The Law of Love
What’s the Most Important Part of God’s Law?
What Does Jesus Say about the Law?
Good morning! Today we’ll be continuing our series through the book of Mark – a part of the Bible that lays out key events in the life of Jesus. And you may remember, even though Jesus has become popular with many of the Jews, there’s been a growing tension between him and the mainline Jewish leaders. Because Jesus has challenged their positions on things. They feel threatened by the things he’s teaching about God, his law, and his ways. And so they’ve been trying to trick him into saying something wrong or foolish in public. Because they’re trying to humiliate him, or hurt his reputation. But nothing has been working. In fact, Jesus has been giving really wise responses about the source of his authority, about how Christians should relate to government (Caesar), and about the resurrection power of God.
And because Jesus’s responses are so insightful, it prompts another conversation, here in our text. A conversation about God, what he cares about, and what he expects from us. And so if you have a Bible nearby, I’d encourage you to turn with me to Mark, Chapter 12. I’ll be reading Mark 12, verses 28 through 34. But first, let’s stop and ask for God’s help as we hear from his Word. Please pray with me:
[Pray and Read Text]
The Greatest Part of God’s Law
You’ve probably noticed, people seem to have an interest in discussing or even debating who the greatest athlete is, or what the best dessert is, or what song from the 1980s is the most likely to be remembered in 100 years. There’s an interest, in trying to nail down what’s the greatest? – what’s the most important? Of course, many of those conversations revolve around things that are kind of frivolous. But what we see in our text this morning, is a discussion that carries much more weight to it.
Because in verse 28, there’s a scribe who comes up to Jesus. He’s one of the Jewish scholars who studied and copied the Old Testament writings – and this scribe, he’s been listening as Jesus has responded to Jewish leaders like the Sadducees and Pharisees. And the scribe is impressed. Jesus has been making really insightful statements. And so this scribe comes with his own question for Jesus. And he asks, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Which commandment from God’s law is the highest?
Now, you should realize, this scribe wasn’t the only one asking this kind of question. This was a common question among Jewish scribes and scholars in those days. They seem to have had the same interest we do in asking things like, “What’s the greatest? What’s the most important?” Except of course, for them, they weren’t debating what the greatest song from the 1980s was. But instead, they wanted to figure out – of all the commandments in God’s law, which command matters the most to him? “Which commandment is the most important of all?”
And it’s a fair question. Because when God set apart the Jews as a nation, and gave special instructions to them through giving his law – the law came with a lot of commandments. People have counted – there are at least 613 distinct laws. And so there had been a good deal of discussion, if we were to summarize and simplify all these laws, and get at the heart of what God most wants from us, what would the greatest command be? The scribe, here, he brings that question to Jesus.
And what we see in Jesus’s response is that God’s law is a law of love – a law that requires perfect love. This morning, we’ll dig into what Jesus says about God’s law and how we should relate to it. But as we do that, I want to make sure we keep things simple. So if you’re taking notes, I’ll have four main points this morning – and they’ll go one, two, three, four. Here are my points: One God, Two Rules, Three Uses of the Law, and Four Insights. So we’re just going 1-2-3-4. One God, Two Rules, Three Uses of the Law, and Four Insights.
One God
So let’s get started. And let’s see how Jesus answers the scribe. “Which commandment is the most important of all?” To answer the question, Jesus goes back to the Old Testament law, and he quotes from Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses 4 and 5. In verse 29, Jesus says, “The most important (the most important command) 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.’” Jesus is pulling this from Deuteronomy 6.
Now, we’ll get to the command about loving God in a moment. But what’s really interesting, is when Jesus identifies this greatest commandment, here – he doesn’t just jump straight to the answer. He doesn’t just quote the commandment itself, from Deuteronomy 6:5. But he also takes the time to quote verse 4, that statement right before the command: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” And it’s worth asking the question – why does Jesus include that statement in his response?
