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One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 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.’ Then the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that “he is one, and besides him there is no other”; and “to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength”, and “to love one’s neighbour as oneself”,—this is much more important than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.’ When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ After that no one dared to ask him any question. (Mark 12:28-34)
Happy Monday to you, dear Friend! I pray this finds you and yours doing well. I pray also that time with the Lord will bless you and those around you. As we pray this morning, please lift up Pastor Matt Pennington, who yesterday, surprised by a Pastor Appreciation reception, was sick with a stomach bug! Pray for him and for members of my family who also had that kind of bug. I pray you were not affected by it. Pray for the sick, the lonely, the hurting, the lost, and those who think they don't have a prayer. Also those pray for the survivors and friends of the almost countless acts of violence this past week, especially those at the Jewish synagogue, Tree of Life, in Philadelphia. Pray that senseless violence end. Pray for each other, and pray for yourselves.
It was quite a day for Jesus. He had to contend with those who would never throw Jesus a Pastor's Appreciation reception. They just wanted to throw Jesus. There were, earlier in this chapter of Mark, the Sadducees, the Herodians, the Pharisees, and the scribes; it was the Super Bowl of Sour People, and religious ones at that. The questions varied from paying taxes, marriage, His purpose in being there in the first place; and finally the one in this passage. A lone scribe, one who dedicated his entire life to the Law, and the copying of it over and over again, so much so they were not allowed to marry, asks Jesus wanted to trap Jesus with a simple Sunday school question: "Which commandment is the first of all?" Jesus answered correctly, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 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." This was straight from Jewish Scriptures. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5 aka "The Shema"). Jesus then added, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." This led to the scribe giving Jesus the passing grade, and Jesus telling him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And that stopped the questioning of Jesus for that day.
Love is the key to the first Commandment. Love of God, love of neighbor, and love of self. Some struggle with loving God. They are angry at Him, or don't know Him, or claim He doesn't exist and therefore have no love for God. Some struggle with love of neighbor. They don't like them. They don't like the way they talk, or dress, for where they're from; and quite honestly look for any number of excuses for not to like, let alone, love their neighbor and so they don't. And some struggle with love of self. They have judged themselves harshly or have heeded the comments from others and have allowed themselves to be put in a box in which they don't belong, but until the power of God lifts them out of there, they will not love themselves, let alone others until they do. The key is to know that love comes from God. John 3:16 shares the beauty of that love; God so loved the world, that He gave... His Son to come and take our place, but first to show us how to love God, our neighbor and ourselves. One of the most striking pictures on social media for me was the picture of a man from Alabama holding a child so that the mother of the child could fill out the paperwork needed for them to see the doctor. This was in a waiting room of a medical facility. The mom and her baby were African American, and the man holding and rocking the baby was white. That went viral. So should our love for God, our neighbors, and ourselves. No barriers, no excuses, no nothing - just love as God showed us how. Imagine how the world will change, once we do.
PRAYER: Loving Father, thank You for your love for me. Fill my heart with love, the kind that shows unconditional love to all people, to You, and to myself. Lift up those who need lifting, bless those who need a blessing, and convict the hearts of those unwilling to love. This we pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Show love like never before! Amaze your neighbors!
Eradio Valverde
