How to Experience Your Highest Good and Greatest Joy

What a text we’re about to dive into. We’re going to read one of the most important, central and foundational texts in the entire Bible. I can’t wait to dive into it because, as foundational as this is, I’m convinced that many people who call themselves Christians are missing it, either completely or missing the wonder of what it means and how it totally transforms our lives, our families and our purpose in the world.

I pray that for many of you today, a lightbulb will go on in your mind and heart for the first time or maybe in a fresh way so you will look back at today and say, “That’s the day I got it. I saw what my life is all about, what being a follower of Jesus is all about.”

If you’re not a Christian—if you’re exploring Christianity—what we’re about to read is not just going to show you what Christianity is about, it’s going to show what your life is about, what you are made for. I know that’s bold to say, but just hang with me. 

God, please open our eyes. Bring about lightbulbs that need be turned on in our minds and hearts as we listen to your Word. 

Look with me at Mark 12:28: “And one of the scribes…” Let’s pause briefly here. When we hear this mention of a scribe in this context, remember this is happening on a Tuesday. By Thursday night Jesus is going to be arrested. By Friday night, Jesus is going to be dead,  all because groups of people are working against him. 

This all started at the end of chapter 11 when the group of chief priests, scribes and elders came to Jesus. Then Pharisees and Herodians after that. Then Sadducees, whom we looked at last week. Now this is one of the scribes, who “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?’”

So let’s look at a little background here. These scribes had identified 613 different commandments from God. Of these, 248 were positive, as in, “Do this…” And 365 were negative, as in, “Don’t do this.” Then these scribes took those commandments and ranked them into lesser or more important commandments. So the scribe is asking, “Out of 613 commandments, which one is the most important of all?” 

29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 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.’”

Jesus is not giving a new commandment here. He’s quoting probably the most famous verse in the Old Testament—the old covenant.. “Here, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). If you were to walk into somebody’s home in the days of Deuteronomy, this verse would be on the walls. People would wear it on their clothes. This verse was everywhere. It was central.

The only difference in Mark 12 is Jesus adds “and with all your strength.” but the point is the same. Love God with all. We see it four times—all you are and all you have. This is the most important commandment. Then Jesus continues. He doesn’t just stop with number one. He also gives number two. “The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” That is also a quote from the Old Testament where God in his Law had said to his people, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:18).

Now, for the first time in history, Jesus is putting these two commandments—from Deuteronomy 6 and Leviticus 19—side by side. “Love God with all you are and all you have, plus love your neighbor as yourself.” Then he says, “There is no other commandment greater than these.” We’re going to come back to this, because these three verses in Mark 12:29-31 are the foundational verses for life and foundational in the Bible. 

Now see what happened after Jesus said this: 

32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 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.”

Now, up until this point, when scribes said things like, “Jesus, you’re right, Teacher,” they didn’t actually mean it. They were trying to trap him. But in this instance, it seems like this guy is actually getting it. Maybe he was sent to trap Jesus, but now hearing what Jesus is saying, he’s thinking, “Huh. You may be right.” This is the only time in all the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—when a scribe is pictured as favorably disposed to Jesus. And the next verse, verse 34, is the only time in the Gospels when Jesus commends a scribe. Watch this. “And 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.” I love that. 

Here’s what I have in my mind as I read this. I picture the chief priests, scribes, elders, Pharisees, Sadducees and Herodians all watching. They hear this scribe, one of their own, listening to Jesus and saying, “I think you’re right,” and Jesus looks at him and says, “I think you’re close.” Meanwhile, they’re all saying, “All right, that’s it. May Day. May Day. We’re out of here. No more questions. This is not doing us any good.”

So what was it about what Jesus said that seems to have won this scribe over and is seeming to shut everyone else down? What Jesus just said in verses 29-31 summarized the whole Bible and the whole purpose of life in three verses. In fact, in the account of Jesus saying these words in Matthew 22, he added, “On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.” All of God’s Word hangs on these commandments.

These are interesting commandments, aren’t they? Just think about it. The most important commandment is to love God with all you are and all you have. So, who is giving this command? Ultimately it’s God, right? God the Father in Deuteronomy and God the Son—Jesus, God in the flesh—here in Mark. So God is commanding everyone, including you and me, to love God and to love himself. “The most important thing you can do in your life,” God says, “is to love me.”

