Love Your Neighbor Series

Greatest Commands #5:

Love Your Neighbor

Introduction

We have been studying Jesus’ response to the question, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” (Mark 12:28). Jesus’ answer: “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31). What would our communities look like if we truly lived this

command — to love God and love neighbor — as the greatest law of life? How does this direct the function of our congregation? How does this challenge us in our daily walk with Jesus?

In both Mark and Matthew’s account, those around him did not ask him any more questions. “And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.” (Mark 12:34). In Luke’s account, the lawyer asks for a clarification: Who is my neighbor? That is when Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. But we have settled in to Mark’s gospel and I would like to stay there for the moment.

After Jesus’ answer, in Mark’s account, the lawyer follows up with an interesting observation. Mark 12: 32-34  The teacher of religious law replied, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other. And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law.” 34 Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.”

Jesus is giving commands for a love without limits.

1. Love Without Limits

Jesus provided the greatest command from Deuteronomy six. For the second command, he quotes from Leviticus 19:18, which says, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” The context of Leviticus 19:16-18 urges these ways to love neighbors:

Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life. I am the Lord. Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people Finally, love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. Jesus is the first one to take the Shema and join it with this command to love your neighbor.

Originally, the commands were given to Jews to love their fellow Jews. Jesus later expands the definition of “neighbor” to include everyone. Barclay wrote that, “He took an old law and filled it with a new meaning.”

But Jesus’ command doesn’t stop with how we treat others — it also begins with how we see ourselves.

2. Love Starts With You

David Owens wrote, “Those who love themselves are those who are most able to love others and love God. And those who loathe themselves are most likely to hurt others and despise God.”

Why Should We Love Ourselves?

We should love ourselves because we are made in God’s image. In the words of the popular T-shirt, “God don’t make no junk.”

Because God loves us perfectly and unconditionally. There is nothing we can do or say that will ever cause him

to stop loving us. That love is real. That love is for every single one of us.

Because God believes in us enough to work through us. He has so much confidence in us that he gives us his Spirit as a deposit and as our counselor and helper. God has invested his all in us and he has no other plan than to work in and through us.

This isn’t self-worship; it’s self-awareness — understanding our worth in God’s eyes so we can love others rightly.

3. Love Over Ritual

The lawyer impressed Jesus when he said, “This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and

sacrifices required in the law.” Jesus’ response was, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”

1 Samuel 15:22 “Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.”

Hosea 6:6 "I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.”

“To be truly religious is to love God and to love the men whom God made in his own image; and to love God and man, not with a nebulous sentimentality, but with that total commitment which issues in devotion to God and practical service of men. - Barclay