And there must be significance to it, because the scribe in our text – he sees it as significant. In verse 32, as he begins to commend Jesus for his response, he says, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him.” So the scribe highlights for us that the oneness of God is an important part of Jesus’s response. So why is that?
Well, it’s because Jesus recognizes – before we can see why the greatest commandment is so important, we need to have a right view of God: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” And in this statement – Jesus’s point isn’t just that “the Lord is one,” as in “God has a single divine essence,” although that’s true. But in context, the thrust of this statement is that the Lord of the Bible is the one that we should revere as God. There are no other Authorities or Lords equal to him, similar to him, next to him. But the Lord is the one and only. He’s the true, everlasting, Almighty God. And because of how high up and distinct he is, there’s a special treatment that we owe to him, and only to him. Because he’s not just a friend, or a father-figure, or a heavenly boss or something. But he’s in his own otherworldly category. The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Two Rules
And with the exalted specialness of the Lord there in the background, Jesus goes on from here. And he identifies the two greatest rules from God’s law. And this brings us to my second main point, concerning Two Rules. I’ve already mentioned the first and greatest rule from God’s law that Jesus has identified. So let’s start there – at verse 30: “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 love in view here isn’t just some sort of squishy little sentimental feeling, but God calls for heartfelt devotion, commitment. That’s the love in view here: a deep, heartfelt commitment. And loving God like this is the command Jesus singles out as being most important.
Now for many of us, we’ve heard this part of the Bible before. And so it doesn’t strike us as all that interesting or surprising when Jesus says this. Because we usually read over it – yup, I know this already – and then we don’t really stop to ponder the significance of what Jesus is saying. But I want to point out a few different features of this command that are worth giving some attention to.
For one thing, make sure you notice – this most important command is God-centered, not man-centered. “You shall love the Lord your God.” And so this means that if your life doesn’t have God as the primary focus, then you’re actually in conflict with God’s law. If you think the most important thing in life is simply to be well-behaved, or to make people happy, then you’re viewing life through the wrong lens. And Jesus is saying – you need to get rid of your old glasses and get a new prescription. Because this most important command insists on the ultimate importance of God – the Creator of the Universe, the Governor of all things, the Judge, the Savior, the Fountain of Beauty and Goodness and Life. If God isn’t our focus, it means that you and I are flawed.
But there’s another aspect of this great commandment that’s significant. You’ll see that it addresses inner devotion, and not just outward deeds. Because, remember, the commandment tells us to love. “You shall love the Lord your God.” The command here isn’t only about doing the right thing. But the command is deeper than that. It’s about desiring the right thing. It’s about being the right way, in our loves and loyalties. If all God wanted from us was good behavior, that’s all he would have asked for. And we could have just put on our good guy masks, to give a nice-looking performance – and no one would need to know what’s going on inside of us. But, you see, the Lord insists on getting more than that. He requires a good heart from us. And that should make us pause for a minute. Because it means that if deep down inside, you don’t have love for God – well, then, you could pray fifty times a day, you could give 90% of your paycheck to the poor. But you’d still be missing the mark. Because God doesn’t just command good habits. He calls for a good heart.
But I’ll point out one more significant feature of this command. You’ll see that it requires total allegiance to God, not just trying hard. On the surface, this command might sound kind of easy at first. Because it might just sound like God wants people to have warm fuzzy feelings toward him. But actually listen to this command: “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.” Jesus’s point is that you and I are required to love God with all we’ve got – with all our affections, passions, choices, thoughts – with all our effort in all our activities. And this command is binding on us, all day, every day. From the day of our birth, to the hour of our death – the justice of heaven demands that we must love him to the fullest of our human capacity.
And if at any point we fail to love the Lord with all our everything – it isn’t just some sort of township ordinance that we’re violating. But we’re breaking a law of God. In fact, we’re rebelling against God’s highest and most important commandment. To contradict his law on this point essentially makes us guilty of a Class A felony. You can just imagine the angels, gasping in horror at the scandal of it. The Supreme God who dwells in unapproachable light, who inhabits eternity, who rules over every detail in the universe, down to the smallest subatomic particle – it is his right that we would treasure him and honor him and love him with all that we’ve got. And if we don’t understand this, it’s because we haven’t understood what it means for God to be God – the one and only!
