Mark 12:28-34
Have
you ever noticed that some people put so much energy into doing things for a
cause, whether the cause is God, saving the whales, abandoned pets, organic
food, vaccines, or facebooking. It can seem as if their life depended on their
pursuit of their cause. Not that their cause would ultimately change the world,
but that their expending of their energy would save them from whatever bad
might come their way. If they were just dedicated enough, then everything would
work out in their lives.
In
a religious context we call these things that we do in order to get something
in return ‘works’ of righteousness. We give, pray, fast, say kind things,
volunteer in the nursery, witness, read the Scriptures, wear the right clothes
to church, and smile politely. For some these religious acts are done in order
to somehow earn God’s favor, get on God’s side.
Our
text today tells of the third questioner of Jesus. The first two were direct
assaults made in order to trip Him up. They were trying to find an excuse to
bring charges against Jesus with the goal of killing Him, thus eliminating what
they viewed as a threat to their power and position in society. They wanted to
knock Jesus out of the running.
This
third questioner is from the third group of people who want Jesus gone. The
teachers of the law were the religious scholars of that day. They were charged
with education. And Jesus was an unauthorized teacher. The real problem was
that people listened to Jesus, probably because His words were backed up with
action.
One
of their group comes with a question. It doesn’t have an obvious trap connected
to it. It might be that this individual had a more open heart to the Truth than
the previous questioners. And there isn’t an obvious trap connected to his question.
Jesus
answers the question in a way that draws this man even closer. He places the
religious acts below our relationship with God and with other people. When we
love then our acts fall in their right place. When worship is attended to with
the heart, the religious acts that flow from that love are in their right
place.
If
we aren’t in right relationship with the LORD and with each other, our
religious acts are worthless. They flow from a heart that is divided. And
nothing pure can come from something divided like this.
Where
do you place the good things that you do? Are they a means to get in God’s good
graces? Or do they flow from a heart that is already in God’s good graces?