A. Knowing what the most important rules are in any given context is very helpful.
1. What are the most important rules for the classroom?
a. Listen carefully. d. Raise your hand if you have something to say.
b. Keep your hands and feet to yourself. e. Show respect and kindness to your classmates
c. Follow directions. f. Do your best.
- Those are excellent rules and anyone following them will do well in school.
2. What are the most important rules for the workplace?
a. We’ve all heard the old saying: Rule #1: The boss is always right. Rule #2: If the boss is wrong, refer to rule #1.
3. Here are some not so good rules for the workplace.
a. If it buzzes, ignore it. f. If it speaks, take notes.
b. If it rings, put it on hold. g. If it’s handwritten, type it.
c. If it’s stuck, call the repairman. h. If it’s typed, copy it.
d. If it’s a friend, go to lunch. i. If it’s a copy, file it.
e. If it’s a boss, act busy. J. If it’s Friday, save it for Monday.
- Anyone who obeys those rules will likely not have a job for very long.
B. I know you will recognize these rules, they are most famous rules ever given to humankind.
1. You shall have no gods before me. 6. You shall not kill.
2. You shall not make any idols to worship. 7. You shall not commit adultery.
3. You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain. 8. You shall not steal.
4. Remember and keep the Sabbath holy. 9. You shall not bear false witness.
5. Honor your father and mother. 10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife
nor goods.
C. God gave those 10 commandments and the other 600 or so commands of law to the Jewish people through Moses on Mount Sinai.
1. And ever since those rules were first given, the Jewish people have shown the tendency to do two opposite things.
2. On the one hand, they have shown the tendency to take the God-given laws and expand them into thousands of manmade additional rules and regulations.
3. On the other hand, they have shown the tendency to try to boil all of God’s laws down into a single sentence or one general rule – and they would often debate about which is the most important of God’s commands.
D. Last week in our sermon from the Gospel of Mark, we saw how Jesus handled the questions of the chief priests, the teachers of the law, the elders, the Pharisees, the Herodians, and the Sadducees.
1. This week, we pick up with the next story in Mark’s Gospel and see that a teacher of the law stepped forward and asked a question.
2. Mark wrote: 28 One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which command is the most important of all?” (Mk. 12:28)
3. Unfortunately, like so many of the people in the Bible, we don’t know this man’s name.
4. The man asked a very important question and it appears that he wasn’t trying to trap Jesus, but sincerely wanted to know the answer.
5. Let me paraphrase his question: “Of the hundreds of commands in the Law, I want to know which is the greatest and the most important. Can you please tell me what it is?”
6. Isn’t that a question that all of us would have wanted to have an answer to?
7. A person can get lost in all the do’s and don’ts of religion and can easily miss what is most important of all – that’s true for Judaism and Christianity.
E. So, how did Jesus answer the man’s question?
1. Knowing that the man was sincere and not out to trap Him, Jesus gave him a direct answer.
2. Mark wrote: 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. 31 The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.” (Mk. 12:29-31)
3. Brothers and sisters, this is one of the most important moments in Scripture.
a. Here we have the Son of God, Himself, telling us what God the Father considers to be the most important instruction He has ever given to His people.
b. For that reason, we should pay close attention and give it the greatest of priorities.
4. We notice that as Jesus answered the question, He actually gave two commands and listed them as first and second, but they are so interconnected that it is like they are one.
F. Let’s notice that before Jesus got into the first and greatest command, He first clarified something about the nature of God.
1. He said the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
2. In a pagan landscape with many so called “gods,” Jesus clarified the fact that there is only one true God.
3. The true God is sovereign Lord and is the only Creator and Redeemer.
4. Since God is one and gives Himself totally in love to His people, then that is what He expects from His people – that they will give themselves totally in love to Him.
G. Therefore, Jesus said that the first and greatest command is to love God with everything that we are and everything that we have.
1. Jesus says that the greatest command is to love God.
a. The Greek word for love that is used here is agape which is more than a feeling but is love in action.
b. Jesus defines the totality of the kind of love in action we should have for God in four ways: love with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
2. First, to love God with all our heart means that God must be first in our heart.
a. We must love God above any other person or thing.
3. Second, to love God with all our soul means that we love God with our life, which is another translation of the Greek word psyche that appears here.
a. Our whole life must be devoted to the Lord, even to the point of dying for God, which many Christians have had to do to remain faithful in their love for the Lord.
4. Third, to love God with all our mind means that the seat of our intellect and thoughts is devoted to the Lord.
a. When we love God with all our mind, we seek to fill our minds with God’s word and God’s will.
5. Finally, to love God with all our strength means we seek to serve God with our bodies, our abilities and our energy.
6. Loving God in this way is a tall order, but it is what is most important and the greatest priority.
H. Before we move on to the second greatest command which is an extension of the first, let’s pause and consider what the greatest sin is.
1. If loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength is the greatest command, then to not love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength must be the greatest sin.
2. Yes, sins like murder, stealing, adultery, and lying are ugly and awful sins, but they pale in comparison to not loving God.
3. There are many fine moral people who would never think of committing murder, or theft, or adultery, or perjury, and yet their failure to love God with their everything makes them sinners.
4. A selfish orientation that pushes God out of the central place in a person’s life is the greatest and most common sin of all.
I. Now let’s return to Jesus’ answer to the question of what is the most important command.
1. To the first and greatest command, Jesus added a second: Love your neighbor as yourself.
2. Again, Jesus used the word agape to describe the kind of love we should have for each other.
3. Agape love does not mean personal liking or sentimental affection, but active goodwill.
4. A perfect illustration of this command is the parable of the Good Samaritan.
a. Who was the person in the story who truly loved their neighbor?
b. It was the person who put their love in action by getting involved in helping them.
5. I also like to point out that embedded in the command to love our neighbor is the command to love ourselves – we are supposed to love others as we love ourselves.
6. If we don’t love ourselves enough to value ourselves and take care of ourselves, then how will we know how to love others?
7. We also learn from Scripture that we cannot love God without also loving others.
a. The apostle John wrote: 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And we have this command from him: The one who loves God must also love his brother and sister. (1 Jn. 4:19-21)
b. Notice how all these loves are connected – God’s love for us, our love for God, and our love for others and our love for ourselves.
J. When we take a step back from this, we notice how conceptionally simple pleasing God and following God really is.
1. God is love and the most important thing for us is to receive God’s love and to love God and ourselves and others in return.
2. It is just that simple, but that doesn’t mean it is easy.
3. But aren’t you glad it isn’t complicated, but is basically clear and simple? Love is the answer!
K. So, how did the man who asked the question respond to Jesus’ answer?
1. Mark wrote: 32 Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, teacher. You have correctly said that he is one, and there is no one else except him. 33 And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.” (Mk. 12:32-33)
2. I find it humorous that this scribe complemented Jesus and told Him He was right.
a. Obviously, Jesus knew He was right and didn’t need this man to tell Him so!
3. But it is encouraging that this scribe got what Jesus was saying and then paraphrased it, and then applied it to an issue that often put Jesus at odds with the religious leaders.
4. The truth that this scribe grasped is that religious activity and performance amounted to nothing unless the attitude of the heart is right.
5. God is not especially interested in how much we attend worship, or how much we study our Bibles, or how much we do, except how it is related to how much we love.
6. If we love God and love others and show it by attending, studying and serving, then wonderful!
7. To love and do those things is excellent, but to do those things and not love is meaningless.
8. So, why are we here? Is it because of love?
a. Why do we study or give or serve? Is it because of love?
9. The person who does their religious activities for reasons other than love is often asking the question how little can I get away with – love never asks that question.
L. This scribe somehow had grasped something that other religious leaders around Jesus had missed.
1. I am sure it was with love and joy that Jesus said to him: “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (Mk. 12:34)
2. Jesus wanted this scribe to know that he was on the right tract.
3. Mark informed us: And no one dared to question him any longer. (vs. 34)
M. The next thing that Mark tells us is that Jesus began to take the initiative – since no one had any questions for Him, He had some questions for them.
1. Mark wrote: 35 While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he asked, “How can the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David? 36 David himself says by the Holy Spirit: The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.’ 37 David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How, then, can he be his son?” And the large crowd was listening to him with delight. (Mk. 12:35-37)
2. The passage that Jesus quoted from is Psalm 110:36.
3. Jesus’ question was straightforward: How can the Messiah be both the Son of David and the Lord of David at the same time.
4. It was a bit of a riddle that pressed home the question of Jesus’ identity.
a. In their nationalistic desires, the Jews had focused on the Messiah as the Son of David who would come to sit on David’s earthly throne, and they ignored the fact that the Messiah was also going to be David’s Lord.
b. The only way the Messiah can be both the Son of David and the Lord of David is through the incarnation.
c. Jesus, the Messiah is a descendant of David, but He has a more exalted role than that of any successor of David, He is God in the flesh, the Lord of all.
5. Jesus was trying to break through the barrier of their unbelief and misconceptions.
6. I hope that all of us understand who Jesus is and through faith are allowing Him to be Lord of our lives.
N. Mark concluded this section of his Gospel by indicating how the Lordship of Jesus should manifest itself in our lives.
