Mark 12:28–34
There’s a moment in Jesus’ ministry when one of Israel’s teachers approaches Him—not to trap Him, but to truly understand Him. It’s one of the few encounters where a scribe seems genuinely open-hearted. He asks Jesus a question that sits at the center of all religion, all faith, and all life itself:
“Which commandment is the most important of all?”
It was not a new question. Rabbis had long debated which of the 613 commands in the Law was weightier, which stood as the foundation upon which all others rested. But Jesus’ answer wasn’t a new interpretation—it was the heart of the covenant itself:
“The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And 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.”
In these words, Jesus didn’t just summarize the Law; He revealed what the Law was always meant to be—a guide for living in the covenant love of God.
Love: Our Response to God’s Covenant
At the center of the Law is love. Not a feeling, not mere affection, but a steadfast commitment to God in response to His steadfast love for us. The command to “love the Lord your God” is not a demand for emotion but a call to covenant faithfulness.
When Israel first heard the Shema—“Hear, O Israel”—it was in the wilderness, on the edge of the promised land. God was reminding His people that His covenant with them was not built on their strength or worthiness, but on His unchanging love. Their love, then, was a response—a living, daily expression of gratitude and loyalty to the God who rescued them.
So it is for us. We love God because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). Love is the natural and necessary response to grace. When we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, we are not earning His favor—we are returning it.
To love God with our heart is to give Him our devotion.
To love Him with our soul is to entrust Him with our deepest identity.
To love Him with our mind is to shape our thoughts around His truth.
To love Him with our strength is to serve Him with all we have.
This is what it means to follow the Law—not as a set of rigid rules, but as a way of life shaped by love. God’s commands are not barriers to joy; they are the pathway to it. They form the necessary values, priorities, and behaviors that make our love for Him visible. The Law teaches us how to love rightly, because true love always takes form in obedience.
Love for God Expressed in Love for Neighbor
But Jesus didn’t stop there. He joined the command to love God with another: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The scribe wanted to know the greatest commandment, and Jesus gave him two—because the second is inseparable from the first. We cannot love God without loving those made in His image.
Loving our neighbor is not simply an act of kindness—it’s an act of worship. When we forgive, when we show patience, when we serve, when we speak truth, we are not just being “good people.” We are expressing our love for God in tangible form.
Covenant love always moves outward. It begins in the heart that loves God above all, and it overflows toward others. To love your neighbor is to see them through the eyes of your Creator—to desire for them what God desires, to treat them with the dignity His image demands.
Jesus Himself embodied this kind of love. His compassion for the broken, His mercy for sinners, His kindness toward the rejected—all of it was the visible expression of His perfect love for the Father. In loving people well, Jesus was fulfilling the very command He now gives to us.
Near to the Kingdom
When the scribe heard Jesus’ answer, he agreed: “To love God with all the heart and understanding and strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
And Jesus, seeing the sincerity of his faith, said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
That phrase is worth pausing over. “Not far.” What made him close? It wasn’t his knowledge of the Law, or his position, or his moral record. It was his recognition that love is the heart of God’s kingdom.
When you begin to love God with everything you are and love others as He has loved you, you are drawing near to His reign. You are living in the reality of His kingdom on earth—the kingdom where love rules, grace abounds, and peace reigns.
Loving God and loving people are not two separate pursuits; they are one sacred rhythm of covenant faith. Every act of love toward your neighbor is a step closer to the heart of God. Every expression of devotion to God makes your love for others more sincere.
And when you give both God and your neighbor the best of His love through you, you begin to live as a citizen of His kingdom—here and now.
Prayer:
Lord, You have loved us with an everlasting love. Teach us to love You with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Let every word and act be an expression of Your covenant love within us. Draw us nearer to Your kingdom until Your love rules our hearts completely. Amen. –Pastor Mark