This is not just what you can do in your life; it’s what you must do in your life. This is a commandment. God says, “You must love me.” Does this not raise questions in your mind? Is this self-centered of God for him to command us to love him? Is it love if it has to be commanded? Isn’t love felt, not forced? Is love an obligation or an affection? Is love something we have to do or something we want to do?

When I asked, “Is love something we have to do?” a young voice over here yelled out, “Yes!” I love that.

So these are questions we need to grapple with if we’re going to feel the weight and wonder of what these verses mean for our lives. So let’s think about these two most important commandments by asking some basic questions, four questions to be exact.

Who is giving these commands?

We’ve already said God is, but let’s be more specific. Who is God? The one giving these commands is God, who is the only sovereign, infinitely holy, supremely satisfying, perfectly loving Creator of all and Lord over all. Now, I know that’s a loaded sentence and we don’t have time to unpack a theology of God in depth. But we need to realize who’s giving this command, who God is. 

The very beginning of the Bible, Genesis 1:1, states, “In the beginning, God…” 

• He is the “only.” There’s only one God. No other gods. 
• He is “sovereign,” meaning the only independent, self-governing, authoritative being in all the universe. 
• He is “infinitely holy” in all his attributes. He is without error and without equal. 
• He is “supremely satisfying.” Everything that is beautiful, powerful, peaceful, joyful and just emanates from God.
• He is “perfectly loving.” God is love. God defines love with his very being. 
• He is the Creator of all things, including all people. Everything and everyone has its genesis in God. 
• And he is Lord over all things, which means he rules and reigns over everything and everyone. 

This is who is giving these commands.

Who is receiving these commands?

Who is God giving these commands to? The answer is us. We are all created by God, in the image of God, to enjoy relationship with God. This is a loaded sentence, but just think about what it’s saying, again from the very beginning of the Bible. Genesis 1:26-27 says:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

So God created man in his own image,

       in the image of God he created him;

         male and female he created them.

God has created us unlike anything else in all creation. We’re unlike the fish or the birds or the livestock. We’re unlike all the animals, insects, mountains, oceans, stars and planets. God has created you and me in his own image—like him. That means we enjoy relationship with him, unlike anything in all creation. This is awesome. See the dignity, worth, honor, meaning and purpose you have, right where you are sitting right now. You are personally created, made, formed, fashioned by God himself, in the image of God. When you look in the mirror, you see a being created in the image of God, for the purpose of enjoying relationship with God. 

Now don’t forget who God is here. You’ve been created to enjoy relationship with the only sovereign, infinitely holy, supremely satisfying, perfectly loving being in all the universe. It’s what you were made for. Just think about the meaning this gives to your life. This is who you are.

Why does God give these commands to us?

 Why does God tell us what to do?  Why not just these commands, but all kinds of commands? And the answer the Bible gives from the very beginning is because God lovingly desires our highest good and greatest joy. 

This is also clear from the beginning of the Bible. God’s first commands to us are in Genesis 1:28. Right after we read what we read just a second ago about man and woman being made in God’s image, the Bible says:

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 

So God blesses man and woman, saying to them—commanding them—be fruitful and multiply. God is telling his people how to experience fruitful lives to the full, all over the earth. Then in the next chapter, Genesis 2:16, we read;

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Does that sound like God wants to make life miserable for man and woman? No, this is God saying, “I’m giving you every tree in the garden to eat and enjoy, except for one. If you eat of that one, you shall surely die. I’m telling you this so you won’t eat of it, so you’ll live, which is what I want for you forever.” And thus begins the story of how God lovingly gives his people commands—always, always, always for their good. 

Here are just a few other examples that make this point. Look at Deuteronomy 6:24-25. The word “Deuteronomy” means the second law, the recounting of God’s commands. The Bible says: 

And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.

God’s commands are always for our good. Things will be right—they’ll be good for us—when we obey his commands. Look at Jeremiah 32:39-41. God says:

I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.

What a picture! God wants good for us and good for our children after us. God rejoices. What a word for God to say! God says, “I rejoice in doing good for you,” with all his heart and with all his soul. With all that God is and all that God has, God lovingly desires our highest good and greatest joy. 

Are you hearing this? Let’s make it personal. Why does God give commands to you? Because God—the only sovereign, infinitely holy, supremely satisfying, perfectly loving Creator of all and Lord of all—lovingly desires your good and your greatest joy. This is really good news. What if God didn’t desire this? What if the only sovereign all-powerful being in the universe did not desire this, if he didn’t desire your good? You would be hopeless. It would be horrible. 