See, Jesus singles this commandment out – to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Because it’s impossible to get any other part of God’s law right, for as long as we’re getting this part wrong. It’s that foundational to everything else.
But after Jesus identifies this greatest command, he goes on. And he points out Rule #2 for us. He says there’s a second command that’s important for understanding God’s law. Verse 31: “The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
So this command that Jesus mentions – you’ll notice that it’s also a direct quote from the Old Testament law, from Leviticus 19:18. And this command is also a command that deals with love. Again, love here isn’t just a sentimental feeling. It’s not an attitude of just affirming people all the time, even if they’re in sin. But this love commanded here is that same heartfelt commitment to the enduring good of others. So in this second command, Jesus is doubly confirming – love is at the center of God’s law. Except in this second command, God tells us to love our neighbor. And he also explains how you and I should love our neighbor: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Now, for this command, too, I want to make a couple quick observations. First, notice – there’s a stated difference between the love we should give God, and the love we should give our neighbor. God should be loved with everything we’ve got – our love for him should be elite and unique. And yet even though the love we owe our neighbor is less than that – the standard God puts before us here is still very high. Because we’re told we need to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
Of course, this doesn’t mean if you loathe yourself, that it’s okay to loathe other people. But it’s assumed, in this command, that you and I have a built-in love for self. We instinctively value our life, our comfort, our pleasure – and we make decisions to care for our own well-being. And it’s really not wrong to have this self-oriented love, as long as our loves are put in the right order.
But what this second rule does, is it points at that love we have for self. And it reminds us – your neighbor’s life is just as valuable as yours! Your neighbor is made in the image of God just as much as you are. And so however far you go in loving yourself – your neighbor has the right to be loved like that, too. Because you and I aren’t more deserving of love than our neighbor is.
Now, I’m fully aware – some of us physically have neighbors who live near to us. And we don’t like them. We think they’re messy, or noisy. Or they put up signs for political candidates we don’t like. And it can be tempting to think that if we have unpleasant neighbors, that gets us off the hook. We can just ignore them. But Jesus isn’t there with us! He insists that you shall love your neighbor as yourself. It’s right that your neighbor’s needs would strike you as being just as important as your own needs. Because you’re not better than they are. You’re not more important than them.
“Loving your neighbor as you love yourself” – it’s the second-most essential command that undergirds all the rest of God’s law.
Three Uses of the Law
But as we consider what God’s law requires of human morality, here, it might be a bit discouraging, or a bit confusing. How am I supposed to make use of these commands? Especially if I’ve already broken them – if I’ve already messed up? Or you might wonder – as a Christian, as I’m trusting in Jesus to save me, should I still care about God’s law? Is it still relevant for me? Our text puts us into a position where we need to deal with some of these questions. And so I want to briefly explain three ways that we can still practically benefit today from using God’s moral commands, like the ones in our text. And so this will be my third point – three uses of the law (the moral law). And just to be clear, we’re not dealing with ongoing usage of the ceremonial, sacrifice laws (which Christ fulfilled), or ongoing usage of the government laws God gave for Israel’s theocracy (since on a number of points our context is different than Israel’s was under prophets and priests at that time). But I’m just highlighting three uses of the moral law that Christian pastors and theologians have recognized from Scripture throughout history.
So first – the first use of the law is often called the civil use of God’s law. And this points to how God’s law is useful for pricking people’s consciences – even the consciences of unbelievers. And the law can restrain people from jumping headlong into wickedness. If you imagine a leash that holds a dog back from running into the road, or digging up the neighbors tulips. That law of God can act like that leash – and restrain society from full-out embracing evil. That’s the first use of God’s law.
