Dr. Bingham’s Lesson for April 1, 2012

“The Greatest Commandment” – Mark 12:28-37

Mark 12:28-34
Deuteronomy 6:4-5
There is only one God. Therefore you owe Him all your love. When there is only one of something it requires your all. Obedience always begins with doctrine.
In the West, we don’t have a pantheon of gods, but we, nevertheless, have a multitude of gods. Devotion to anything that takes your attention away from God acts like an idol.

Loving God also involves loving your neighbor. Truly loving your neighbor is always in accordance with God’s commands. Never relate to your neighbor in a way that is against the standards of loving God. In most situations, loving God and loving your neighbor are indivisible.
1 John 4:19-20
The first commandment to love requires the second.

The teacher of the law commends Jesus and Jesus commends the teacher of the law but in a reserved way. The teacher was not far from the kingdom of God but not quite there yet.

Mark 12:35-37
Jesus follows this discussion with a discussion of the identity of Christ.
The teachers of the law were okay with thinking of the Christ as the physical son of David. But Jesus quotes to them Psalm 110:1, in which David calls the Christ Lord. The last time we heard mention of the Lord was in the commandment to love the Lord your God with all your heart. You are to understand that the Christ is the Lord God of Israel made flesh and that Jesus is that one, the Christ, the Lord God of Israel, a descendant of David.

Being Christian means that in our love of Jesus Christ, in our adoration of Him, in our faith that He is the incarnate God of the universe, we are to love Him by keeping His commandments, the first of which is to love our neighbors as ourselves.