The Great Commandment

Mark 12 : 28 - 34

"You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your strength. You shall love your neighbor as yourself "

A teacher of the Law, one who spent his life studying interpretations and commentaries on the Law, was eager to know: what is the fundamental premise that underlies all the many commandments?

The first part of Jesus' answer comes from the Shema (Deut. 6: 4-5), recited by every Jew as part of their morning and evening prayers. A command of undivided and wholehearted love and devotion to God......the complete sacrifice of one's life to God, nothing excluded or held back from God. Jesus links this with a portion of a verse from the book of Leviticus (19: 18) about man's dealings with his fellowmen. Jesus' answer forms the Great Commandment. This commandment forms the foundation of everything we are and do as Christians. The deepest inclination of our hearts is to be towards God and our fellowmen. It calls for much more than any specific 'good works' that we perform ('more important than burnt offerings and sacrifices' ).

It was much easier for me to offer my good deeds to God than to check the deepest inclinations of my heart. At one time, to look within made me uncomfortable, because I would see there the angers and hurts that blocked me from freely loving God and others. I once had an image of myself coming to God with a whole pile of 'offerings' in my hands - things I did and wanted to do for him, things I tried to use to keep away the need to examine my heart. But there was none of that for him. He told me that he wanted me as his child, in real relationship with him, rather than my offering of good deeds.

Love is always initiated by God. We need to continually experience his love so that we can be freed of our fears and self centeredness and begin to love him and others. Otherwise we may remain stuck in the dutiful game (like the elder son in the parable of the prodigal son), performing good deeds out of every reason other than loving devotion. Jesus told the teacher of the Law that he was not far from the kingdom of God. The scribe acknowledges Jesus' teaching but that in itself is not sufficient. What did the scribe choose? Did he take the step towards loving God and others? Will we take the step of making the Great Commandment our rule of life?