The second use of God’s law, though, has often been called the pedagogical use of the law. Now, this word pedagogue – I know it’s not common – but a pedagogue refers to a schoolmaster or tutor. And so the idea here is that God’s law is like a schoolmaster that teaches us in our childish ignorance. And, specifically, the law teaches us that we’ve done evil in the eyes of God. Through the law comes knowledge of sin” – that’s what Romans 3:20 says. In fact, the law forces us to see that our crimes are so great, and our obedience is so deficient – the only thing that can help us and save us is an act of God. The law drives us to see how desperate we are for the saving work of Jesus. Just like a fierce thunderstorm drives us to find shelter from the rain, God’s law ultimately drives us to find shelter and salvation in Christ.
And since the law of God has this function, to convince people of their need for Christ, the law’s actually really important when we’re telling people about Christianity. Because people need to see that they’re buried under a mountain of moral pollution. People need to see they’ve been slapping God in the face, and serving the devil. People need to weep over the seriousness of their sin. We all need the law to show us our sin. Because God uses that to drive people to the good news that Jesus died to save sinners. That’s the pedagogical use of the law.
But the third use of the law is often called the normative or didactic use of the law. And this is just saying that the moral standards of God’s law still tell us what true goodness looks like, and the law should guide Christians in how we live. Now, let me clarify, I’m not saying that the law tells us how to be saved, or how to earn God’s favor. Because the law is not useful for making ourselves fit for heaven. The Bible is clear – we ourselves can’t meet the requirements of God’s law. And that’s why Galatians 2:16 says, “we know that a person is not justified (a person is not made right with God) by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ…” So it isn’t our law-keeping, or our work that makes us right with God, but it’s only the work of Jesus.
And yet when we’re talking about the normative use of the law, we can still affirm that the law is useful for guiding how we live. Because when Jesus saves people, he doesn’t just save us from sin’s bad consequences, but he also saves us into a changed life. He sets us free from the evil desires that once controlled us – from our selfishness and lust and greed and jealousy. And as a gift in our salvation, Jesus works by his Holy Spirit to give us new desires to live for God. And as we seek out what it looks like to live for God – to honor him, and to reflect his good character – the moral law shows us. It gives an objective standard. So that’s how the moral instructions of the law continue to guide Christian living. That’s the 3rd use – the normative use of the law.
And so as Jesus points out the two greatest rules from the whole law of God, as Christians we should recognize – they still have use. They have a civil use to restrain hateful words and violence. These rules have a pedagogical use, to convict and correct us. They show us how we haven’t loved God and neighbor, and they drive us to seek mercy from heaven. And then finally, these rules have a normative use, to guide normal Christian living. Because these rules show us what our love for God and neighbor should look like, when we’re saved from sin and walking with God’s Spirit.
Four Insights
But as Jesus affirms God’s law of love, here in our text, there are four insights in particular that are important for us to walk away with. And so this brings us to my final point – four insights. Four insights. I want to walk through them quickly.
Here’s insight #1: You have failed in love. We’ve already examined these two commands – to love the Lord and to love our neighbor. And I’ve already established that we haven’t come anywhere close to hitting the mark. But someone might say – it’s not such a big deal. We can just do something for God to make it up somehow. Right? In the Old Testament, when people sinned, they were just told to sacrifice an animal to God. So if we just sacrifice something for God, too, then maybe loving him with all our heart isn’t such a big deal.
But make sure you notice in our text – that’s not a right way of thinking. Because in verse 33, the scribe in our text – he rightly points out that to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourself is “much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” In other words, loving God is far more important to him than any number of sacrifices you could offer him. You could offer up bulls and sheep, you could offer up money and volunteer hours – but if you haven’t offered him your complete love, nothing else you do will ever be able to make up for that. And so this is an important insight you need to recognize and grieve over – you have failed in love.
