The Greatest Command

The Greatest Commandment

Mark 12:28-34

PRAYER

Tonight, we are going to take a look at the greatest commandment that we are given in scripture. How do I know that? Because Jesus said so.

In Matthew 22:36-38, Jesus is asked and will answer the question that every single person who has ever taken a breath on this earth must answer: What is the purpose of my existence and life?

What are we made for?
And more than that, what SHOULD we do with our lives?

There are many things for which we could live.

There are many options that the world has laid before us.

• Fame or Legacy- To be famous is to live genuinely, according to many. A significant portion of our economy is built around individuals known as influencers. These influencers are idolized and viewed as essential. Celebrities, politicians, athletes, or thinkers of our day. Why is influencer culture so influential? We believe that value can be found in making a name for ourselves.
  • On a more micro level, we see this in the pursuits of our lives as we strive to get ahead. We seek to be well-liked and essential. We want to be adored. We want to be important.
• Fortune- The world also tells us that we should live to make money. A successful life is a life with a full bank account, a big home, and a white picket fence in front of it. Hard work is admirable, but the problem with wealth is that it becomes a treasure that we can never have enough of.
• Relationships– Our world has so oversexualized everything that many believe that their entire purpose is built on who they are with. The world sells us goods constantly that we need to meet our other half, and that we need to experience relationships after relationship of brokeness.

So the picture is clear of what the world tell us is most important

But what Jesus answers when asked what is the greatest command reveals the deeper God given purpose that ever person here has been given.

You don’t have to wonder why God made you.

You don’t have to question what God desires for you.

It all centers around one word: Love.

Let’s look now at what Jesus says:

Mark 12:28-34— One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” 29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

Now Jesus’ prayer answer would not be an unfamiliar answer.

Jesus is actually quoting from the Old Testament. Let’s look at that cross references for a moment as it so central to the answer that Jesus gave:

Deutonomy 6:4-15—Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

This is what is known as the Shema prayer.

• Jews have recited the Shema prayer every single morning and evening for centuries.
• The word Shema comes from the first word of this prayer.
• Shema means “hear.”
• This is not just physical hearing, but spiritual hearing as well.
• Jesus says in scripture when speaking of the prophets and law that “he who has ears hear.”
• He refers to the Pharisees as those who have ears but do not hear—those who have eyes but do not see.
• So when Jesus is asked by these religious men of that day he is making a call back to something that they have prayed every single day… the Shema.
• God gave this prayer to the people of Israel so that they would not forget what the Lord had commanded them.
• So for centuries the words of this prayer along with a couple of passages from Deuteromony and Exodus would memorized and recited by every Jewish person.
• Jews also would literally take these words and they would physically hold on to them.
• Explain a Tefillin: This would be a box that the Shema would be written down and then sealed into. With leather straps a Jew would tie the box in a particular fashion while reciting the prayer to their arm and to their forehead.

STORY: I was on a connecting flight back from Detroit in LA and saw a group of Orthodox Jews. A secular man approached them and began asking them about the ties that they had around their arms. The Jewish men began explain to the man (a secular Jew) and were sort of disappointed that the man had never been taught about them. But once they explained he said “would you put them on me?” So I watched as this man had this moment of have Teffilin.

• Explain Mezuzah: Jewish families would have a small case containing a parchment of the scroll of Deuteronomy This would be put over the threshold or doorway to their home. As they entered the home, they kissed their fingers and touched the case.

So Jesus is asked what the greatest commandment is, and his answer is something that had never been before them.

• But what we know the story of the Old Testament. God’s people do not remember. No matter how much they tie around their forehead, no matter how much they memorize, and no matter how many sacrifices they give… they fall short time and time.
• They forget. So Jesus comes and states that the greatest command is to love the Shema.
• To love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. And like it love our neighbor as ourselves.

Now the keyword in all of this is LOVE.

DEFINE AGAPE: In the Bible, there are many different words for love. In English, there is one word for love.

