The Greatest Commandment

Introduction

For this last portion of Jesus’ public ministry, He had been spending most of His time with the Pharisees. Question after question, the Jewish leaders strike at Jesus with full confidence that they will finally outsmart this Rabbi from Nazareth.

“Where does your authority come from?”

“Is it lawful to give taxes to Caesar?”

And just recently, “What if this guy dies, and he wife marries the brother, and he dies, and the other one dies, and the other one, and the other one, and the other one, who’s her husband in heaven?”

How ridiculous this is! Question after question, Jesus answers masterfully and flips it on the leaders…

I. The Question (Mark 12:28)

Our account here at the tail end of Mark 12 begins much like the last few interactions Jesus had. “And one of the scribes came.” This scribe’s making his way to you, obviously with a question in mind, and at this point you’re thinking “Oh boy, here we go again. What trick question do you have up your sleeve now?

Mark 12:28 KJV 1900

28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?

What is the point of this question? What is he trying to get to?

I’m not convinced that he had any malicious intentions here for a few reasons. For one, Jesus commended this scribe in verse 34 for being close to the kingdom of God. We’ve repeatedly seen Jesus rebuke the Pharisees and Sadducees for their questions, but He doesn’t here.

Secondly, this was a topic debated among the Jewish scholars at the time, and it seems like this man genuinely wanted help reaching a conclusion.

The scribes recognized that within Moses’ Law there contained 613 precepts Jews were supposed to follow.

365 laws were negative, the “thou shalt not lie” “thou shalt not covet” (Idea for a 365 daily devotional!).

The 248 remaining commands were positive, “thou shalt do this and that.”

There’s one problem though, who in the world is going to remember all 613 commands to follow?!! We can’t even make our way through the 10 commandments guilt free! To address this problem, the scribes and pharisees deliberated what are the most important laws to follow.

You see, if I can find one command that sums up the entire law, I just need to focus on this law, and the rest will follow.

Simple, right?!

Q:What happens when you task 5 Baptists to solve a problem? (You get 5 opinions and zero solutions!)

The scribes didn’t do much better than we would, and they debated fiercely what is the most important command.

So here is this scribe, observing the events that had just taken place. He saw how Jesus answered the questions of the greatest teachers of Israel with such accuracy and wisdom. So I think what crossed his mind was, “Hmm, I wonder if Jesus knows the answer. He obviously knows the Scriptures well.”

Can we be totally confident this scribe was innocent in his question? (No, but I believe the text gives us enough evidence that he was sincerely looking for an answer.)

II. The Answer (Mark 12:29-31)

When asked what’s the greatest command of all of the Mosaic Law, Jesus quotes directly from Deuteronomy 6:4-5. In this chapter we find what we call the Shema, this was the foundational prayer of Judaism; you could say it was their statement of faith, so to speak. Faithful Jews even today pray the Shema twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening.

Mark 12:29–30 KJV 1900

29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

What’s special about this passage in particular? (Well remember, Jesus is summarizing the whole law into a short passage.)

Jesus goes deeper than “thou shalt do this” and “thou shalt not lie”, Jesus goes to the heart.

What does He include in this list? (We love God with all our heart, with ALL our soul, with ALL our mind, and with ALL our strength.)

We could take hours picking these apart and defining each aspect of this; what is the heart, what is the soul, what is the mind? and How do they work?

But that’s not His point. The point is, you ought to love God with your entire being. Every ounce of who you are and what you do ought to be done out of a profound love for God.

What’s the scribe expecting to hear Jesus say? (He’s expecting a list of righteous things he ought to do so that he would be closer to God)

But Jesus doesn’t even go there.

What brings us closer to God? (It’s love for Him!!! Legalism is not the steps that lead us to God)

Ill:

Q: Think of your own friendships, do we maintain them with a checklist?

- Marriage checklist: show affection [check], spend at least 1hr of undivided attention [check], go on dates every once in a while [check].

- Best dad ever checklist: Buy son a PS5 [check], throw the baseball for 30 minutes 2x a week [check], buy daughter Starbucks every week [check]

Q: You know what’s going to happen to these relationships? (They’re going to fall apart.)

