Tuesday, November 18th Mark 14:1-16

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is 2 Peter 3, Ezekiel 35-36

Today's scripture focus is Mark 14:1-16

Mark 14:1-16English Standard Version (ESV)

The Plot to Kill Jesus

14 It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, 2 for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.”

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

3 And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. 4 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. 6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 9 And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

Judas to Betray Jesus

10 Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. 11 And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.

The Passover with the Disciples

12 And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 13 And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, 14 and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 15 And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” 16 And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

I appreciated Rayburn's summary of v1-11
We have noted before Mark’s technique of the literary “sandwich” in which he inserts into the middle of one account another narrative and uses the relationship between the outer pieces and the center to make a point without having to spell it out. In this case the account of Jesus’ betrayal by the religious leaders and by one of his inner circle of disciples forms the two pieces of bread. Between them is inserted an account of another disciple’s devotion. Once again, as often in Mark and the other Gospels, the emphasis falls on this account of true discipleship and that emphasis is strengthened by contrast with the lack of loyalty on the part of people we might most have expected to be loyal to Jesus. The theologians should have understood best who Jesus was and what he had come to do. Judas had heard all of Jesus’ sermons and witnessed many of his miracles. He had firsthand acquaintance with the proof that Jesus was no one less than the Son of God. But they rejected Jesus while this dear woman declared her love and loyalty to him in the most impressive way....

what Mark seems to be making clear with his sandwich technique is that the fundamental contrast between these two groups of people, those who hated and betrayed Jesus and those who loved and worshipped him is the sense of debt and obligation and the corresponding gratitude that filled the hearts of some but not of others. Real followers of Christ love the Lord and they love him because they are so grateful to him.

Do you remember that the Heidelberg Catechism that we recite often in our worship here is organized according to a three-fold division? The Catechism divides the great subjects of Christian belief – all the teaching covered by the catechism which is, of course, meant to teach a new or young believer the basics of the faith – I say, it is summed up in three general assertions. In other words, there are three things that you must know to understand the Christian faith and the teaching of the Bible....

Question 1, you remember, asks “What is your only comfort in life and in death?” And you remember the beautiful answer to that question. “That I am not my own, but belong – body and soul – to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ,” and so on.” 

But then comes question 2: “What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?”And the answer is as follows:  “Three things: first, how great my sin and misery are; second, how I am set free from all my sins and misery; third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance.”

The third section of the Catechism is entitled “Gratitude” and its entire presentation of the Christian life is expounded as the way we give thanks to God for his delivering us from our sin and misery. What motivates a Christian in his daily living? Thanksgiving to God. What is the Christian attempting to do with his or her thoughts, words, and deeds? Demonstrate his or her gratitude to God. Sometimes thanksgiving to God will be expressed by selling the perfume and giving the money to the poor. Sometimes it will be expressed by breaking the bottle and pouring it over the Lord himself. But it is thanksgiving in the one case as surely as it is in the other. Mary, the disciple, was impossibly grateful to Jesus for what he had done for her and her family; gratitude and love were compact together in her heart. The priests and the scribes were not grateful to Jesus for anything. They had no understanding of his gifts and no appreciation for what he would suffer for man’s sake.

You can divide the world into two classes: those who are deeply grateful to God for what he has done for them and those who are not. The difference will not always demonstrate itself so starkly as here: with the ingratitude of one group leading them to plot Jesus’ death and the gratitude of Mary leading her to pour out a year’s worth of a man’s salary in an act of devotion to the Lord....

And here is the final lesson of Mark’s way of presenting this narrative, in a sandwich with her devotion between two acts of perfidy and betrayal: If you abandon yourself to the Lord, you will not abandon the Lord and he will never abandon you!

There is reason enough for great gratitude and great love! More than enough!

