Mark 12:28-34
Those of us trained in the mindset of the Reformation have an aversion any kind of works or even ritual tied to our faith. It is right to affirm the Apostle Paul’s words in Romans 3:28, “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” Yet, when we come to Jesus in the Gospels, we hear a different take than our usual understanding of relationship between works and justification.
We come this week to one of those bothersome passages where it seems Jesus is affirming that fidelity to the Commandments is the way to enter the Kingdom of God. Understanding that the whole of the Law and Prophets (our Old Testament) is summed up in the Greatest Commandment, “to love God with our whole heart,” and the Second is “to love your neighbor as yourself,” puts you not far from the Kingdom of God. How is that? Some commentators say that the man is not far from the Kingdom because he is not far from Jesus. That is not a convincing explanation. If we look at what is said in this passage, the key verb is love. Who you love and how you show it is what puts you in the Kingdom of God. If you love God, your life will run contrary to the kingdoms of this world. If you love the other as yourself, your life will run contrary to your social group, tribe, racial norms, or other allegiances.
The epistle of James gives us a great example to contemplate. “With it (our tongue) we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God (James 3:9).” These actions are incongruent. If you have not allowed the command to love God and love neighbor to sink in your heart and control your tongue, you are far from the Kingdom of God. We cannot be self-righteous thinking that we “love the right kind of people” while disdaining and even cursing the wrong kind of people.
Being a part of God’s plan of redemption of all things begins with our hearts and how we are disciplined into the stringent requisites of the Greatest Commandments.
Pastor Greg
