28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard the Sadducees arguing. He noticed that Jesus had given the Sadducees a good answer. So he asked him, “Which is the most important of all the commandments?”
29 Jesus answered, “Here is the most important one. Moses said, ‘Israel, listen to me. The Lord is our God. The Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your mind and with all your strength.’ — (Deuteronomy 6:4, 5) 31 And here is the second one. ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ — (Leviticus 19:18) There is no commandment more important than these.”
32 “You have spoken well, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one. There is no other God but him. 33 To love God with all your heart and mind and strength is very important. So is loving your neighbor as you love yourself. These things are more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 Jesus saw that the man had answered wisely. He said to him, “You are not far from God’s kingdom.”
From then on, no one dared to ask Jesus any more questions.
Read Mark 12:28-34 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
In this passage, Jesus has just finished responding to a trick question, and another question gets sent His way. What probably was the cause of numerous debates among the various groups of Jews was now being asked of Jesus. Finally Jesus would have to choose sides on this debate. Which commandment would Jesus say is the greatest?
Instead of simply giving one, Jesus gives two commandments (loving God and loving our neighbor), and He gives them in that order. “Here is the most important one . . . Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your mind and with all your strength.” “And here is the second one. ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
Jesus ranks these two commandments as the most important and the second most important. Why give both of them, and why rank them if they are both important?
In my own life and experience, it is only after I understand and grasp God’s love and choose to love Him that I am able to effectively love my neighbor as myself. It is only after I know how much God loves me that I can even begin to have any idea where the bar would be for me and for my neighbor.
With that said, the second commandment doesn’t place my neighbor above or below me, but instead on equal ground. However, it is only after we follow the most important commandment that we can begin to understand the second. Only after we choose God to be our God, and we serve (i.e. obey) Him wholeheartedly can we then move towards the second commandment – and love others alongside ourselves.
These two commandments feed off of each other in an upward or downward spiral. Either we downward spiral, loving ourselves or others over God, and becoming more and more cynical and depressed; or we love God first, and become more and more like our image of Him.
How we treat others is an indication of the type of God we serve. If we are rude, ungracious, or hostile towards those who we meet, if we belittle those who are “below” us, or if we try to impress those who are around us, we are broadcasting the type of God we serve. When we are serving others or ourselves, or even any god other than the God of Love, we are devaluing ourselves in our own minds and short-changing our real value in God’s eyes.
It is by loving God (the “God” who Jesus showed us) with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength that we are able to see value in both others and ourselves, and only then will we be able to truly love others as we love ourselves in any “positive” way.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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