03/01/26 Weekly Bible Lesson: Love Acts

Background of Text — This encounter in the life of Christ occurs during Jesus’s final week before the crucifixion. He is in the Temple engaging Jewish leaders who continue to question Him. In Mark 12, Jesus had already answered many questions and debated various Jewish leaders. It appears that one scribe is intrigued by Jesus’s ability to debate and answer questions concerning the law, so, on this occasion, there is one final question concerning the greatest commandment of all. 

Mark 12:28 — One of the teachers of the Law, a scribe, heard a debate between Jesus and one of the other Jewish scribes. This debate was probably about the resurrection question they had posed to Jesus. These lawyers were putting Jesus to the test in the hope of tripping Him up. They were positive that Jesus would say something that wasn’t in the law of Moses, or maybe even misinterpret what the law truly meant. Intrigued by Jesus’s answer to the earlier question, he approaches Jesus with yet another question concerning which of the commandments was the greatest of all. 

Mark 12:29 — Jesus answers the scribe’s question with a one-word command, “Hear!” This is a quote from Deuteronomy 6:4. Jesus not only answers this question, but He also reveals that all the law centers on this one command from the one Lord, God. Our obedience to this command must come from the heart and must be motivated by our love for God. 

Mark 12:30 — One must love the Lord with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. The heart is the source of all thoughts, words, and actions. Our love for God must flow from deep within us. We cannot begin to fulfill the second part of this command unless we love God with all that we are. The soul speaks to our emotions. The mind speaks to our will and purpose. Strength speaks to our ability physically to have the energy to love God and fulfill his purpose in life. We have been given this call to love God completely. We cannot love God completely with a half-hearted devotion to Him. It takes all.  

Mark 12:31 — Loving God with our total being enables us to love our neighbor as ourselves. The scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees didn’t love God with their heart, soul, mind, and strength. They may have proclaimed so, but their actions proved otherwise. Jesus taught this principle in the parable of the Good Samaritan. The priest and the Levite should have known who their neighbor was, but their prejudice and half-hearted devotion to God blinded them to the opportunity to show God’s love. They did not obey this command of the Lord. Our neighbor is one who is nearby. It could be our next-door neighbor, a family member, or a co-worker. It means that whoever is nearby is our neighbor, and we must show them the love of God.  

Mark 12:32-33 — The scribe knew Jesus was right. He commended Jesus for His forthright and truthful answer to his question. This made him ready to receive even more truths from Jesus. His intrigue with how Jesus answered the question made him aware that Jesus was more than just a good teacher. Jesus had truly said that God is one and there is no one else besides Him. In his agreement with Jesus, he repeated the commandment back to Jesus to emphasize his complete understanding of this command from the One True God. His willingness to agree with Jesus went against all his peers. They were trying to trip up Jesus, but he was seeking to know Him. This was not a typical response of the Pharisees. They viewed this command to love God and to love neighbor as a religious ritual, but this scribe was not the typical Pharisee. He, like Jesus, viewed love as something more important than just a religious ritual. 

Mark 12:34 — When Jesus saw that this scribe’s answer was from a sincere heart, he told the man that he wasn’t far from the kingdom. He was seeing for the first time that there was something more than religious ritual. He was showing courage in standing up and going against everything his peers believed and taught. He was willing to take a stand, and Jesus recognized him for that. 

James 2:14-17 — James wants us to consider faith put into action. Jesus taught us about loving God and loving our neighbor, and James challenges us to consider what we can do to show God’s love to our neighbor. Will a man’s faith save him if he doesn’t prove it by showing the love of God to others? That is a question we all must ask. Am I claiming to love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength in word only? Or am I proving it by what I do for others? James asks that question, “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?” When we see our brother in Christ, our neighbor who is nearby, in need, we must spring into action and do something. Wishing them well won’t do it. Our faith is dead if we don’t do something to show that we truly love God and our neighbor. 

Discussion Question: How can we show our love to others?