Game Night
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.”
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.”
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
INSIGHT
Have you ever played a game with a group of people that had too many rules? We all reach a point where the long list of rules makes it impossible to follow, enjoy, or even decide on a winner. What is the point of rolling the dice or dishing out the cards if there are too many rules to actually win? Instead of a single game night, imagine having to follow the Old Covenant and living in a culture that was governed by 700+ laws? No thanks. Even worse was the reality that a good percentage of those 700 laws were not even official, but laws created by the personal twist of people.
There had to be a better way to live life, and sure enough, Jesus entered into humanity’s mess to show us where it resides. When Jesus stepped into our world, it was a place that held the law in high esteem. People committed their lives, energy, money, and effort memorizing every single law of the Torah. Jesus introduced two new commandments that would summarize the entire Old Covenant law system. Jesus made a bold statement: if they loved God with everything they had, and then loved others the same way, they fulfilled the entire law system. In an instant, Jesus boils down 700 laws to just two.
Now, please understand – there’s nothing easy about obeying these two commandments. The previous laws were easy to track because most of them were tangible. Take the 10 Commandments for example. If you broke any of them, there was typically physical evidence, and it would be difficult to cover up. On the other hand, these new commandments come with an even higher standard. Where the Old Covenant said, “do not murder,” Jesus takes it a step further and says, “If you have hate in your heart, you have already murdered.” The expectations are higher than ever. It is easier to hate than to murder, yet because of what Jesus has said, they carry the same weight. The point of these two commandments and the higher expectations was not to deter behavior but to get us to focus our hearts toward others.
For years, people tried, and continually failed, to obey a 700-law system - it simply would not work. Jesus offers a better way. He even took it a step further by promising us that He was going to follow these two commandments to completion. Only Jesus had the ability to demonstrate loving God and loving others perfectly by dying on a cross and coming back to life.
With Jesus leading the way, He has given us the ability to follow in His footsteps. We walk with Jesus in this new way of life that frees us up to love with all we have. The key to fulfilling these new commandments is found in loving God with everything we got. When our priority is loving God, we learn about the greatest love of all. As we grow as children of love, we grow in our ability to love those in our lives and help them catch a glimpse of Christ’s life-changing love. When we feel that temptation to call someone out for not following a rule, make sure love is the first thing they encounter. When you feel shame and punishment trying to remind you that you broke a rule, remember that Love Himself is with you and He still calls you His child.
REFLECTION
What’s the danger in thinking rules are more important than love? How do you approach those who do not follow the rules?
What do Jesus’ new commandments say about the priorities of His new way?
PRAYER
Father, thank you for loving me so perfectly. I am thankful that You have freed me from mindlessly following rules by inviting me to step into Your love. This encounter changed everything for me. Help me to love You with everything I have, and take that same love to every person I come across. I thank You for being You Father, and pray this all in Your holy name, Amen.
Port City writer Davy Nance wrote today’s devotional.