But God always and lovingly desires your highest good and greatest joy. If that’s true—which we’ve clearly seen it is—then the question is do you desire this? Do you desire your highest good and greatest joy? Do you want your good? Do you want your joy? If so, then what should you do? 

That leads to our final question.

How can you experience your highest good and greatest joy?

I’m making this personal to you, assuming you want to know the answer to this question. I assume you want your highest good and greatest joy. Who would not want that? We all want this. Even people’s attempts today to find truth or live truth are attempts to experience good and joy. 

This is where Mark 12 comes in, because this is the question that Jesus is answering in our passage. If God’s commands are for our highest good and greatest joy, then what’s the most important one or two commands? Jesus says, “Well, there are two and all the others hang on these two. These two just explain how to do the others. If you just get these two, you will have your highest good and greatest joy.” So what are they?

Jesus says, “The way to your highest good and greatest joy is, first, love God with all you are and all you have, then you will experience your highest good and your greatest joy.” Now it all starts to make sense. Let’s connect the dots, because God is the only sovereign, infinitely holy, supremely satisfying, perfectly loving being in all the universe. 

If you want your highest good and greatest joy, then you want God. There’s no one and nothing in this world that’s better than him, greater than him, more satisfying than him, more loving than him. If you truly desire your highest good and greatest joy, that desire will inevitably lead you to God. 

Let’s keep putting the pieces together. This is the whole reason Jesus came, because you and I have all been separated from God by our sin against God. You and I have all been separated from the only one who can satisfy our souls. You and I have all done what Adam and Eve did in Genesis 3. We’ve turned aside from love for God, loving other things and other people, namely ourselves, more than God. 

Adam and Eve foolishly desired a piece of fruit more than they desired and loved God. We have foolishly done the same with all sorts of things in this world, thinking our ways are better than God’s ways. This has left us empty and broken, apart from God, and actually deserving the just and holy judgment that flows from God. But the good news of the Bible is that even though we have turned from God, God has pursued us. God has come to us in the person of Jesus. 

Just a few days after Jesus said these words in Mark 12, Jesus died on a cross to pay the price for sinners against God. Just a few days after that, Jesus rose from the dead in victory over sin, so that anyone, anywhere, no matter who you are or what you have done, anyone who turns from their sin and themselves and trusts in Jesus as Savior and Lord will be forgiven of all their sin and restored to relationship with God. This is the greatest news in all the world. 

You, right where you are sitting, can be restored to a love relationship with the only sovereign, infinitely holy, supremely satisfying, perfectly loving Creator of all and Lord over all. You can be in relationship with him, now and forever. You can experience ultimate satisfaction for your soul in God. That’s the gospel. So do you want your highest good and greatest joy? Then love God with all you are and all you have.

Now we come back to our question at the beginning. Is it self-centered of God to say, “Love me”? As soon as you ask that question, in light of all we’ve seen, you realize, “Well, of course it is—and that’s really good news.” Because if God is the only sovereign, infinitely holy, supremely satisfying, perfectly loving being in all the universe—and he loves us—then what’s he going to give us? Some cash? Some power in this world? Health for a time? Comfort? 

No, all of those things fade. None of those things last. They ultimately will leave us empty. If God really loves you, then what’s he going to give you? He’s going to give you himself. He’s going to give you supreme satisfaction in him that will never, ever fade; that ten trillion years from now will be brighter than you realize even right now. He’s going to give you perfect love that will last forever and ever in him. God loves you so much he gives you himself. He gives you a love relationship with the one who’s better than everyone and everything in this world put together. 

This then leads to other questions. So is loving God an obligation? Or is loving God an affection? Is love for God something we have to do or is something we want to do? The answer is: yes. You say, “Well, how can it be both?” Let’s think of a couple of human illustrations of this. 

Edward John Carnell is the author of a book on Christian commitment and he writes this: 

Suppose a husband asks his wife if he must kiss her goodnight? Her answer is, “You must, but not that kind of a must.” What she means is, it’s more than ‘must’ in the sense of a husband feeling like he’s obligated to kiss his wife, although it’s right for him to love her as her husband. That’s right and good. But there’s something more needed. And what will make that marriage life-giving is if he must kiss her because he loves her so much. It’s a beautiful blend of good and right obligation and good and right affection. 

