Pastor's Corner: "Loving God and loving one another - more

Mark 12:28-31 (New King James Version – NKJV)

28 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, [a]perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the [b]first commandment of all?

29 Jesus answered him, “The [c]first of all the commandments 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, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ [d]This is the first commandment.

31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Notice that Jesus closes this conversation with one extremely important comment:

“There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Matthew 22:36-40 (New King James Version – NKJV)

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

38 “This is the first and great commandment.

39 “And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Notice that Jesus closes this conversation with another extremely important comment:

“On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Let’s explore how what Jesus said in Mark 12:28-31 and Matthew 22:36-40 relate to The Ten Commandments in the Old Testament book of Exodus, Chapter 20.

Notice again that Jesus closes these conversations with two extremely important comments:

“There is no other commandment greater than these.” – Mark 12:31

“On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” – Matthew 22:40

Now, let’s refer to “The Big Ten” – you know, The Ten Commandments.

Notice the first four have to do with our relationship with God:

1. “You shall have no other gods before Me.” – Exodus 20:3

2. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image… you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.” – Exodus 20:4a,5a

3. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain …” – Exodus 20:7a

4. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” – Exodus 20:8

You shall have no — You shall not make — You shall not take …

Do you notice that the first three commandments are stated from a negative standpoint, or from a stance of avoidance? But when Jesus states the first commandment in the Gospels of Mark & Matthew above, He makes the statement positive, and from a stance of intentional positive action.

Okay, now back to The Ten Commandments.

Notice the last six have to do with our relationships with each other:

5. “Honor your father and your mother…” – Exodus 20:12a

6. “You shall not murder.” – Exodus 20:13

7. “You shall not commit adultery.” – Exodus 20:14

8. “You shall not steal.” – Exodus 20:15

9. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” – Exodus 20:16

10. “You shall not covet…” – Exodus 20:17

You shall not — x5

Again, do you notice that the last five commandments are stated from a negative standpoint, or from a stance of avoidance? But again, when Jesus states the second commandment in the Gospels of Mark and Matthew above, He makes the statement positive, and from a stance of intentional positive action.

When Jesus said the first commandment was to love the Lord, our God, with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, He knew that if we did that, then we would not worship another god, or make an idol, or take the name of the Lord in vain.

When Jesus said the second commandment was to love our neighbors as ourselves, he knew that if we did that, then we would not murder; we would not commit adultery; we would not steal; we would not bear false witness — lie — against our neighbor; and we would not covet anything that belongs to someone else.

So many times, living a life pleasing to God is equated to a set of “do not” or “thou shalt not” rules. But we see from what Jesus said that living a life pleasing to God is not so much about avoiding bad behaviors as it is about practicing good behaviors, toward God and toward people. May we live our lives in such a way that intentional positive action becomes the rule and not the exception. Amen!

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The Rev. Edroy “Curt” Curtis is president of the Greater Havre Area Ministerial Association, part-time chaplain for Northern Montana Health Care, especially the Care Center, and lead pastor of Havre Assembly of God Church.