Message

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THE LORD IS ONE

Mark 12:28-34

Key Verse:12:29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “ is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.”

  We live in a world that is very culturally, racially, and religiously complicated and diverse. Missionary Luke Yang, who had visited London England a couple weeks ago, said that the city of London is crowded with many different nationalities. However, even here in St. Louis, we experience the diversity of race, language, religion and culture. Even though we live in this complex world, there is the undeniable common fact that we all are equal, but we are sinful.  We all need God for our salvation.

  Today’s passage is about the conversation between Jesus and one of the teachers of the law. In their conversation, we learn why our Lord God is the only true God and what is the greatest commandment of all.

First, a genuine teacher of the law (28) Look at verse 28. “One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” In this verse, the teacher of the law was an expert in the law of God. He must have studied the law of God since he was a child. He meditated on the word of God day and night. (Ps 1:2,3) Like our young disciples, he might have written testimonies every week after he studied the law of God. He also struggled to observe the law of God in his heart and to live according to it. (Ps 119:9,10) Unlike the Pharisees and the Sadducees, he was a genuine Bible student and truth seeker.

  Despite his strenuous efforts, there always remained an unsolved question about the law in his mind; “Which is the most important commandment?” In fact, there are 613 commandments, called ‘Mitzvot’, in the Mishneh (Torah).  These regulations were derived mostly from the five books of Moses. There were so many regulations that ordinary people could not even read them all, not to mention memorize them. But this young man was an expert in the commandments. He had memorized them all since he was a child. One day when he heard Jesus debate with the Pharisees and the Sadducees and heard him give them good answers, the teacher hoped to get an answer from Jesus.

  As we studied, some of the Pharisees came to Jesus to catch him in his words (12:13). They asked Jesus whether they had to pay taxes to Caesar or not, a very sensitive and controversial issue in those times among the Jews, who believed that only God is their king. Their question was very deceptive in that either answer “Yes,” or “No” might drive Jesus into a trap. The teacher of the law wondered how Jesus would answer them to escape from the peril. What did Jesus say? Jesus answered them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”  Jesus taught them their basic duties to state and to church. As citizens of the nation, we should fulfill our basic duties.  And at the same time, we should fulfill duties as people of God. We should not ignore either one, but carry out them all. The teacher of the law marveled at Jesus’ good and wise answer.

  Next, the Sadducees challenged Jesus with a very strange question about marriages and resurrection. Their question was this: According to the Levirate Law, if a man dies and leaves a wife without leaving any children, the widow should not marry outside of the family, but should marry the man’s brother in order to preserve the family line. Unfortunately, seven brothers married the widow and died without leaving any children. At the resurrection, whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her? (12:18:24) The Sadducees made up this strange story just to repudiate the teaching of resurrection and to justify their unbelief about resurrection. Again, the teacher of the law waited in suspense for an answer from Jesus. He wondered how Jesus would answer and deal with the Sadducees. Jesus answered them, “When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven….in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken.”(12:25-27) Jesus taught the Sadducees that there is resurrection after death and that our God is the living God. The teacher of the law was astonished at Jesus’ words again. At the same time, he saw a gleam of hope in his dark heart that Jesus would answer his unsolved questions about the commandments of God. How did Jesus answer him?

Second, Love the Lord your God (29,30). Look at verses 29,30. “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 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 quoted Deuteronomy 6:4,5. Here, the word “Hear” is “Shema” in Hebrew. The word “Shema” is not just to hear inattentively, but to listen very attentively with an obedient heart. In the Old Testament, before the Israelites were delivered into the Promised land, they had been slaves in Egypt for more than four hundred years. Generally slave people are lawless people. There was no law for slaves but only the whips of the slave master. They moved according to the whip of their slave masters. But by God’s grace, the Israelites were freed from slavery and brought into the Promised Land, the land flowing with milk and honey. Now, they were free to go and free to stay. They could possess their own land and harvest their own crops. They built their own houses and had families. Above all, they were given the law of God, the Bible as a manual for their lives. The law of God became the lamp to their feet and the light for their paths. (Ps 119:105) God also gave them the law so that the law of God would be spread and preached to all peoples of all nations.( Ex 19:5,6, Is 2:3)

  Then, what do the words “the Lord our God, the Lord is one” mean? It means that the Lord our God is the only true God who is worthy of worship, praise, honor and love. In this world there are many religions, many gods and many temples, but there is only the one true God who is praised and honored: He is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob and the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then, why is our God the only true God? First of all, our God is the only one who taught us where we came from and where we are going to. From ancient Greek philosophers to modern existentialists, there have been fundamental questions about the origin of life and of the world, “Where did this world come from?” “How does an inanimate object come to life ?”, and so on. There have been numerous theories, assumptions, and suggestions. But there is only one who gave us a clear answer about this.  He is the God of Genesis. Genesis 1;1says, “ In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” God is the first cause and he is the author and originator of life. All things came from him and belong to him. We came from God and are going back to him. This is life.