Or he uses another example:

Suppose a mother rushes to help her terrified child. She acts out of spontaneous love. She would even be offended by the suggestion that she must help her child from a legal sense of duty. So in one sense, yes, the mother has an obligation. As a mother, it is right to care for her child. She must run to him; why? Not merely because of a legal sense of obligation. So much more than that, she must run to her child because she has such affection for her child.

So must we love God? Well, yes, in one sense we must, because he alone is God. He alone is supremely lovely. But certainly that’s not the whole story. We don’t come to church and read the Bible and pray because we feel obligated. That’s not Christianity. No, we love God—we must come to church and read his Word and pray—not because we feel obligated, but because we know our souls will find satisfaction, our souls will find our highest good and greatest joy in God. Which begs the question then: is that true of you? 

This is what I mean when I say so many supposed Christians miss this. If your spiritual life feels like you’re just supposed to go to church or read the Bible or pray or share the gospel, then you may be missing the point. You’re created for a love relationship with the God of the universe. The reality is that so many supposed Christians actually love this world and tack on Jesus to life here, so they can have heaven in the next world.

Just look at our lives. So many supposed Christians come to church every once in a while, when it’s convenient, pray here or there, read the Bible here or there, while we spend our time and money on all kinds of things in this world—prosperity, positions, possessions, comforts, ease and health. That’s not real Christianity. That’s nominal Christianity—Christianity in name only. It’s not real. It’s not following Christ.

Following Christ means you have found in God something, someone, who is better than everything in this world. It means you want him more than you want money, prosperity, possessions, comfort, ease or even health itself, because you know your highest good and greatest joy are not found in these things. They’re found in God. So you want God, you love God with all you are and all you have. In Christianity, in Jesus Christ, you are now free from the pursuit of empty, fading pleasures in this world, because you’ve found your highest good and greatest joy in loving God. 

Don’t miss this. There’s so much here. Now when you face trials in this world and lose some of these things—people, prosperity, comfort or health—you’ve not put your hope in those things. You’ve put your hope in the God who’s greater than all those things. Even if you lose them all, you’ll still have a love relationship with the supremely satisfying, perfectly loving Creator of all. In other words, you have a joy that transcends any circumstances in this world. You have highest good and greatest joy in the God over this world. This frees you for a totally different kind of life. It actually frees you for real life with the one who created your life. 

Now this is the second part: the way to your highest good and greatest joy is to love God with all you are and all you have, and love others as yourself. So how does this go together? Ah, this is so good. Think about this command from Leviticus 19 and Mark 12. Jesus says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” What a picture! God, Jesus, assumes and clearly knows we love ourselves.

Many people in our self-esteem-obsessed culture skew this passage to say, “Jesus is commanding us here to love ourselves, because we cannot love others if we don’t love ourselves. We need to start with loving ourselves.” The only problem is, that’s not what Jesus says. Jesus says, “You already love yourself. You want food for yourself. You want clothes for yourself. You want a place to live for yourself. You want friends for yourself. You want happiness for yourself. Even when we make foolish decisions that are unhealthy for our lives, it’s because we’re convinced making those decisions will be good for ourselves. 

Now follow this. Jesus is not saying it’s bad to want food, clothes, a place to live, friends, happiness and so on. God actually gives us the desire for those things. What Jesus is saying though is, “Just as you want those things for yourself, and you make sure you have those things, I’m commanding you to want those things for others and to make sure they have those things.” So if your neighbor is without food, help them get some food. If your neighbor doesn’t have a place to live, help them find a place to live. If your neighbor is without friends, be their friend. As your neighbor wants happiness, help them find happiness. 

This then leads back to the first command, right? If you truly love your neighbor, then what do you want for them? You want their highest good and greatest joy. And where is their highest good and greatest joy found? In God. Which means to truly love your neighbor is to do all you can to lead them to love God.

Now the whole picture comes full circle. Put it all together. Connect the dots. How can you experience your highest good and greatest joy? First and foremost, by loving God with all you are and all you have, turning from yourself, your sin and the pursuit of things in this world, loving, seeking and being satisfied in relationship with God. As you love God, then the overflow of that is loving the people around you. In the same way, you want them to know the love of God, you want them to find life in loving God. 

So now see the tentacles here. This becomes your guide for marriage. You live as a husband or a wife to reflect God’s love for your spouse. You live to help them find life in loving God. This becomes your reason for parenting. You live to reflect God’s love for your kids and help them find life in love for God. You don’t ultimately live to help them get great grades, do great at sports, go on great dates or learn to make a great living. No, over and above all that, you live to help them love a great God. That changes what you do with your kids. 

