All You Need Is Love: Daily Thoughts from Mark (Mark 12:28-34)

In a way the Beatles were right when they said, “All you need is love.”  Of course, they didn’t really get the part about love for God, nor did they understand that our love for one another really comes from God and His love for us.  But to see love at the center of all things was basically correct.

The Beatles were not the originators of this way of thinking.  God is.  And He has been making this known from time immemorial, as the scribe who interacted with Jesus showed.

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “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.” And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions. (Mark 12:28-34, ESV)

Scribes in this day and time were not just copyists of Scripture but also Scripture’s teachers and interpreters.  They were religious leaders in Israel and might be associated with various other religious factions, as well.  This scribe see the interactions Jesus has had with the Sadducees, who followed the Pharisees and Herodians.  The common person might be thinking, “Who shall I listen to?”

There seems to be no ill will in this question from the scribe but rather a desire to learn or at least share knowledge and insight.  Jesus’ answer is that two critical commands summarize all the others.  If we think of the 10 commandments, the first four relate to loving God, the next 6 to loving others.  We need it spelled out for us what it means to love God and others or God wouldn’t have given the other commands, but these two highlight God’s intent for us.  He wants a loving relationship and wants us to love others.

Our relationship with God is not to be obedience out of fear, manipulation to get what we want, or a way to boast how good we are.  Obedience is to be motivated by love for Him and His love for us.  If I am not feeling love for Him, something is wrong with my heart.

God is a lover, and so I am a lover who wants to be loved unconditionally and wants to love others the same way.  But my fear of not getting what I need, my self-centeredness, and my desire for self-rule, keep me from loving as I should and even at times from receiving the love of others.  So if that is not the character of my interaction with others something is wrong with my heart.

Interestingly, when the scribe shows his insight to Jesus, the Lord does not say to him, “You are saved.”  He says, “You are not far from the kingdom.”  This man needs to recognize who Jesus is and become his follower in faith.  A relationship with God always starts with trusting Him for life.  Insight into the truth is not enough.  My heart must be turned toward God in absolute dependence and submission.

Jesus has definitely shown himself to be the leader Israel needs and has been looking for.  If only they would have embraced him as such.  Peter says that if they had the times of refreshing would have come from the presence of the Lord and all things would have been restored (Acts 3:19-21).  As it is, we have waited nearly 2,000 years for that restoration.