The Greatest of These Is Love

 The Greatest of These Is Love (Mark 12:28-34)

Jesus said to the teacher of the Law, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (Mark 12:34)

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The religious bigwigs in Jerusalem have been hounding Jesus, confronting him everywhere he goes, it seems. They have demanded that he justify himself and tell them by what authority he does the things he’s been doing. They have tried to trap him with questions about controversial things like paying taxes to Caesar, or marriage in the resurrection. They think that if he answers one way, he can be accused of treason or heresy; and if he answers another way, he can be accused of supporting the Romans or not understanding the Law of Moses. But Jesus has seen through their traps, and he has answered masterfully.

Then a scholar of the Law came up to Jesus. He had heard Jesus answer the others wisely, so I’m not sure if he wanted to trap Jesus; I think the scholar was genuinely interested in Jesus’ opinion. He asked Jesus, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

Without hesitating, Jesus said, “The most important command is this one: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’” Of course Jesus would say that one. Every good Jew recites the “Hear, O Israel” every day, often more than once. It is our daily reminder that there is no other God but the Lord, and that we are to love him with every fiber of our being.

But Jesus didn’t stop with the “Hear, O Israel.” Before the scholar could open his mouth to agree or disagree, Jesus continued, saying, “The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

The scholar of the Law was impressed. He said, “Well done, Teacher,” and he went on to agree that there is no other God but the Lord, and that we are to love the Lord with our whole being, and that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. He even went on to say that it was more important to obey these two commands than to offer animal sacrifices at the altar.

Now it was Jesus’ turn to be impressed. He saw the sincerity in the face of the scholar of the Law, and he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

I thought about how Jesus answered the scholar. In the light of everything that had been happening and all the hostility that the religious bigwigs had been throwing at Jesus, it is remarkable that Jesus’ answer centered on love. I mean, of course he was going to recite the “Hear, O Israel” as the most important command; that is a no-brainer for any good Jew. But to follow that up with loving our neighbor, especially when Jesus’ “neighbors” had been anything but loving toward him – well, that is surprisingly striking. In a world where loving others is in short supply – even in a world that is openly hostile – Jesus says that the critical thing for us to do, second only to loving God with our whole being, is to love others.

In my mind, the religion scholar was essentially asking Jesus, “What is the most important thing I need to do in order to be a faithful citizen of the kingdom of God?” And Jesus answered by saying that faithful citizenship in the kingdom of God is defined by our love for God and others. Not regular observance of all the festivals, not tithing, not presenting all the right sacrifices on the altar, not meticulous observance of the purity laws, not even perfect keeping of the Sabbath; none of these things surpasses love. Love is central to faithful living in God’s kingdom.

I get the feeling that Jesus won’t be the only one who declares that, of all the things God requires of us, the greatest of these is love. But he’s certainly the first one who has said it with such authority and clarity.

As I walk with Jesus, I realize that if my first focus is to love God with my whole being and to love others as I love myself, then all of the other requirements of the kingdom will fall into place. Without love, all of the other requirements are for naught. 

It has to begin and end with love.

Dear Jesus, more than anything else, I want to be faithful to you. Thank you for letting me know that the best way for me to be faithful to you – the only way, really – is to fill every word, action, and thought with love. Amen.