Tomorrow's scripture focus: Mark 14:17-26

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Ezekiel 37-38, 1 John 1

Monday, November 17-by Pamela

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is 2 Peter 2, Ezekiel 33-34

Today's scripture focus is Mark 13:24-27

²⁴ “But in those days, following that distress,

“‘the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light;
²⁵ the stars will fall from the sky,
    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’^[a]

²⁶ “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷ And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

Sometimes it's very easy to get overwhelmed by the little stresses in life. We can be consumed by the things in life that really aren't important in the grand scheme of things. I am in the midst of report card season and let me tell you I can speak to the stress and the feeling of being overwhelmed.

And yet, as this passage reminds us, this world is not our home. One day it and everything that seems to mean so much right now will pass away. Jesus will come back just as he promised.

MacArthur says:

When Jesus comes, it will be in the very same way as He left. Visibly, manifestly in clouds, they saw it, they watched it, they looked at it and that is exactly the way He will come back, in clouds, visibly. In fact, Revelation 1 verse 7 says, “Every eye will see Him.”...

...It is not going to be a secret event. He’s not going to sneak in. He’s not going to come and nobody knows it. As I said this morning, there are people who think that the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. was the Second Coming. There’s no way that you can possibly distort Scripture to come to that conclusion. The world is familiar with the first coming of Christ. They know the elements of that…Bethlehem, the manger, the shepherds, the star, Joseph and Mary, Herod, the magi, the angels, a humble arrival indeed. And it’s filled with sentiment. But the Second Coming will be very, very different. It is an important coming, as important as the first coming, in fact, the culmination of His first coming. In spite of the urgency and importance, the dominating importance of the return of Jesus Christ, it seems to be that there are many people who ignore this greatest of all events. It is regularly understated. It is confused. It is relegated to a non-priority status by Christians, both preachers and parishioners. It ought not to be so. It was said of that Thessalonian church that they were a true church waiting for the Lord from heaven. We need to live in the anticipation of His coming cause he who has this hope in him purifies himself.

We need to live in the anticipation of His coming. He is coming.


MacArthur says:

He comes not only to establish His Kingdom, of course, but He comes to destroy the ungodly who still remain on the earth. Heaven opens to release the conquering King. The white horse, not as a lamb, in His first coming. Not riding the foal of a donkey at His false coronation. But He comes like any great Roman conqueror would come, triumphantly riding on a white horse. That’s the analogy. That’s the picture that lets us know that He’s coming in triumphant. He is the one who is called Faithful and True.

What is that about? That means He comes to keep His promise. He comes to keep His Word. He comes to do what He said He would do. He comes, as well, in righteousness which means He must act against sin. Righteousness will act against sin. Sin will have reached its epoch proportions during that period called the Tribulation. The world will be in the worst condition morally its ever been in. He comes to judge.

Remember John chapter 5, “All judgment was committed to Him. He would raise the dead and judge the living and the dead.” He would cast people into the judgment of condemnation, as well as draw them into His Kingdom. When He came the first time, wicked men judged and condemned Him. When He comes the second time, He will condemn and judge them.

Sin separates us from God. We all have sinned. We all are separated from God but Jesus paid that price and through Him we have salvation. However, it is something we must ask for and receive. IF we confess, He is faithful to forgive but our free will allows us to reject the gift of salvation. If we do, we face the magnitude of God's wrath against sin.


