To Love God

Introduction

Jesus is in Jerusalem and the ruling parties are coming up against him. They are they are trying to trap him. The chief priests, elders, Sadducees, Pharisees, Herodians and scribes. Each are trying to take a crack of the man named Jesus from Nazareth.

They challenge his authority,

they try to trap him with paying taxes

The sadducees try to trick him with the scripture regarding the resurrection. “You know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God” verse 24

Now we come to verse 28 and we see a scribe come to interview Jesus read with me Mark 28- 34

Which Commandment is the Greatest

Here we see in verse 28 for the first time arriving in Jerusalem an individual approach Jesus rather than a group. ( compare Nicodemus and the rich young ruler)

We notice this scribe came up and heard the disputing between Jesus and the Pharisees and Sadducees. So he came, he heard and saw

He approaches Jesus with a sincere heart.

The question he asks Jesus “which commandment is the most important of All” has a sense of which commandment supersedes everything and is incumbent on all humanity- including Gentiles.

The scribes were a religious group that concerned themselves with proper exposition of the law or interpretation of it and had a reputation as experts.

The Rabbinic tradition had counted 613 laws, commandments in the Torah, 365 Prohibitions and 248 positive commands so 365 neg and 248 positive

They then differentiated between what they called heavy and light commandments. The light commandments dealt with little demands on one’s life or possessions, while the heavier commands demanded a lot with severe penalties if broken. Jesus makes a comment in of telling people its ok to break least commandments.

It was very common for teachers to declare their opinion on the heaviest of commandments or to summarize the Torah in a nutshell. The mishnah records some of the answeres from famous rabbies like Rabbi Hillel twenty years before Jesus summarized the Torah in a negative version of the Golden rule: “what you would not want done to you, do not do to your neighbor. Another rabbi quoted as the greatest, “in all your ways acknowledge God, and he will make your paths Straight.

Rabbi and other teachers would often debate and their students or “disciples” would listen and learn _ what is your yoke?

Here we see Jesus being asked a very common question to a reputable teacher. He has a prepared answer “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, The Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind and with all your strength.

This answer is a quote from the OT This is known to every Jew as the Shema “means to hear” every JEW would recite this passage twice a day. Once in the morning and then once in the evening. The would ALL as in love the lord your God with all you is repeated four times to show emphases. The necessity of total response of love to the Lordship of God.

In the passage Jesus is quoting a the most importance commandment it says, God is the one and only LORD, not of Israel only but of every individual on earth. God has the rightful claim to every facet of Human personality- the heart, the soul- the mind- the strength-

Each of these four command is prefaced by the Greek preposition EX meaning “from the source of “ rather than by means of. We are commanded to Love God not simply with all of our heart but rather from our whole heart. Not with our mind but we are to love God from our mind. “ bible says in Psalms Let the meditation of my heart..

This scribe asks for one commandment and Jesus goes a second mile and adds “love your neighbor as yourself” This is quoted from

The OT “Neighbor” meant only fellow Jews, not to include non israelites and gentiles

Jesus clearly taught different- in Luke he was asked the same question and he told a parable in his justification on his answer.

Luke 10:25–37 ESV

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

so in verese 31 Jesus says There is no other commandment greater than these

The scribes agrees with Jesus and says that the command quoted by Jesus is much more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. SO this is odd to see a scribe agree with Jesus and praise him by saying your are right teacher. Also strange to says these commands supercide the whole sacrificial system.

verse 34 Jesus see the scribe answered wisely and said to him “You are not far from the kingdom of God. - Shows Jesus superiority with a higher sovereign authority. The topic of conversation was the Torah not the kingdom of GOD or eternal life.

What we see here is that person doesn’t draw near to the kingdom of God only through proper theology but rather drawing near to Jesus.

Conclusion

SO WHAT