1. Mark shows Jesus pointing to a group of people saying, “Don’t be like them” and then pointing to a woman saying, “Be like her.”
2. Here we see illustrated what it really means to love God with our all.
3. The group not to be like are the pompous religious leaders, and the woman to be like is the generous poor widow.
M. Mark wrote: 38 He also said in his teaching, “Beware of the scribes, who want to go around in long robes and who want greetings in the marketplaces, 39 the best seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows’ houses and say long prayers just for show. These will receive harsher judgment.” (Mk. 12:38-40)
1. Jesus painted a picture of the wrong example - they were the scribes who were self-centered rather than God-centered – they weren’t loving God with all their heart, soul, mind, & strength.
a. They wore special clothes to stand out.
b. They welcomed special titles that elevated them.
c. They took the best seats at functions to have priority.
d. They took advantage of the vulnerable for selfish gain.
e. They prayed long prayers, not to be heard by God, but to be seen by others.
2. That’s a very ugly picture and it comes with a severe condemnation.
a. This showed how much they had missed the point of the greatest command.
3. This is a special warning to any of us who seek to be spiritual leaders about how easy it is to use God’s service for self-service.
a. God frowns upon spiritual leaders who wear special clothing and special titles and who do what they do for show.
4. In contrast to them, Jesus offered a good example.
N. Mark wrote: 41 Sitting across from the temple treasury, he watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury. Many rich people were putting in large sums. 42 Then a poor widow came and dropped in two tiny coins worth very little. 43 Summoning his disciples, he said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 For they all gave out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had —all she had to live on.”
1. Jesus pointed His disciples’ attention to the one authentic person who was practicing the greatest command – the humble, generous, poor widow.
2. Jesus and His disciples were sitting in the court of women in the temple of God across from the 13 trumpet shaped containers into which people put their offerings.
3. As they sat there, they could hear the clinking of the coins as the rich threw in their coins.
4. Those standing nearby, would no doubt turn around when someone threw in a large contribution because of the noise it would make to see who had given so much.
5. But it was not the rich with their large gifts that caught Jesus’ attention, but it was the gift of the poor widow.
6. That poor widow dropped in two small copper coins worth about half a penny in our currency.
7. Jesus directed His disciples attention to her and said: “There’s the real thing! There’s a woman who is really loving God with her all!”
8. Her tiny contribution was greater than all the others because she gave everything she had.
9. We might wonder why she did that – why would she give her last two coins?
a. Although we don’t know for sure, I’m guessing that she gave her all because of her love for the Lord and her commitment to God.
b. Jesus knew her heart and I don’t think He would have made her into an example if her motives for giving weren’t pure.
O. Let’s consider what lessons about giving that we can learn from her.
1. First, we learn that God-pleasing giving must be a sacrifice.
a. Someone has said that the gift which counts is the gift which costs.
b. As I have often said, “A sacrifice isn’t a sacrifice unless it is a sacrifice.”
2. Second, we learn that God-pleasing giving is an act of faith.
a. That woman trusted that God would provide for her.
b. God is pleased when we make our commitment to give and then we follow through, in faith, trusting that God will provide what we need.
3. Third, we learn that God-pleasing giving is motivated by love.
a. The Bible tells us that God loves a cheerful giver and when we love God we give joyfully.
4. Finally, we learn that no gift is too small to count.
a. We are not excused from giving because our gift is small compared to what others give.
b. The support of God’s kingdom throughout time has come far more from the two copper coins of the poor than from the large checks of the rich, because there are many more poor than rich.
c. In the feeding of the 5000, Jesus showed that God can do amazing things with just a little.
5. So let’s follow the example of this poor widow rather than the example of the scribes – she obeyed and lived out the greatest commandment.
P. Hopefully all of us now know what is the greatest command and what is most important to God.
1. Some people try to complicate Christianity with this issue or that argument, but Jesus cut through it all and said: “The most important thing is loving God and loving people. Period!”
2. God wants every one of us to know that He loves us – He wants His love to liberate us and enable us to love Him, and love ourselves, and to love others.
3. Do you love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength?
4. Do you love your neighbor as you love yourself?
5. Do you need to receive God’s love this morning and do you need to commit yourself to loving God and to loving others?
Resources:
• Truth for Today Commentary: Mark 1-8 and 9-16, Martel Pace, Resources Communications.
• The Greatest Commandment, Sermon by David Owens
• Mark, The Communicator’s Commentary, David McKenna
• Jesus the King, by Timothy Keller, Riverhead Books, 2011
