The Greatest Commandment

Introduction

At this point in Jesus’ life, He is at Jerusalem for the final Passover before he is about to be crucified. He has just answered several questions from the religious leaders who are trying to trip Jesus up to have cause to have Him killed. However, Jesus keeps answering their questions with wisdom.

They first ask Him about paying taxes, hoping to have reason to send Him to Pilate for insurrection. But He answers them wisely saying, “render to Caesar the things taht are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.”

They then ask Him a question concerning the resurrection that will occur at the last day. The Sadducees are the ones that ask Him this question. The Sadducees as a group don’t believe in a bodily resurrection. They pose to Jesus a situation where a woman has been married to seven brothers due to each brother performing the responsibility of the Levirate marriage. Jesus responds again in wisdom, saying that in the resurrection people aren’t married or given in marriage but are as the angels. He further jabs at them, showing that God’s people will physically rise from the dead by saying at the end of verse 26 and in verse 27, “Have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.

In the midst of this whole situation, there is a scribe nearby who does not seem to have the same vindictive spirit the other religious leaders have. In verse 28, it says, “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him...”

I. The Greatest Commandment — Love God (12:28-30)

A. The Question: What is the greatest commandment?

The scribe asked Jesus, “which is the first commandment of all”

He is asking which commandment is the most important commandment, which one is the number one commandment in importance?

According to rabbinic tradition, there are 613 commandments in the Law (Torah).

There were 365 negative commmands (don’t do this) and 248 positive commands (do this). The teachers of the law would often debate over which command was the single unifying command in the law; therefore, the Scribe asks him this question, not as a question that has a wrong motivation but because he saw Jesus’ skill in his other answers.

B. The Foundation of the Commandment (Mark 12:29).

This is was the Jews call the Shema, meaning “to hear.” It is from Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (Turn There).

“Hear”

Hear has the connotation of listening with the purpose of obeying what you heard. It’d be like your parent saying “listen to me.”

The LORD our God is LORD | Only

Deut 6:4 — שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהוָ֥ה׀ אֶחָֽד

Mark 12:29 — Ἄκουε, Ἰσραήλ· Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, Κύριος εἷς ἐστί·

In the Hebrew it is literally: “Hear, O Israel, the LORD [(Jehovah/Yahweh)] is our God—the LORD [(Jehovah/Yahweh)] ALONE!

It’s like saying Jehovah is our God—Jehovah ALONE.

They were to have no other gods besides Jehovah God.

This further implies there was no other God than Jehovah God.

Just like Israel, the reality that God is God alone is the basis for the commandment in our lives as well. However, the command is meaningless and unattainable if you have another “god” in your life besides the One True God, the God of the Bible.

B. The Command

“And thou shalt loved the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all they soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.”

Thou — This is a personal command.

Thou/Thee is always singular; Ye/You is always plural. This is one of the reasons we appreciate our translation.

Shalt — This is a future matter of fact (indicative) verb. Instead of using a command (imperative), God speaks like a parent speaks to their child. “You will do this.” There’s no option. You’ll do it because I told you to. It’s more than a command. God will make sure it happens because He loves us. In fact, God continually chastened Israel because they did not obey this basic command.

Love — This is agape — unconditional love that is demonstrated in behavior. This is the love that is described in 1 Corinthians 13. That’s how you should love God

With:

All your Heart — your will, intellect, and emotions

All your Soul — your personality—the part of you that is immaterial and makes up you

All your Mind — the part of you where thinking is done to the point of understanding. It is then solidified in your heart (intellect) as truth.

All your Strength — Your physical ability

Essentially, this is saying you should love God with all that you are.

II. Love Others — The Second Greatest Commandment (12:31)

This is from Leviticus 19:18 — “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor ass thyself: I am the LORD.”

They go together. You cannot love God if you don’t love your neighbor. Loving God reveals itself in that you will love your neighbor. You can, in a sense, love your neighbor without loving God, but you can’t love God without also loving your neighbor. Your love for God drives you to love your neighbor (1 John 4:7-8).

The Good Samaritan

In the synoptic of this passage, in Matthew 22:40, Jesus says, “On these two commandments hang all the law and prophets”

III. The Lesson of the Scribe (12:32-34).

The scribe agrees with Jesus insight (12:32)

Furthermore, the scribe agrees with Jesus in saying that these two commandments are more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.

This is

Jesus noticed that the man responded, having understanding.

The word “discreetly” means that he responded with a response that showed that he understood what Jesus was talking about.

Jesus responds to him that he was not far from the kingdom of God.

Why is understanding these two commandments show that one is not far from the kingdom of God?

First, understanding is foundational to salvation.

Second, our realizing that loving God is most important leads us to want a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ.

We cannot love God apart from Jesus Christ — “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” — Romans 5:5

This is both a love from God and for God. You cannot truly love—whether that be God or others—apart from God Himself. He is the One that gives us the ability to love Him.

In John 14, the disciples wanted to know how to be with Jesus, not how to get to heaven.

A relationship with God through Jesus Christ has always been the focus of Scripture. The purpose of eternal life itself is to have a relationship with God through Jesus (John 17:3).

Jesus came to reconcile us to God. This is preached throughout Acts and the epistles. Romans 5:1 says that since we have been justified by faith, we now have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Furthermore, before salvation, we were enemies of God. Romans 5:10 says, “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

All of this to say is that the focus of eternal life is reconciliation with God. Therefore, wanting to love God and have a relationship with Him is foundational to coming to Him In faith through Jesus.