MacArthur concludes:
Father, thank You for Your truth, for the fellowship that we have around it, for how it ties our hearts together because we are really knit together by common love, we’re knit together by common conviction, we’re knit together by common belief. The reason that we love each other, the reason that we care about each other, the reason that we enjoy each other, the reason that we support each other, encourage each other, come alongside each other, pray for each other is because we are bound together by this common set of beliefs, common convictions, the once-for-all-delivered-to-the-saints faith. We have been knit together in love because we believe the same things, and we say the same things and those are the things that bind us…mind to mind and heart to heart. We thank You, Lord, that we not only understand the past and the glories of the birth of Christ, the glories of the cross of Christ, the glories of the resurrection of Christ, but we understand the future and the astonishing realities of His return. And we know it’s nearer than it’s ever been. We’re not going to be foolish and attempt to set a date but there really is nothing that has to happen before the sign less event of the Rapture of the church snatches us away. And the way the world is shaping itself up these days, the kind of events that we see in the book of Revelation could occur. We have that kind of technology. We have that kind of societal structure around the world. These things don’t seem remote. And we’re amazed again, Lord, that when you painted the picture of the end, it was all about the Middle East and it was all about Israel, it wasn’t about South America, it wasn’t about China, it wasn’t about the United States. And in reality, the focus of the world even now is on the Middle East. Your history is on course, we know that. You are the God who not only understands history, but ordains history. And we thank You that You have also ordained our history by making us part of Your elect and bringing us to Yourself in Christ so that we might reign with Christ for a thousand years on this earth and forever and ever in the new heaven and the new earth. This is…this is overwhelming to us that You have been so kind because we are so unworthy. Thank You for Your grace. May we be worthy, as worthy as we can be by demonstrating obedience and love toward you. In the name of Christ. Amen.

Tomorrow's scripture focus is  Mark 14:1-16

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage 2 Peter 3, Ezekiel 35-36

Friday, November 14th Mark 13:14-23

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Ezekiel 27-28, 2 Peter 1

Today's scripture focus is Mark 13:14-23

Mark 13:14-23English Standard Version (ESV)

The Abomination of Desolation

14 “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out, 16 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 17 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 18 Pray that it may not happen in winter. 19 For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be. 20 And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days. 21 And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23 But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.

Accompanying John MacArthur sermon: The Future Tribulation
Accompanying David Legge sermon: Signs of the Second Coming
Accompanying Robert Rayburn sermon: This Same Jesus....Will Come Back

There is a Day of Judgment coming, but mankind as a whole, does not live as though this is true.  Humans generally only believe things are true that they want to be true.  Secular society in particular, manages to convince itself of many ludicrous things, simply because they want them to be true.

As science uncovers so much more about the details and complexity of creation, it should be clear that there is a Creator - but society doesn't want there to be a Creator because what would logically follow is that this Creator would have some say or sovereignty over our lives.

As we learn more details about the incredible growth of babies in the womb, is should be clear that abortion is wrong and that that baby is human - but society doesn't want that to be true and so it claims it is simply a clump of cells.

The coming judgment is no different.  Oh, we want judgment for the Hitlers of the world, but not for ourselves or our loved ones, and so we simply believe that "good" people go to heaven and that there will be no judgment.

But no matter how badly people want that to be true, the day will come when they will see that it is not true, but it will be too late.  Judgement Day is coming, and this passage is another one of anticipation.

Rayburn:
You remember how the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in ancient times was often used by biblical writers as a picture or anticipation of a still greater judgment to come. So too were the destruction of the northern kingdom and its capital, Samaria, by the Assyrians and then the southern kingdom and its capital, Jerusalem, by the Babylonians........And so it is not surprising that the judgment brought against Jerusalem in A.D. 70 should also serve as an anticipation, a foreshadowing of a greater judgment yet to come. In each case the instrument of God’s judgment is immaterial, that that brings the destruction and accomplishes it is unimportant: it is God who is judging sinners – whether he uses Babylonians or Romans or Al Qaeda for that matter – and we learn from these prototypical judgments the reality, the finality, and the ferocity of the divine wrath which someday will come upon all impenitent sinners. Just as God teaches us the nature of salvation by showing its pattern in such great events as the exodus from Egypt and the conquest of the promised land, so God reveals the pattern and the nature of his coming judgment by likening it to catastrophes he has brought upon people and his own people on account of their sins.

It is only natural then and to be expected that the Lord Jesus’ own great prophecy, given there on the Mount of Olives just a few days before his crucifixion – just a few days before was committed the greatest sin every to be committed by human beings in the history of the world, a sin committed by God’s own people – I say, it is only to be expected in the context of the whole Bible that he should draw together the judgment of his people that was about to befall them for their unbelief and disobedience and the final judgment of all mankind. The one is the anticipation, the picture, the pattern of the other.

And for that reason, brothers and sisters, we have every reason, as our Savior urges us here, to cultivate a godly fear, to remain alert and watchful, and never to live our lives as if that great day of doom were not hurtling toward us and everyone else at breakneck speed.


Monday's scripture focus: Mark 13:24-27

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Ezekiel 29-30
Sunday's passage: Ezekiel 31-32
Monday's passage: Ezekiel 33-34, 2 Peter 2

Thursday, November 13th Mark 13:1-13

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Ezekiel 25-26, 1 Peter 5

Today's scripture focus is Mark 13:1-13

Mark 13:1-13English Standard Version (ESV)

Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple

13 And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” 2 And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

Signs of the Close of the Age

3 And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” 5 And Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you astray. 6 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. 7 And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.

9 “But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them. 10 And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations. 11 And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. 12 And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. 13 And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Accompanying John MacArthur sermon: The Grim Reality of the Last Days

Jesus predicted so much in this passage.  He predicted the destruction of the temple, which came to pass in 70AD.  He predicted increasing deception, escalating disasters, the distress and increase of persecution, and the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth.  He was correct, and continues to be correct on all of it.  Thankfully, He promises His presence and comfort in the midst of these incredibly hard times - to which the martyrs of the past and present testify.

I find the last verse to be incredibly interesting.  One thing all this persecution and suffering will do is to weed out the superficial and false Christians.  Only true Christians will endure to the end.

MacArthur: 
we don’t earn our salvation by enduring, we don’t keep our salvation by gritting our teeth and enduring. We demonstrate our salvation by enduring. We have a salvation that’s a gift of grace. It’s authenticated in the midst of suffering.

James, “Count it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials knowing the testing of your faith produces endurance.” True faith is strengthened to endure.



Tomorrow's scripture focus: Mark 13:14-23

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Ezekiel 27-28, 2 Peter 1

Wednesday, November 12th Mark 12:38-44

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Ezekiel 23-24; 1 Peter 4

Today's scripture focus is Mark 12:38-44

Mark 12:38-44English Standard Version (ESV)

Beware of the Scribes

38 And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces 39 and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 40 who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

The Widow's Offering

41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Accompanying John MacArthur sermon: Religion and It's Victims
Accompanying Robert Rayburn sermon: Above All Else: The Heart

Rayburn:
Imagination is a gift of God and one he expects us to exploit for the purposes of faith and godliness. That is why the Bible is so often provoking our imagination and inviting us to see ourselves in other circumstances doing other things.....

such is our task this morning and throughout our Christian lives: to see this poor widow making her offering – so small a sum of money yet so large a gift – and, in turn, see ourselves doing the same. We are being summoned to imagine ourselves doing what she did, responding to God as she did and for the same reasons. And, on the contrary, we are to see ourselves as these grasping scribes, eager for admiration, hungry as they were for the plaudits of others and to hate the very idea that we might in any way be like them.....
Jesus does not want a show of religiousity, or the appearance of righteousness.  He wants simple and sincere devotion to Him.

I know that many of you face very heavy trials. There are more than a few reasons for such trials, but there is one supreme reason for them. Those trials give you the opportunity in one way or another to do what this widow did. To give out of your poverty, to trust the Lord in your time of sorrow or loss or pain, to give him glory at a time when it matters most because he does not seem to be blessing you, and to offer sacrifices to him that really cost you something. Had this woman not been a poor widow, we would never have heard of her or her gift – small as it was in the sight of men – and her gift would never have been counted for so much in heaven.Everything.  He is worth everything, even everything that we own!

Augustine said long ago, “We do not come to God upon our feet, but upon our affections.” May God give you and me grace never to want to come to him and never to try to come to him on our feet, but always with upon our hearts and our affections. God himself, through Paul, says: “Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.”
We love because He first loved us.