  Second of all, our God is the only God because he is the one who gave us eternal life and the kingdom of God through Jesus Christ. People say that there are various ways of salvation for sinful human beings. Buddha said that if we abandon all desires and empty ourselves, we may reach Nirvana.  But, how can a sinful man overcome sinful desires unless he is God himself? Many Muslim believe that they might go to heaven if they pray five times a day, observe all the words of Muhammad, and so on. But, many of them suffer from self-condemnation because it is impossible for them to meet all the regulations. But, our God sent his only Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins and open the way for sinners to come into the kingdom of God. Our God created the way of salvation not through force or any physical power, but through forgiveness of sins. As the Lord is one, so the way of salvation is one. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (Jn 14:6) 1 Timothy 2: says, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

  Third of all, our God is the only true God because he is the only God who makes all one in love through forgiveness of sins. Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth,”…. But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Mt 5:38,44) There is no cease fire in retaliation. There is no peace in hatred. There is no solution in violence. On the contrary there will be a cease fire in forgiveness of sins. There will be peace in love. And there will be a solution in reconciliation. In God we all become one. In God we forgive each other. In God we all become brothers and sisters. God made this complicated and sophisticated world one by his love. In God there is no one who cannot be forgiven. In God there is no one who cannot be saved. In God there is nothing which cannot be solved. God started this through Jesus who died for our sins and completed this through him in his resurrection. Amen.

  The Lord is one, not many. There seemed to be many, but only one we should love, believe, worship and commit to, who is the Lord God. Jesus continued to teach us how to love the only true God. Look at verse 30. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”  This word means that we should love God with our whole life. How lucky we would be if we had many hearts!  But, God gave us only one heart for him. We must love God with all our heart. Otherwise, we will lose our heart to other deceptive, destructive and demonic things. We must love God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and strength. It is because this is the way to please God, the only true God who makes our lives blessed and happy. Any human being cannot make others happy or satisfy them forever. Many young people seek for a partner and soul-mate with a romantic dream. But there are many who break up, separate, and divorce after hurting and wounding each other. No human being can satisfy the empty void, the spot in our soul that the only Creator God fills up. Our young disciples struggle to write testimonies and messages for the Summer Conference at Niagara Falls. They know that there is only one whom they love, trust, and commit to, who is the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Third, love your neighbor as yourself. (31-34). Look at verse 31. “The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” The second greatest commandment is to love our neighbor as ourselves. The fifth through the tenth Commandments shows us how to love our neighbors as ourselves. We must honor our father and mother. We should not murder. We should not commit adultery. We should not steal. We should not give false testimony against our neighbor. We should not covet our neighbor’s belongings. (Ex 20:12-17) It seems impossible to keep all these commandments. It is too hard to keep even one commandment. But it is totally possible when we love God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our strength. When we love God, we can love our neighbors as ourselves.

  Look at verses 32,33. “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” The teacher of the law was moved by Jesus’ divine answer. In his answer, he admired Jesus and praised him. He even added the phrase, “with all your understanding,” to Jesus’ answer. This shows us that finally the man understood the core of the Bible and the fulfillment of the law, which is love. (Ro 13:10)  Now he understood why he had to worship God with all his heart, with all his soul and with all his strength. Now he understood why God gave the 613 Mitsvot and why he had to keep all of them.

  When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (34) Jesus meant that the teacher of the law almost reached heaven. Indeed he saw God in Jesus. He experienced the joy of salvation in Jesus. His heart was filled with the love of Christ and the truth of God. He was like brother Suyun who studied the Bible last night. And from then on no one dared ask Jesus any more questions.

  From a human point of view, during the last few days before his death, Jesus was challenged by many enemies one by one starting with the Pharisees, the Sadducees and so on. However, through his conversations with them, Jesus taught us very important lessons about God, man and duties. May God help us to believe that the Lord our God is one. We must love him with all our hearts, with all our souls and with all our strength. May God bless us when we do so. Amen.

“Shema Israel Andonai eloheynu Andonai Achad”

“Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is

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• pamk12dm-2009.doc

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