Mark 12:28-37 Nearness Unexpected

Debrief

Debrief offers an abridged outline of the Sunday sermon for individuals or Community Groups alike, to re-engage the content of the Sunday sermon. This outline is far from complete, but serves to give a track or road map to walk through the content of Sunday in another context during the week

Are You Hearing The Voice of God In Jesus? (v:28-31)

It wasn’t uncommon for Scribes, as the experts in biblical interpretation, to ask teachers in their day to state what they thought was the weightiest commandment, or to boil the entire teaching of the Bible down to one – to put the Bible in a nut shell so to speak.

There had been many voices trying to answer this question. There are always other voices trying to answer this question. There are always well meaning, religious people trying to convince everyone else what is most important to God. Everyone seems to have their soap-box, their issue, their hot button that they want everyone else to recognize as the most important thing as well. People have been trying to pick and choose what the most important thing in the Bible is for a long time.

Here, Jesus, as God in human-flesh, has His own answer to the question, and clarifies once and for all (1) the most important thing in the Bible and (2) the most important thing to God.

The answer Jesus gives is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, which is know as the SHEMA. In Hebrews “Shema” means “to hear.” A faithful follower of God in Jesus’ day would recite these verses from memory every morning and evening.

The word “hear,” included in Jesus’ explanation, “akouo,” means – “to perceive.” It can also mean “to obey.”

By referencing the Shema, Jesus is clearly saying that the most important thing is to actually HEAR God about the most important thing, which is to (1) love God from everything you have, and to (2) love others as yourself. If we’re actually hearing God we should perceive that what Jesus is saying here is true.

By referencing the Shema, Jesus is also clearly saying that we’ll know we’re hearing God clearly when we’re OBEYING God willingly, joyfully and consistently. If we’re actually hearing Jesus, we’ll do something about it.

The BIG IDEA here is that (1) people who are hearing Jesus are obeying Jesus, and (2) people who are hearing Jesus are obeying Jesus from a willing, joyful heart, NOT an unwilling, obligated heart.

Essentially Jesus is saying we should love God FROM all of who we are.

Each of these four commands are prefaced by the Greek preposition “ek,” which means “from” or “from the source of.” So we are commanded to love God not just “with” our whole heart, but “from” our heart.

REGENERATION: you can only love God from a heart that has been changed by God. You can only love God from a heart that has been changed enough to hear His voice instead of the voices of others, or yourself. This kind of heart has changed desires, changed affections. This kind of heart has a now natural love for the things that God loves: (1) His Word, (2) His Presence in prayer, (3) His People, (4) His Church, ect.

The reality is that some people obey Jesus, but they obey Him from a more unwilling, obligated heart THAN a willing, joyful heart. This is NOT what it means to HEAR the voice of God in Jesus.

There is a big difference in acknowledging the voice of Jesus and hearing the voice of Jesus.

People who are increasingly loving God from the depths of who they are are the only kinds of people that have a real shot at loving their neighbor as themselves. The Greek word for “love” here is “agapan,” which kind of unconditional love that God offers. What Jesus is saying is that only the people who find the source of love in God alone, through relationship with Him, will be able to love their neighbor as themselves. Loving God is the prerequisite to loving our neighbor.

TENSION: Jesus answer holds an important tension and avoids the danger of MYSTICISM on the one hand, which leads to a a love of God that is strangely detached from people, as well as the danger of HUMANISM, which leads to a love of people that is strangely detached from God. Jesus isn’t interested in either.

Are You Near The Kingdom of God In Jesus? (v:32-34)

It’s very unexpected for religious people to approach Jesus well. And yet people continue to come to Jesus on religious terms. Like they did here in Mark 12, people are still trying to get near to God based on their:

• Religious Heritage (11:12-14, 22-25)
• Place of Worship (11:15-18)
• Religious Connections or Affiliation (12:2; 12:13-17;12:18-27)
• Religious Practices (12:28-34)

Jesus is not concerned with what he knows ABOUT the Law as a Scribe, but what he knows OF the Law through love-based obedience.

We’re not told anywhere else in the NT that this man became one of Jesus’ disciples. We’re left to lean on the last words that Jesus said to him and about him. Are these the last words you want said by Jesus about you?

Are You Submitted to The Authority of God In Jesus? (v:35-37)

What Jesus is saying here is that the Messiah is not simply David’s son, He is God’s Son. He is not simply from David, but from God.

How could King David speak of his ‘son’ as his ‘Lord’? David’s son could only be his Lord if He existed BOTH before him and after him. The authority Jesus has is not given to Him because of His relationship to King David, but because of His relationship with the Father.

Jesus is BOTH fully man and fully God. His authority can not be compared with the authority of any other man, not matter how great…..even as great as David.

Diving In
Diving In offers a few questions to help you re-engage the concepts from Sunday. Feel the freedom to use all of the questions, or to simply camp out on just one. These questions aren't intended to answer all the issues that surface through the thrust of this weeks' message, but to simply raise them and allow you time and space to process them, ideally in the context of your Community Group.

Are you convinced that you are consistently hearing the voice of God in Jesus? What kind of evidence makes this so convincing in your life?Would you say you are increasingly loving God with all of yourself? In humility, what evidence leads you to that conclusion?What has it looked like for you recently to love your neighbor as youself? What does the depth of your love for your neighbor tell you about the depth of your love for God?Is there anything else you are relying on to be near to God but grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone (Religious heritage, place of worship, religious affiliations, religious practices)?Would you say you are fully submitted to the authority of Jesus? Is there anyone or anything else that is competing for His authority in your life?

Deep End
The Deep End is a short and simple formation exercise you can use to dive deep into your heart before God. Feel the freedom to divert from the directions if that makes it easier for you to connect with Jesus in this exercise.

First, quiet your heart before the Lord. If you find yourself distracted by various thoughts (things on your “To Do” list, etc.), don’t “fight” the distractions, but rather spend some time praying over those things. Hopefully soon your heart will quieted down and you will be able to hear the Lord speaking to you.After this, take 5-10 minutes to read and meditate on Deuteronomy 6:4-5.Knowing that the word “shema” means “to perceive and obey”, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you something He has been speaking to you about that you have failed to perceive and obey, or simply failed to obey. What is the one thing He’s talking to you about that you have not acted on yet?Next, take some time to talk with God about the ‘why’ of your lack of obedience here. What’s at the root of it?End your time by journaling a prayer, asking for the empowering of the Holy Spirit, that you might obey Him willingly and joyfully.

Digest
Our digest section is all about helping you to memorize and meditate on God's Word so you'll be able to better digest it. Take some time to commit these short verses to memory this week:

Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 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.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." – Mark 12:29-31

My hope is that these simple exercises in The 60 will help what we discovered during this week be distilled, and deepened in your heart and life with Jesus.

Matt

For The Elders