Tomorrow's scripture focus: Mark 13:1-13

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Ezekiel 25-26, 1 Peter 5

Tuesday - November 11 - Tiffany

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Ezekiel 21-22; 1 Peter 3

Today's scripture focus is Mark 12:35-37

 

Whose Son Is the Christ?

³⁵ And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? ³⁶ David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
    until I put your enemies under your feet.”’

³⁷ David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?” And the great throng heard him gladly.

 

 

Jesus here was calling out the scribes for their lack of ability to explain fully the scriptures of the Old Testament. It doesn't make sense that king David would call a son "My Lord" and yet the Messiah was to come from the royal family.

 

I think "The great throng heard him gladly" is my favorite line in these few verses.  The people wanted to understand - they had waited so long for the Messiah and there was so much they didn't understand! And here was Jesus, performing miracles, explaining things they had wondered in their hearts their whole lives.

 

Jesus, from the line of David, the Lord come to earth to save us all. I'm so glad he still speaks and explains things to us today!

 

 

Tomorrow's scripture focus: Mark 12:38-44

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Ezekiel 23-24; 1 Peter 4

Monday, November 10th Mark 12:28-34

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Ezekiel 19-20, 1 Peter 2

Today's scripture focus is Mark 12:28-34

Mark 12:28-34English Standard Version (ESV)

The Great Commandment

28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important 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 and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Accompanying Robert Rayburn sermon:  The Kingdom of Love
Accompanying John MacArthur sermon: Loving God
Accompanying David Legge sermon: Question Time

Love God and love people - that truly summarizes the 10 commandments.

The first four of the ten commandments listed in Exodus 20 deal with loving God....

 “You shall have no other gods before me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

The last six deal with loving people.....

12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that theLord your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.”

Legge adds this important point....
it is utterly impossible for any man or woman just in the simple strength of their human flesh to love God the way it says here, with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their mind, and with all strength; and to love their neighbour as themselves. That's why we live in this messed up world, because men can't do it - they try to do it, that's called religion, but they can't do it. The only way you can do this is by grace, a free gift, through faith, that's what you accept the gift with, when the Holy Spirit comes into your life when you're born-again as a Christian, and the Lord God of heaven starts to live out the life of Jesus in you - that's the only way that can be done, through the law of the Spirit in the New Covenant, no other way.
Rayburn adds an important point too - love if the fulfillment of the law.  Jesus explicitly ties love to obedience.   
to obey him is the way to love him because it pleases and honors him. So far from love being in conflict with the law, without the law we would not knowhow to love and we would certainly not know how best to love.

The Lord makes a point of this, I think, by drawing these two commandments together: the commandment to love God with all that we are and to love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves. That is to say, you cannot really love another human being – not as that person ought to be loved – if you do not first love God. And you cannot love God without loving others in the radical way in which God commands you love them, the same radical way in which he loved you. The love of your neighbor flows from and is empowered by your love for God and the love of God is demonstrated and practiced in your love for you neighbor because that is what pleases him most.

Legge and MacArthur note that the scribe was near the kingdom.  But near is not good enough.  As Legge noted, eventually we need to stop questioning and start believing.  We will not know the answer to every single questions - we are not God.  At some point we need to stop questions Christ and start believing Him.  The scribe understood that it was an internal issue, not a ceremonial ritual - hopefully, after Jesus' death and resurrection, this scribe took the next step and actually entered the kingdom!

Rayburn adds that sometimes we can miss the obvious.  We can be so busy thinking about what we need to do, or what we need to work on, that we can miss the obvious - love.

Love and one does all. Love and one fulfills the entire law. Love and one lives as God would have a man or woman live. Love and Christ is pleased. Love and the great purposes of your life will be fulfilled, no matter what comes. Love and because God is love you will find yourself at one with God and with reality itself.
And, of course, love not as the world defines it, but as scripture defines it - 1 Corinthians 13 and Exodus 20 are two great places to start!


Tomorrow's scripture focus: Mark 12:35-37

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Ezekiel 21-22, 1 Peter 3