But here’s insight #2. Christ has fulfilled this love. Every other human being in the history of the world has failed. But Jesus, the Son of God, came down from heaven. He took on human flesh. And Jesus fulfilled the requirement of God’s law to its fullest extent! He loved the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his mind, with all his strength – and he loved his neighbor as himself. Now, you might say that’s good for Jesus. But you need to understand – it’s incredibly good news for you. Because the Son of God didn’t just come to obey the law for himself. He came in human flesh to obey the law for you – to satisfy all of God’s requirement on your behalf. And if you’re trusting in Jesus, his fulfillment of the law is counted as yours. Not only is Jesus the perfect sacrifice to carry the penalty for your sin, he’s also the perfect fulfiller of the law of love.
And when you rightly understand what Jesus came to do for you, you’ll see that you have a reason to love. That’s insight #3. You have a reason to love. Of course, you should love God because he made you and has authority over you, and he’s given you a command. But even beyond that – there’s a compelling reason you and I have to love God. And that’s because of his love for us – “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son.” (John 3:16) “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation (the perfect sacrifice) for our sins.” (1 John 4:10) “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive, together with Christ.” (Ephesians 2:4-5) “But God shows his love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8).
God, in love, has paid the price to save us from death. He’s given us the promises of forgiveness, favor, adoption into his family, happiness, heaven, and eternal life. The Lord has given you every reason to adore him, to be amazed by him – to love him, just as he has told us is good. And so won’t you love the Lord your God? And won’t you love and respect the people around you, who are made in his image? You have good reason to love.
But the fourth and final insight we see in our text is that Christ’s kingdom is a Kingdom of Love. You’ll notice, in verse 34, Jesus observes that the scribe has answered wisely. The scribe has agreed that no one is like God, and that the law requires perfect love. And so in verse 34, Jesus tells him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
Now, Jesus’s main point here is likely that the man is really close to entering the kingdom. Because the scribe has a high view of God’s law. It seems like he’s beginning to see his sin. And he’s seeing that animal sacrifices won’t fix it. This scribe is approaching a place where he’s beginning to see his need for a perfect Savior outside of himself, who can bring him to God. That’s probably the main thing Jesus means when he says, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
And yet it would be no less true that this scribe is near to the kingdom in another sense. And that’s because this scribe has identified what the governing principle of the kingdom is – that the kingdom of heaven will be, and already is, a kingdom of love. It’s chiefest of God’s commands, the crown jewel in God’s law – this decree, that his people would be a people of love. And in God’s kingdom, this rule isn’t just a high ideal that nobody’s able to reach. But every citizen of heaven displays this love to the fullest and truest degree. And one day, if you’re a Christian, you’ll experience it. It’ll be the air that we breathe, the halo that surrounds every head, the joyful reality of every relationship. The kingdom of heaven is a kingdom of love.
There’s a pastor and theologian named Jonathon Edwards who lived in the 1700s. And in closing, I want to read a quote from him. Because I think that he helps to describe just the glorious the love of God’s kingdom will be. He says,
“Heavenly lovers will have no doubt of the love of each other. They shall have no fear that the declarations and professions of love are hypocritical, but shall be perfectly satisfied of the sincerity and strength of each other’s affection, as much as if there were a window in every breast, so that everything in the heart would be seen. There shall be no such thing as flattery… in heaven, but there perfect sincerity shall reign through all and in all. Everyone will be just what he seems to be, and will really have all the love that he seems to have. It will not be as in this world, where comparatively few things are what they seem to be, and where professions are often made lightly and without meaning; but there, every expression of love shall come from the bottom of the heart, and all that is professed shall be really and truly felt. The saints shall know that God loves them, and they shall never doubt the greatness of his love, and shall have no doubt of the love of all their fellow inhabitants in heaven.”(1)
Friends, heaven won’t be a place of fake smiles or reluctant relationships. But Christ’s kingdom is one of love. And even now, he’s calling us, he’s working in us, he’s changing us – so that the love of his kingdom would be in us. So as we lean on Christ’s work, let’s be people of that kingdom. And as a church in Mt Pleasant, let’s embrace God’s commands to love. Please pray with me: