In Mark 12:28-34 (the parallel passage being found in Matthew 22), Jesus is asked by a scribe (one who was expected to be an expert in the law) what the greatest commandment is. Jesus responds by quoting Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and adds the second greatest commandment as well. It was not new. It comes from Leviticus 19:18. The scribe didn’t ask about the second greatest commandment, but Jesus added it anyway because it is “like it.” These 2 commandments “depend all the Law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:40). The scribe agrees with him, but is that enough? Jesus says he is “not far from the kingdom of God.” No, it wasn’t quite enough. We know that one must believe in Jesus (John 8:24) and obey Him (John 14:15; 15:10). The scribe’s understanding of these commandments was a good start, but he needed to go a little farther. Many people will believe a great many things Jesus taught and still stop short of full commitment. I would hope that the scribe did indeed go the whole way to being saved, but it is not revealed to us.
Loving God fully is not just a warm, fuzzy feeling. It is a commitment, a prioritization of God in our lives. We are called to give the full measure of ourselves — heart, soul, mind and strength. Nothing held back or reserved. We are seeking Him and desiring to align ourselves with His will.
Loving our neighbors as ourselves is also a high calling for the Christian. Before the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10, the question was asked of Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” It was asked in order to justify himself. Loving your neighbor is easy when it’s someone who looks like me, talks like me, believes like me, etc. It’s much more challenging when it goes outside those boundaries. The Jews had been told not to associate with Gentiles to the point that they didn’t think they were their neighbors at all. The parable of the good Samaritan revealed that thinking as flawed.
What do we want for ourselves? Good things, of course. We want the necessities of life, but we want more than that. Ultimately, we want salvation as well, so we should want this for our neighbors. We should be actively looking for and sharing the answer for that need! And we should be doing it in love (Ephesians 4:15).
Jesus’ simple answer to the scribe’s question has a lot of implications. We would do well to meditate on not only the meaning of those 2 commandments, but also whether we are actively working to fulfill those commandments in our lives.