Mark 12:31 31The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Jesus adds more to his response to the scribe that what the scribe asked for by adding a second commandment. The first commandment captures the required vertical response of worship of God. The second commandment embodies how the first commandment should impact our life on earth. The command comes from Leviticus 19:18, which is part of the “holiness code” of Leviticus. Holiness is summarized in the idea that we must model God’s holy character in how we live. The problem for the Jews was how they defined the word “neighbor.” To them, their neighbor was their fellow Jew. Jesus expanded the definition to include even one’s enemies (Matthew 5:43-48).
The second command uses the same word for love (agapēseis) as verse 30. We must love people in the same way as we love God because it is the same type of love. Obviously, our love for God will be different in that it involves worship, and we do not worship people or set them higher than God. The love we have for God is his gift to us through his Holy Spirit. The Spirit changes how we see others, so we express this gift of love to others with the same uncondition God has shown us. Every human has some love for him or herself minimally represented in self-care. Sadly, this love can become warped to the point of self-harm. Loving God is the prerequisite to loving one’s neighbor. Our love for others will be distorted and often turned selfish if we do not love God first. Unless we come to know God’s love for us and learn to love God with our whole being, our love for others will fall short.
God’s commands are divided into two types summarized in the two commands Jesus gave. Many commands focus on how we must respond to God in dedicated worship. This worship is then demonstrated by how we interact with ourselves and others. The best way to learn to love one’s neighbor is first to learn how to love God.
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