This becomes your reason for every facet of life, whoever you are, single or married, student or adult, wherever you go to school or work, whatever you do—you live to help others this week. You help them find a love relationship with God. You reflect his love for them, You point them to his love for them. 

You might wonder, “Wait a minute? How does that second part—loving others as myself—lead to my highest good and my greatest joy?” I love that question. Let’s think about it and let me just give you some examples. 

Have you ever led someone else to faith in Jesus? I guarantee you, if you have, or if you ever do, you will experience immeasurable joy in realizing that through your life this person’s life has been transformed for all eternity. That’s joy. That’s infinitely better than watching your team win a World Series. You just saw somebody’s life change for the next ten trillion years and you were part of it. That was awesome.

Or on a simpler level, if you’re a parent, have you ever helped your child accomplish something that made them proud? If so, what did that bring you? I’m guessing it brought you joy. 

Or as a friend, have you ever helped a friend in need walk through something that was difficult? What did that bring you? I’m guessing it brought you joy. Do you know why? Because God has actually designed your heart to find great joy in loving other people. 

Now we see—at least I pray and hope we see—that these two greatest commandments from God go totally against the grain of this world. This world says that the way to live life is rebelling against God and doing things on your own. “Love yourself. Trust yourself. Live your truth.” But God says, “No. I love you so much and I’ve made you for so much more than that. I love you so much that I have made a way for you to experience life now and forever in a love relationship with me and my supreme satisfaction of you. As you love me and I set you free from the fading pleasures of this world, I also set you free to find deep and lasting joy in leading others to experience life in my love for them, now and forever.” This is what our lives are all about. 

There’s so much more we could dive into here. So much flows from this. I want to leave you with two questions. One, what lesser loves do you need to repent of today in order to find your highest good and greatest joy in love for God with all you are and all you have? Honestly consider in your life. Are there things that you love, or are tempted to love, more than God in your life—or anywhere close, for that matter? Maybe it’s someone in this world or maybe it’s some thing. Health. Money. Sex. Sports. Status. Position. Power. Control. Comfort. Maybe it’s your name or reputation. There are so many things, and I would add, so many good things. None of the things I just mentioned are bad in and of themselves. But none of them are ultimate. All of them, if we pursue them over God, will leave us empty. 

So what lesser love do you need to confess before God? Tell him, “God, I’m so prone to love, to trust, to pursue, to want this person, that thing, more than you. I repent of that today. You’re better. I want you more than I want this, God. I want to love you with all I am and all that I have. So help me let go of lesser loves.” 

This doesn’t mean you don’t love that person. We’ve already seen that. It doesn’t mean you don’t have affection for good things in this world. It does mean you seek God as the author of all those good things. It means you love him as the giver far, far, far more than you love the gift. 

That leads to question number two. What are practical ways God is calling you to love others as yourself, starting this week? I  encourage you to think through one, two, three practical ways God is calling you to love others as yourself, specifically with the goal of leading them to life and love for God. Are there some steps you need to take in your marriage, your parenting, your relationship with your parents, your relationships with friends, neighbors, coworkers, with people without Christ?

What are some ways God is calling you to play this out in the church? There are so many different directions this could go. Start with just a few practical ways God is calling you to love others as yourself. Let’s take a moment and reflect on these questions, then I’ll lead us in prayer after that.

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As you continue to pray and reflect, I want to ask a question to each and every person. I wish I could sit down with each and every one of you, asking you individually, “Are you in relationship with God marked by love—his love for you and your love for him?” I’m not asking if you’ve grown up in church. I’m not asking what religious practices you have or have not done. I’m asking, are you in a love relationship with God? If the answer to that question is not a resounding yes in your heart, then either God is inviting you for the first time to enter into relationship with him through faith in Jesus, or God is calling you back to him. Maybe you have been in relationship with him, but it’s grown cold. Maybe you just missed the point. Either way, I invite you to pray right now. Say, “God, I want you. I desire you. I want a relationship with you marked by love with all my heart, all my soul, all my might and all my strength.”

Today maybe some of you are praying, “God, I’m placing my faith in Jesus today, but not just for  a ‘get out of hell free’ card. I’m placing my faith in Jesus to forgive me of my sin and restore me to relationship with you. I’m trusting in Jesus as Savior and Lord of my life, because I want to live my life loving you, experiencing and enjoying a relationship with you.”

