Pastor Ray’s Message The Greatest Commandment – Mark 12:28-34

In this story, a scribe asks Jesus which commandment is the most important.
Jesus responds with clarity and conviction: love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love your neighbour as yourself.

When the scribe hears Jesus say this, he responds wisely: To love Him with all the heart… and to love one’s neighbour as oneself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices .  Jesus commends him by saying: You are not far from the kingdom of God.

While this story makes us feel sympathetic towards the man, the man still had a problem. A sin problem…A heart that really wanted to do it’s own thing. Which meant that he could not possibly fully obey the command to love God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength, nor love his neighbour as himself.

So, if he (and we) was not capable of that, could he then try the option of piling up all the burnt offerings in the world? Even that would not do it. That would not forever completely do away with his failure to keep the two most important commandments.

What he needed, and what we need, is the perfect sacrifice from the One who loved His Father with all His heart, soul, mind and strength and who loved His neighbour as Himself.

Jesus not only fulfils all of the Law perfectly for us in the way He lived, and His perfect sacrifice does not only completely satisfy the demands of a Holy and Just God. Jesus’ death and resurrection also makes the way for us to be changed.

The mysterious application of the Good News of Jesus is that it changes us! When we are overwhelmed and humbled by the gift Jesus gave us on the cross, we are able to receive it and so become more able to fully love God and to love our neighbours as ourselves.

A few questions to reflect on:

• Does the way I love God and love my neighbour reflect that I am fully alive in Jesus Christ?
• If not, what is hindering that?
• How might the application of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus to your heart, soul, mind and strength change that?

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