The First Of All Commandments

The gospel reading of the 31^st week in Ordinary Time of Year B presents another question posed to the Lord Jesus by a scribe (Mark 12:28-34). Picture this person as a member of a learned class who has studied the Scriptures and is charged with various roles, including preparing copies of sacred literature on parchment scrolls, correcting and editing manuscripts, instructing others, interpreting the law and drafting legal documents. Despite his credentials, the scribe asks what seems like a sincere question, but given the previous conversations where Jesus had silenced them all, this was certainly another attempt to trip up the Lord Jesus in His teachings.

Which commandment is the first of all? (Mark 12:28b).

The question is asked by one who had been following the controversial debates between the Lord Jesus on the one hand and the Pharisees, Sadducees, and some Hedrodians on the other hand. The scribe was impressed and even acknowledged that Jesus answered them well (vs 28). He seeks clarity as to exactly which is the most important of all, yet he ponders what Jesus will do. Will He show disregard or neglect for some areas of the Law of Moses? Will He promote one commandment over another? Will He pick one as most important, or will He contend that all the laws are equally important and that it is wrong to give more weight to some than to others? Will He simply not answer? In response, the Lord Jesus mentions not one but two commands.

Jesus answered,

The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 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 neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31).

And Then There Were Two….

The first He quotes from Deuteronomy 6:4-5 but adds a twist to it – with all your mind! Why? Because the Lord Jesus has authority over Scripture itself and can thus expand it to include the mind. He then goes on to quote the foundational commandment to love your neighbour as yourself (Leviticus 19:18). This answer defines the law in its essence, stating that we should love God with everything we have and love our neighbour as ourselves. In it, we see that what God wants from us is love. The Lord Jesus teaches that the summary of the law is love. We should not pit the law and love against each other because there is no option to choose to act according to the law or according to love.

But God’s standard of love is all-consuming. The Lord Jesus teaches that we are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We think of the heart as the seat of our spiritual life or inner being. We refer our emotions and desires to the soul. We look at our strength as the power or ability we have to take action. We add the mind to bring our understanding and intelligence to the equation. This means that every component that leads to our human activities is involved and called upon to love God to the extent that the heart, soul, mind, and strength are able. Our love for God must involve our whole person, all our faculties and resources. We love God completely and totally (Deuteronomy 6:5), and we do our best to live each day in a way that wins his smile of approval (Genesis 6:8, Numbers 6:25-26 & Job 29:24).

Loving God is therefore our priority because everything else follows easily when we love God. Loving God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind, and with all our strength is not about coming to church; it is rather about loving our neighbour as we would love ourselves. Religious ceremonies and devotions are not more important than love for God and our neighbour. Forgiving our neighbour is more pleasing to God than offering the most expensive gift at the altar. A single act of love done in God’s name, such as being reconciled with a brother, is better than a thousand empty burnt sacrifices (Matthew 5:23-24). We don’t get to choose who we love or treat with love; God does.

We cannot obey the law without love because love is the fulfilment of the law (Romans 13:10b). If we are without a spirit of love, even when we have obedience to the law, it means nothing to God. Loving God has no meaning if loving the neighbour is absent, and loving your neighbour is pointless if the love of God is not there. Jesus teaches that loving God is fundamentally connected to loving our neighbour, and the two must go together. St. John writes that those who say, “I love God” and hate their brothers or sisters are liars. He adds that those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen cannot love God whom they have not seen (1 John 4:20). The love we show our neighbour is a love that must be founded on the love we have for God; therefore, whoever loves God must also love their brother and sister (1 John 4:21). Our love for God is seen in our love of the neighbour. Without the first commandment, there cannot be a second.

And the Lord Jesus says we ought to love God, ourselves, and others. We cannot love our neighbour when we do not know how to love ourselves. Our love of others must begin with our love of the self. Then, we can treat everyone as we would want to be treated (Matthew 7:12 & Luke 6:31). The Lord closes the matter by stating that there is no other commandment greater than these (Mark 12:31). In St. Matthew’s account, we read that all (commandments) the law and the prophets hang on these two (Matthew 22:40). We don’t have to do complex things to please God – we only need love. This is the essence of true worship. But it has to go beyond what we say and what we feel and be expressed in what we do (1 John 3:18).