Others may be praying, “God, I’ve wandered from you. I’ve missed this in you. I want this in you. I want a life marked by love for you that makes everything else in this world pale in comparison.” As you pray that, just know that God is speaking to your heart, inviting you into this relationship. He delights in you. He desires you.

O God, we praise you for the reality that you desire us, that you delight in us, that you pursue us, that you run after us. God, thank you for sending your Son Jesus. We praise you for dying on the cross for our sin and for opening the door into restoration, reconciliation and redemption with you. We say, God, help us all. Even now as I was reflecting, God, you know you just exposed some things in my heart that I needed to see. We repent today of lesser loves. We pray that you would draw us into deeper, closer, wholehearted relationship with you. Help us see you for who you are, as supremely better than everything in this world put together. Help us live with this kind of love for you and to live with this kind of love for others. God, we pray you would help us in the church to love each other as ourselves Help us in our homes to love each other as ourselves. In our city, in places where we scatter throughout this week, God, we pray that we would be the most loving people all across this city, in ways that I pray would lead others to life in your love for them. 

God, we thank you so much for your Word an these two commands. We pray that by your grace, your Spirit in us, you would help us live them out to the full and to experience in you our highest good and greatest joy. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Observation: What does the passage say?

1) Read Mark 12:28-34 aloud as a group. Take time to let group members share observations about the passage. Try not to move into interpretation of the passage or application of what you have read quite yet. Simply share what you all observe from the text.

• In the preceding context –
  • With whom has Jesus been interacting? (Mark 11:14-18, 27, 12:13, 18)
  • What has been revealed about their hearts? (Mark 11:18, 12:12-13, 15a, 17, 24b)
• In the current passage, with whom is Jesus directly interacting? (Mark 12:28)
• What does verse 28a imply about the posture of the scribe’s heart? How does this compare to the hearts of the others with whom Jesus interacted in the preceding context?
• What question does the scribe ask Jesus (Mark 12:28)? What is Jesus’ response? (Mark 12:29-31)
• How does the scribe interpret and summarize Jesus’ answer? (Mark 12:32-33)
• What is Jesus’ response to the scribe? (Mark 12:34)

2) How would you explain or summarize today’s passage in your own words?

Interpretation: What does the passage mean?

1) Read Matthew 13:52. Why might Jesus have considered the scribe’s answer wise, and the scribe himself “not far from the kingdom of God”? (Mark 12:34)

2) In today’s passage, the scribe was able to hear and rightly receive from Jesus. Read Exodus 33:18-23 and 1 Kings 19:9-13, passages in which the LORD spoke and made Himself known to Moses and Elijah.

• How/where were Moses and Elijah positioned in order to hear from the LORD?
• What was their posture before the LORD?

Application: How can we apply this passage to our lives?

1) Why is it toward our good to love (i.e., reverentially fear) the LORD, with all that we have and all that we are? (cf. Deuteronomy 6:24-25)

2) Our highest good and greatest joy is found in knowing, loving, and being with the LORD. Matthew 12:30 says “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

• What is involved in ‘knowing’ and loving God Himself? What does ‘knowing’ God look like?
• What is the nature of ‘being with’ the LORD? What does it entail?

3) Since our highest good and greatest joy is found in knowing, loving, and being with God, then truly loving our neighbor means doing all that we can to lead them to know, love, and be with the LORD. What is involved in helping others toward this end?

4) Consider and reflect on the following:

• What lesser loves do you need to repent of today in order to find your highest good and greatest joy in loving God with all you are and all you have?
• What are practical ways God is calling you to love others as yourself, starting this week?

Mark 12:28-34 ESV

28 And 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?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is  one. 30 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.’ 31  The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to  him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 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.” 34 And 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.

The LORD commands everyone to love Him with all you are and all you have, and love your neighbor as yourself. 

1) Who is giving these commands? God, who is the only sovereign, infinitely holy, supremely satisfying, perfectly loving Creator of all and Lord over all.

2) Who is receiving these commands? Us, who are all created by God in the image of God to enjoy relationship with God.

3) Why does God give commands to us? Because God lovingly desires our highest good and greatest joy.

4) How can you experience your highest good and greatest joy?

• Love God with all you are and all you have.
• Love others as yourself.