• We use the same word ‘love’ for how we love our mom as we do for when we love sushi or video games. Our English vocabulary is limited.
• However, in the Greek language, there are four main words for love.
• Eros– Romantic love. Based on attraction, it can change. It has limits.
• Storge– Love of family. Love of instincts. Like a parent for his child. Some of us know that we may have family members who do not care for each other.
• Phileo– Love of a friend. Love like a brother. Mutual support. Can be broken and can fail.
• Agape– Sacrificial and unconditional love. Willingly chooses to love even when it is costly and there may be nothing to gain.
• Agape love is deeply connected to the character of God as God is the very defintion of AGAPE love.

1 John 4:16— We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

• So AGAPE love is, by definition, connected to God’s character. He is the consistent, unhindered, and only everlasting love that we will ever experience.

For a deeper understanding of this definition, refer to what the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13. This verse, often used at weddings, gives us a picture of what agape love looks like in practical terms. Everytime that you see the word love you can even replace it with God as it shows the nature of his love for us!

1 Corinthians 13:4-8— Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. 

• God is patient. God is kind. God is not easily angered.
• He loves us in such a way and then calls us to love Him in the same way. We called to love and honor him with AGAPE love as we abide in Him.

Agape God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

• Notice that scripture gives us a distinction between the aspects of ourselves and how we “AGAPE GOD.” This isn’t just one aspect of our being but four.
• Let’s dissect this a little bit deeper as we think about what the Bible says about each of these aspects of our being.

1. Love God with All Your Heart (Desires and Emotions)

• The heart is the source of our emotions and deepest desires.
• We give our hearts to things. We desire things in our lives to bring us happiness or make us feel good. Our hearts can get out of hand when we allow emotions and desires to rule us.
• Jeremiah 17:9—The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?”
• Matthew 6:21 – “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
• Our heart is deceptive, and therefore, what we desire in our heart can sometimes be bad for us. What we treasure in our lives can harm us. And our emotions can rule us!
• Emotions make an excellent servant but a terrible master.
• Your emotions are an indicator and a reaction, but they should not be your dictator.
• If you live by emotions, you will struggle to live by faith.
• So what should we do. We should submit our desires to God?
• Psalm 37:4-5—Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this.
• Loving God with our heart means that we don’t let our lives be ruled by our emotions or heart’s desires. Instead, we submit our heart’s desire to God.
• The beautiful promise of loving God with our whole heart is that he will transform everything.
• Jeremiah 29:13—You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
• Ezekiel 36:26—I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
• Agape love from the heart truly comes from a transformed and regenerated heart.
• There is a spiritual heart surgery that needs to take place.
• How do you check your heart?

Luke 6:45—The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.

• You can tell by what you mouth speaks where your heart stands.
• And this is intimately connect to our next aspect:

2. Love God with All Your Mind (Thoughts, Beliefs, Intellect)

• Oftentimes, we are ruled by our emotions because the thoughts and beliefs we hold in our mind are warped and go against the truth of who we are in God.
• So loving God with our minds is an active battle we have in our minds to not submit to our emotions but to have a renewed mind.
• Romans 12:2— Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will.
• 2 Corinthians 10:5 – “Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”
• Philippians 4:8—Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
• How do we do that? We choose to honor God not just with our emotions but with our intellect. We study God’s word, and we know what is true.
• We memorize scripture, and we recite it to our hearts when our emotions get out of control.
• We prioritize the church for our family. And we seek to “Shema” to actually hear from God when we are present at church. When worship is going on, we don’t stand with our arms crossed, but we bow in reverence and praise God.
• I think many of us live lukewarm lives of faith because we have made God minute and unimportant in our heads.
• We have created neuropathways in our brain that tell us… my faith is just another thing I do. Church is another thing I do. I am happy to be here and hear the word… BUT DO WE REALLY HEAR CHURCH!
• God has so much more in store for those who would be willing to say to God “renew my mind, remove my apathy, and fill me with your truth.”
• If Bible reading feels like a chore, it is probably because you are treating it as if it is only an emotional experience when it is also a mind and soul experience.
• If you think every time you read the Bible that you are going to walk away with warm, fuzzy feelings, then you are going to grow frustrated.
• It’s like working out. No one likes training, but when you feel prepared for game day, you will be glad you did it!
• I believe many of us are filling our minds with so much that is contrary to the things of God that we are clouded in our understand of our faith.
• Ephesians 4 challenges us to think about the way we think:

Ephesians 4:17-24— So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. 20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

• Some of us have been desensitized to our sin.
• Our thinking has allowed us to be ruled by our emotions or ruled by lies. And this leads to a fading of our flame in Christ.
• We have to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. And put away the things of darkness. We have to walk in way that is going to put us at odds with the ways of the world.
• And the reason is because our very soul stands in the balance:

3. Love God with All Your Soul (Identity, Worship, Eternal)

• Now, when we talk about the soul, things can get confusing.
• We have a heart that is our desires/emotions. We have a mind that is our brain/beliefs. The soul, then, is our “inner self.”
• In the Bible, the soul or spirit is our “life” or “spirit.”
• We are not just material. We are not just a clump of cells or a biological being. God has placed in us a spirit that is “eternal.”
• Your physical body will not live forever, but your soul will live on eternally. You will have a new resurrected body one day, but your soul will be the same.
• So how what does it mean to agape “love” God with our soul?
• It means to worship God with our whole being. It is glorifying God, thanking him in praise and worship.
• Your soul was made to worship God!
• So worship from the soul is acknowledging that God is most important and that God deserves to be glorified with everything you do.
• Your soul longs for the Lord.
• Psalms 42:1-2—As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
• Some of you don’t know it, but what you have been longing for and searching for in the world… can only be found in his presence?
• The freedom that is experienced in being near to the Father.
• Every single person is created with a size whole within their soul.
• A soul that has peace and hope is a soul that worships the Lord alone.
• Psalm 103:1-5—Praise the Lord,my soul;  all my inmost being, praise his holy name.2 Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 5  who satisfies your desires with good things.
• There is nothing else in all of creation that can satisfy the longing of our soul. So we need to stop selling our soul to things that won’t last.
• Matthew 16:26— For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 
• What should we do? Stop selling our souls to the things of this world or looking for what is temporary to satisfy us when we are meant for eternity.
• If you look at the world and you wish for more… it is because you are homesick for heaven. You soul longs to be with its Creator.
• So we worship and we honor God until he comes or until he calls us home.
• And that worship and gratitude lead our soul to go beyond just singing, but into our daily service.

4. Love God with All Your Strength (Actions, Effort, Physical Life)

Colossians 3:23-24— Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 

1 Corinthians 10:31 – “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you

do, do all to the glory of God.”

• Loving God with our strength is truly doing everything in our lives as if we are doing it for Jesus himself.

• Jesus answered the question of what is the most excellent command with a twofold answer.
• Why? Because God’s love will propel us to love and serve others.
• If we truly know God’s love for ourselves, it will overflow into all the areas of our lives.
• We love because he first loved us.

Conclusion

• The most excellent command given in scripture is truly one that can’t be fulfilled in us completely.
• You and I will never love God fully with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.
• But AGAPE love is made complete in us not by our works by the work Christ.
• Jesus is the one who was able to perfectly love God and keep the command and because he died and rose again we can have our heart and mind transformed. Our soul has home in Him. We can walk in relationship with God.
• Our strength and AGAPE love truly comes from the source of His great love.
• Maybe tonight you need to bring before the Lord the mediation of your heart and mind. Maybe you need truly worship Him maybe for first time or maybe return to His presence where peace may be found. Maybe you need strength that goes beyond your own. You have seen your strength fade and need it be renewed in Him.
• His love for you is GREATER than your failures and flaws and he is calling you tonight!