But What Is Love?

Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. 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.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31

Jesus gave these two as the greatest of commandments in response to the scribe's question we read yesterday. But one problem presents itself right off, what is this love he speaks of? One definition from the notes states, [of persons] to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly.

"That last one really helps," he said sarcastically, "to love is to love dearly?"

Jesus gave us a definition that there is no greater love than to lay down one's life for his friends. Paul took up love in an entire chapter of his letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 13) 'Love is...' appeared on many drink glasses back in the day, but have we tamped down, shaken out, and sorted a definition of the word yet? Love, it seems, is a big word for having only four letters. We know it, but have trouble defining it in a simple way. Love is essential to the two greatest commandments and the new commandment Jesus gave, which was that we love one another. So, you and I will not go wrong by taking up a study of love in prayer and the word of God.

I love you like a pepperoni pizza! No, no, that's not quite the right definition, I think.

Bucky

Listen First

Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?”  Mark 12:28

As I am at least a little bit on the socially-backward scale, that question burning in my heart would likely wait like this scribe waited. The Pharisees and Sadducees had likely made this scribe acutely aware of his standing as compared to their own in the Jerusalem pecking order. Or maybe he was just polite. Whatever the reason, this scribe listened first. So how do we listen first in our age? There is the Bible, the word of God, where we can 'listen' first by reading, study, and meditation. It is not always easy to think deeply on the word of God, it can poke at the conscience with some force. However, if treasure hunting is your thing, you will find it prospecting in the Word!

Great is the Word of God!

Bucky

Greatly Mistaken

He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken. Mark 12:27

The last sentence in our verse for today may be the most quoted or paraphrased line from the Bible. You may even hear it today at your workplace. People like to tell others how wrong they are. Jesus has a group of Sadducees who do not believe in resurrection, and thus make out God to be a god of the dead. Jesus concludes His teaching of them with our verse for today. We can take comfort from this conclusion in that as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have passed away, gone to sleep or died, as we say, they are only dead in the way that the world knows it. As the God of the living, our Lord God waits for us to come to Him in a life that will not end. And as we know by faith, Jesus is the way to come to God the Father.

So, don't be like the Sadducees, there is life to come!

Bucky

Raised To Be Single?

For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. Mark 12:25

A lot of people get married in this life and believe in Jesus, in either order, and then run into this verse. And you can almost hear even now that moment of shock. As there will be a renewed earth one beautiful day, how does that lack of marriage work with being fruitful and multiplying to fill the earth? Even as a, thus far, single person, I kinda want to know how that will go. The next part causes a bit of concern as well. Like angels but not angels, how does that work? It seems that after we are raised from the dead, we will be learning some new ways. That's okay by me, some of the old ways are not so nice, like that sorrow and pain stuff. So, off to faith in Jesus we go, since we cannot understand all that is to come in our present state.

Life and love to you in Christ Jesus our Lord!

Bucky

What They Thought They Knew

Jesus answered and said to them, “Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?  Mark 12:24

The Sadducees were another of the groups who spent their lives studying the scriptures, or in this case a limited set of them, and debating them. Jesus responded to their absurdly long story question by telling them that they did not know the scriptures. And that is the point of the story. Well, see you tomorrow! 

No, really! Imagine these professors of the scriptures thinking to test Jesus, this upstart rogue preacher from Nazareth. They come up with their question, based on the doctrine of resurrection, which they do not believe in, and He calls out their ignorance and teaches them from their own scriptures! It is one of the proud getting schooled stories that we love from the gospels. But, we also must remember to not become like them too.

Have a great new day in Christ our Lord,

Bucky

Marvelous Answer

And Jesus answered and said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

And they marveled at Him. -- Mark 12:17

The Pharisees and Herodians had a win/win test for Jesus of Nazareth, or so they thought. If Jesus said to not pay taxes, they could turn him over to Rome. If he said to pay the taxes, they could call him out to the people as not loyal to Israel. Either way, they wanted him to get them out of paying the Roman taxes. Oh wait, no, they wanted to prove that Jesus was a false prophet. They really thought this was the winning question and a great trap for Jesus! But then he answered them.

We stand in awe of our Lord's ability to answer sudden questions and meet tough tests set by the religious authorities. Have you ever experienced that defensive reaction where you tell a lie in response to a challenging question? Yeah, me too. Jesus never did that and his answers were always perfect.

I'm so glad He came to save us,

Bucky

Giving Away His Vineyard

Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others. Mark 12:9

In this story we stand beside the vineyard, watching the events happen as Jesus tells them. After all that, we get this promise from the story in our verse for today. This vineyard owner is a picture of power. He has the power to destroy, but has not done so yet. Some of those standing beside the vineyard with us might deny that the owner even exists in his far country, even as his handiwork stands right there in front of them. The wicked vinedressers, still living the life for the moment, may have started that denial rumor and sold some illegitimate shares in their vineyard venture. A bystander would not want to be holding those shares when the vineyard owner comes at last. But what is this about giving the vineyard away?

The vineyard has not been profitable to the owner. He has lost servants and his son. In his grief, he may just give the thing away. As the owner, it is his right to do so. Would those deniers still deny his existence as he offers them the vineyard?

Believing in someone far away, whom you have never seen or heard, may be difficult, but we have good help in this faith.

Bucky