every aspect of our lives? That means I don’t love GOD any different from my house to the church house, my car to my workplace. Whatever activity my life or soul is involved, is my love for GOD my character.
With all energy we can give
The third manner Jesus says is with all ones mind. The actual quotation reads with all “strength”, which is what Mark records. The word entails abundance or what one has much of.
Application: In other words, with what intensity do we love GOD with abundance we have? Some of us have mental strengths, speak abilities, strength of wealth, etc. How much do we demonstrate our love for GOD with that abundance?
Jesus says in all that had been written up to that point, this is the most important instruction to regulate ones life.
We must love humanity (horizontal love)
Combined with loving GOD
But then Jesus continues, probably a shock to the Pharisees. Because they asked about a single command. But Jesus proceeds to give them another one, and says it resembles the command to love GOD. Loving ones neighbor. This is quoted from Lev, and in that context, it refers to fellow Jews or resident foreigners who lived in the community of Israel. But Luke records another part of the conversation in which Jesus expands the idea of neighbor. Essentially it means the human race.
Application: This means loving GOD can’t be divorced from demonstrating love for people. In fact, nobody in here can claim love for GOD and not show love for humanity!! That means the old and young, rich and poor, black, caucasian, asian, hispanic, and the whole 9!!
Seeing ourselves
Well when considering the great diversity of people that exist on the earth, how should they be loved. Jesus says one needs to see them as oneself.
Application: If our horizontal interactions, that being how we treat other humans, is gone be right, we’ve gotta deeply consider how we view and treat ourselves!! Which presupposes that we should have some level of love for ourselves!! Care, concern, well being, provided for, respected, fun and joy, compassion, mercy, etc. We need to see ourselves, then behave based on that. Racism, classism, elitism, and all other social isms would cease.
We must see love as the goal of all instruction
Jesus the concludes by stating that all the instructions in scripture hang or depend on these two commandments! In other words, these are the goal of all other instructions!
Application: Paul agrees in 1 Tim that the goal is love. If we reviewed all the commands in the law, they are about GOD and other humans. Get love right, and the commands are not a problem! Don’t need to force me to worship and praise, obey, repent, pray, etc when I love GOD! I won’t steal, cheat, be racist, attempt murder, etc when I see myself in others and treat them accordingly.
Conclusion: Where is our love? Without GOD, this love is too difficult for the frailty of humans. That’s why through Christ and the Holy Spirit, GOD poured his love into his children (Ro 5). God’s children are being molded to love in the manner in which Jesus did. And if not, we are not truly following him. Ask GOD to increase your love, and we will be better models, and living with divine purpose.