And when all these relationships inevitably fall apart, you ask yourself, “What did I do wrong?!! I did all the tasks necessary to be a good husband, a good dad!” What did I miss as I, Mr. Goody two shoes checked all the boxes on the list? I missed LOVE!!!!! Relationships are not about law, they’re about love!

According to Christ, the most important part of the Law of Moses is love. Romans 13:8-10 tells us that love is the fulfillment of the Law.

Romans 13:8–10 KJV 1900

8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

First, our love must be directed towards God. We love Him because He first loved us. As we bask in His grace for us and deepen our love for Him, we will naturally tend to love others more also.

And so Jesus continues on in verse 31, sharing the second greatest commandment in the Law: Mark 12:31

Mark 12:31 KJV 1900

31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

The Scribe didn’t ask for the second greatest commandment; he would’ve been satisfied with the first, but Jesus gives it to him anyway. He does this because you can’t separate the two; if I love God, I will love my neighbour, there’s no avoiding that.

How much we love people is in a way a barometer of our love for God.

Ill: How are your relationships with people?

- Are you able to overlook minor offences and annoyances in love? Or do you scrutinize the people around you?

- Are you forgiving people as God forgave you? Or do you hold grudges?

- Are you kind to those you work with? Or are you critical?

- Are you pursuing others and inviting them into your life? Or do you close yourself off and show the cold shoulder?

Beware! If we are not loving the people around us, we might have to take a serious reality check. What’s my walk with the Lord like? Am I truly loving God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength? If we are, then I’ll evidence it by actually loving others.

James said that faith without works is dead. We could say here that love for God without works is dead! We say we love God? Let’s prove it by dying to self, taking up our crosses, and love others.

Jesus’ teachings were clear; the purpose of the Law is to love God first and then to love others as yourself.

III. The Commendation (Mark 12:32-34)

Ever since Jesus started His public ministry, the Scribes and Pharisees never understood His message. Jesus brought them a message of truth that appeals to the heart. But the Pharisees and scribes were blind to this message because of their fixation on the superficial.

“Wash yourself this way”, “Tithe this amount to the temple”, “Pray __ amount of times in this particular position.” and you’ll be okay with God.

Now, Jesus shares His message to the scribe, and for once, a scribe finally gets it! You almost want to throw a party for this guy you’re so excited!

Mark 12:32–33 KJV 1900

32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: 33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.

What does this man understand? (God wants our hearts first, not merely our external performance)

“Well said Jesus! It all makes sense, if I love God with all my being, I’m naturally going to love others too. But if I do anything without love in my heart, even religious things, God will not be pleased.”

He got it!!! God wants our hearts, not just what we can see…

Is God impressed we’re here in church? (God can see through our facades)

Ill: We can sing and make the sacrifices of our lips, yet if we don’t have love behind it, don’t think God will accept that! [angrily sing “Praise God from whom all blessings flow”

The scribe understood this truth, so Jesus commends him in vs. 34

Mark 12:34 KJV 1900

34 And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.

What’s He mean by “not far from the kingdom of God.”?

As far as it goes on the knowledge side of things, this scribe got it. He understood the message of Jesus, He understood that God desired his heart more than any righteous acts he could have done. In that sense, he was close to the kingdom of God.

But notice what Jesus says, He says he’s “not far” from the kingdom. Is he there yet?

He’s close, but not quite there yet, something was missing. Up here [point to the mind], he got it. But down here [point to the heart], he wasn’t ready.

So Jesus commends him for having eyes to see the truth, He’s glad to see how close this man has gotten, and now He’s encouraging to make that leap of faith. “Prove that you love God by trusting in Me.”

And once again after this interaction, nobody could answer Christ. Nobody would actually dare to ever question Christ again.

Conclusion

Our story ends off on this unresolved note. Did this scribe get it? Did he eventually trust in Christ as his Saviour? We don’t know. The final pieces of the puzzle aren’t for us to see on this side of heaven.

Yet we find ourselves in this same scenario. The choice is ours. Will we trust in the Lord? Will we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength? Will we love our neighbour as ourselves. Think over these things as we turn our time to the communion table.

Maybe you haven’t loved God with all your heart, maybe you have a broken relationship with someone. Now is the time to resolve it, let’s prove that we genuinely love the Lord by choosing to love others.

(Close in prayer)