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The Greatest Commandment - Love Your Neighbor
Mark 12:28-34

the above illustration is the colored version of the Coloring Page for Jesus and the Man with the Palsy...  this is a perfect example of loving your neighbor.  These men loved their friend so much, they went to great lengths to bring him to the Lord Jesus.

Click here for Coloring Page (for Greatest Commandment using the above drawing, larger and uncolored)
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One day Jesus spoke to a group of people called "Sadducees"..  after he had finished speaking with them, one of the men who was known as a "scribe" came to speak to Jesus. (Scribes had great authority over the people as teachers and guardians of the law written in the books of Moses) This man had listened to Jesus when he was speaking with the Sadducees and understood that Jesus had properly answered the questions of the Sadducees.  And so the man asked Jesus "Which is the first commandment of all?" 

And Jesus answered "The first of all the commandments is 'Hear O Israel; the LORD our God is one LORD:  and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength'  This is the first commandment.  And the second is this "You shall love your neighbor as yourself".  There is no other commandment that is greater than these.

Then the man said to Jesus "Well Master, you have said the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but he: and to love him with all the heart, with all understanding, with all the soul and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all offerings and sacrifices. (In these days, it was the law for Jewish people to make offerings and sacrifices to God).

And when Jesus saw that the man had wisely answered him, he said "You are not far from the kingdom of God".  And after that no man dared to ask Jesus any more questions. 
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note to Parents or Teachers:  perhaps you could explain to the children that the Lord Jesus was the perfect sacrifice on the cross by shedding his precious blood and bearing the penalty for our sins so that now there is no more need of offerings and sacrifices to God.

Memory Verse:  Mark 12:31 "and the second is this: you shall love your neighbor as yourself......"

Questions:
1 Who had Jesus been speaking with before the man who was known as a scribe came and talked to Jesus?
2 Why did the man speak to Jesus?
3 What question did he ask Jesus?
4 What did Jesus tell him were the first and second commandments?
5 How are we to love God?
6 How can we love our neighbors? 
7 What do you think is important about loving our neighbors?

Answers:
1 the Sadducees
2 Because he knew that Jesus had properly answered the questions of the Sadducees
3 he asked Jesus what was the first commandment of all
4 to love God and to love our neighbor as ourself
5 with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind (understanding) and with all your strength.
6 we treat them kindly and respectfully and if they ask us to do something we do it willingly the best way we can..
7 when we show love to our neighbors they may see that there is something different about us and, we may have opportunity to tell them about salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ

Vicki C. Gross/April'05