If you want valid answers about God, look at Jesus. Jesus shows us what God is like.
Although Jesus helped, blessed, noticed, and encouraged thousands of people, there were people who didn’t like Him.
Because of that, religious people were always trying to catch Jesus breaking the religious law or saying something that undermined it.
This guy in this passage was basically asking, “Jesus, out of all the big commandments, what’s the biggest?”
Nothing strange about this question. When you go back to the beginning of our time together, it’s just like asking, “Who do you think is the greatest rapper of all time?”
Okay, it’s not exactly like that, but you get the idea. In the case of religious obedience, people REALLY wanted to know what Jesus thought was #1!
Jesus replied: 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.’
The question wasn’t shocking, and neither was the answer. Nobody is going to argue with the idea that the greatest thing you can do is love God as much as you can. The whole “Love God” idea was part of a prayer that Jewish people memorized from the time they were kids.
But Jesus wasn’t done . . .
31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
ILLUSTRATION:
NEIGHBOR Example.
....(someone in your life as a spiritual leader - listen)
When Jesus mentioned this second command, it had far-reaching implications. And we’ll get to some of those later in this series. But for the sake of today, I just want you to draw one simple point from Jesus’ answer to the religious lawyer . . .
Love the Lord (heart, soul, mind, strength) - FIRST PLACE Then, we're not selfishly in "first place" & CAN love others like ourselves (FOCUS SHIFTS)
If you ever get a chance to study the bigger picture of Jesus’ life on Earth (and I hope you do) as recorded in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, you’ll see tons of interactions Jesus had with people. And although the subject matter of this interaction is certainly one of the most important, when you study all of Jesus’ interactions and responses to questions, you’ll notice something:
People wanted to know what Jesus thought about certain groups of people who . . .
Were a different ethnicity.
Were men & women.
Were very old or very young.
Had a lot of power or none at all.
Came from a different religious background.
Came from no religious background.
Made different behavioral choices.
Made bad behavioral choices.
Had nothing good to offer anyone.
And if you study those interactions alongside Jesus’ actions, you’ll notice something else:
Most of Jesus’ controversy revolved around the people He loved and was for.
Because when you love someone, you are for them! It doesn’t mean you are for all of their choices or their behavior (NOT CONDONING), but it means you want them to win. You want what’s best for them.
Still, people lost their minds when Jesus ate with sinners, embraced outcasts, and loved people who were rejected by every religious person they had ever met. Jesus’ message & model of "FOR" changed the world!