Reflection -- The Primacy of Love

Mark 12 includes a collection of stories about hostile questions put to Jesus by religious leaders trying to trick him.  They saw Jesus as a threat to their authority.  (And they were right about that!)  They hoped to expose some lack of knowledge in him that would damage his growing popularity.  Of course they failed.  What was really exposed was their own hypocrisy.  Smarting from their humiliation, they exited the scene to plot Jesus’ execution.

In the middle of all this comes an honest question from a scribe who wanted to cut through the bickering, legalistic fog and get Jesus’ answer to what is really important:  “Which commandment is the first of all?”  In other words, of the hundreds of things I can learn from Scripture, what is the core principle upon which I may live my life?  How can I “cut to the chase”?

Jesus, responding to this sincere seeker, identified the two principles from Hebrew scripture that are the real heart of our faith:  “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 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.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  (Leviticus 19:18) 

In these two passages, Jesus gives the blueprint for life.  The foundation is that there is only one God, still a radical notion in much of the world in Jesus’ time.  We build from there.  The one God merits our love grounded in all of who we are -- heart, soul, mind, strength.  Then, we are to love others as we love ourselves.  If we can do those things, all of life will fall into place.

Notice that the scribe asked which single commandment was the greatest, but Jesus responded with two, not one.  From God’s prospective the two are inseparable.  “Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.”  (1 John 4:8) 

Notice too that the scribe said that Jesus replied rightly and that these commandments were much more important than ritual religious observations (burnt offerings and sacrifices in the context of the day).  Jesus considered this a wise answer!

So what may we learn from this story that will help us live out our lives?

• That God is love is more than a nice phrase; it is the core principle of the universe!!

• Because God is love, we are loved.

• Our right response to being loved is to love. 
  
  First, experiencing God’s love brings a deep, whole-hearted love for God in return.  This is essential and natural, but just the start.
  
  Next, we learn to love ourselves as we begin to see ourselves through God’s eyes.  This brings wholeness as we begin to treat ourselves as a beloved child of God should be treated. 
  
  Finally, out of the security that comes from love of God and self comes the realization that God has room in God’s heart for all the rest of God’s children too.  Our needs for control and to make ourselves look better by diminishing others drains away as we see others from God’s prospective.
   

• Religious ritual can provide us with continuity with the past and help promote our awareness of the holy, but it is no substitute for love of God, self, and neighbor.  No matter how beautiful and flawlessly executed, ritual can never, ever take the place of relationships.  Paul reminds us, “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”  (1 Corinthians 13:1-3) 

      Love is the very substance of God and is the true source of a whole, vibrant life.  Where are you on the road to a full, productive life grounded in God’s love?

revclay

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Mark 12:28-34

One of the scribes came near and heard Jesus and the Sadducees disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?"

Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 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." 

Then the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that 'God is one, and besides God there is no other';  and 'to love God with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,' and 'to love one's neighbor as oneself,' - this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." 

When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."  After that no one dared to ask him any question.

 [NRSV]