In Unlikely Agreement

Throughout his gospel, St. Mark presents the scribes as always evaluating Jesus’ activities. They judged Jesus theologically and charged Him with blasphemy because He forgave sins (2:7). They evaluated Jesus’ eating company because they were sinners and tax collectors (2:16). Some of the Jerusalem scribes claimed that Jesus had Beelzebul because He cast out demons (3:22). They questioned His disciples’ hand-washing practices because they did not observe the traditions of the elders (7:1 & 7:5). They ganged up with the chief priests and elders to probe into the origins of Jesus’ authority (11:27-28), whereas the general populace was astounded by it because it was distinct from that of the scribes (cf. 1:22). They plotted with the chief priests on the way to kill Jesus because they were threatened by His popularity (11:18, 11;32 & 14:1). They eventually collaborated with Judas and captured Jesus (14:43) and quickly assembled with the chief priests and elders at a trial before the high priest (14:53). Early the next day, they consulted with the whole council to hand Jesus over to Pilate (15:1), and they mocked Him on the cross, saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself” (15:31).

It is noteworthy that this particular scribe went against the grain in engaging the Lord Jesus on the order of the commandments. The response he gives to Jesus’ answer takes the explanation a step further by adding this is much more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices (12:33 cf. Hosea 6:6). This does not imply that the Lord Jesus was advocating for offerings and sacrifices to cease. He, rather, emphasises that love (for god and neighbour) takes precedence over physical activities done for religious purposes. Yet we should not be shocked that other Jewish leaders likewise believed in the correlation between the love of God and love for neighbour. The scribe was one of many leaders who appreciated the teachings of the Lord Jesus (cf. Luke 7:3-5). Even the Lord acknowledges the scribe’s wise response, telling him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God” (12:34). Yet this was not sufficient to gain the scribe entry into the discipleship of the Lord Jesus.

Seemingly, more is needed than just being well-spoken. The scribe rightfully starts where Jesus did: to know God and understand that He, the Master, is one. He already has the foundation for love. When he adds, “Besides Him, there is no other”, this is a certain consistency with the affirmation of God’s oneness (Deuteronomy 4:35). The very affirmative words that he used touched the Lord Jesus. Recognising Him as Teacher and affirming the truthfulness of Jesus’ answer is well received, but where his heart is remains unclear. Nonetheless, he has spoken wisely, and this makes him not far from the kingdom of God (12:34). He is somehow close, but perhaps not close enough. He might understand the most important commandment, but he still is not in it. There is something yet undone that he must correct. But the Lord Jesus already revealed it.

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news (Mark 1:15).

The scribe is not far from the Kingdom which is at hand. The time for him is fulfilled when he speaks face-to-face with the King of kings. But he remains not far from the kingdom of God because he needs to repent and believe in the good news! He needs to repent of his sins and his trust in himself. He needs to have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and not in his goodness. Otherwise, he will always be not far from the Kingdom.

All Were Silenced

This reading ends with the Lord Jesus having silenced those who sought to trap him in His words.

After that, no one dared to ask him any question (Mark 12:34).

When the Herodians and Pharisees came to ask Jesus about taxes, His answer silenced them in utter amazement (Mark 12:13-17 & Luke 20:26). Then the Sadducees came to Him about the resurrection, and they, too, fell quiet (Luke 20:40). Now Jesus has not only answered but also shown encouragement to a scribe, this group grows still. Since the Lord Jesus showed the crowd how the Messiah would rule over David, no one will dare ask Him anything more (Matthew 22:46). They all came to realise that they could never beat the Lord by tripping Him in His teachings. The Lord Jesus was not keen to merely defeat his detractors in legal and religious debating. His answers reveal who He is, show us what we are missing about Him, and recognise Him as the Messiah, the long-promised “Son of David”, who was also the Son of God and David’s Lord. This very truth was hard for the religious leaders to accept.

Take-Home Message

We humans are frail beings who need help in many ways. When we place our trust in God, we can ask questions, knowing He will answer in His way and His timing. When we need guidance and wisdom, praying to God can give us the answers we seek (Isaiah 55:8-9). Therefore, when we have questions for God, we should go to God in prayer and share our concerns. We should be humble and willing to learn. We should seek wise counsel from church leaders and participate in a Bible Study that encourages questions. We may share our questions with other Christians who might be going through the same things. But we must set aside time for daily Bible reading because the word of God is a lamp to our feet (Psalm 119:105), and Jesus is the Answer (John 14:13–14).