Mark 12:28-34 (NLT) · The
Greatest Commandment
28 One of the
teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate.
He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel!
The Lord our God is the
one and only Lord.
30 And you must love
the Lord your God with
all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.
31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as
yourself. No other commandment is greater than these.”
32 The teacher of religious law replied, “Well said,
Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only One God and no
other.
33 And I know it is important to love Him
with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my
neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt
offerings and sacrifices required in the law.”
34 Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him: “You
are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And after
that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.
As these final words Were written in verse 34
“And after that,
no one dared to ask him
any more questions.”
Does that Not Indicate to us
o That this was The Last Question
§ Of a Series of Questions?
And that
·
These Questions were Directed to Jesus
o By Representatives
§ Of Various Major Groups
· Of Judaism
And I think that this
Act Of QUESTIONING Of Jesus
Can Still Be Happening
Even Within Our Today.
What Do You Think?
So – IF You Agree With Me
· This Makes This Type of Questioning
o
Even That Much More Important
§ To You and Me!
It Is Important For Us Know That
· The Bible Tells Us that
o ‘This Question’ Comes from a
§ Member Of the “Scribes.”
And we Also Need to Recognize
· That it is Not ONLY the Scribes
· Who are Asking this Question,
o 2000 Years Ago,
§ But Many Of Us
· Are Asking this Today.
So, WHO ARE the Scribes?
They are
a Group of People
· Who Are Trained In Translating
o The OT Law,
§ Their ‘WORD’ of their day,
· So that – “The People”
·
You and Me
· Can Live IN Obedience Of It.
Now – Doesn’t That Sound
·
Very Much Like
o “The CHURCH” of Today?
· Do We Not Ask Questions?
· Do We Not Study God’s Word?
·
Do We Not Want to Understand
Which Commandment Is the MOST IMPORTANT?
And – ‘For Them Then’
· They had 613 Commandments
o
To Sort Out and To Follow.
I believe it is rather Easy for Us
· To Understand OF Their Strong Desire
o To try to Organize
§ These Commands
§ To Bundle them
Around ‘One Basic Commandment’
To Have
ONE Fundamental Principle
To hang all of the Other
612 Commands Upon.
For example:
·
Let’s Begin by Taking A Look At
o The Great Jewish Teacher Hillel.
Now I don’t think
Any of Us Know of Him
But he lived within the Time Period
When Jesus was a boy.
However – Mr. Hillel has been Quoted
In Answering a Gentile Question:
‘Can you Give a Brief Summary
Of the Entire OT Jewish Law.’
And this is what
· The Great Jewish Teacher Hillel Said:
“What You Yourself Hate,
Do Not Do to Your Neighbor.
This is the Whole Law,
The Rest is Just an Commentary of this.
Go and Learn It.”
Now - Hillel Did Not Mean
· That All the Other Commandments
o Are Immaterial
§ And there for,
§ They All Can Be Ignored.
However - Within His
Summary of the Commandments,
In His Summarization,
He Gave the Overall Drift
And the Character of the Law.
And - We Must Also
Understand that Our Scribe
Within Our Reading for Today
He Also Was Not Intending
To Imply That All Other
Commandments
Could Be Ignored!
But - He Was Probably
· Just Asking Jesus For
o His Own Personal Viewpoint
o Of What He Understood Was
o To Be the Fundamental Purpose
§ Of the Underlining Intent
§ And of what The Character
· Of the Law is to be.
Let Us Dive In – And Take A Deeper Look.
The KJV Translation uses the Word:
· ‘FIRST’
The NIV and NLT Translations uses:
The ESV Translation uses:
· ‘MOST IMPORTANT’ as well.
But the Strong’s Translates the Greek to say:
‘FOREMOST’
Whatever Your Version Chooses to
·
Use to Translates the Greek into English,
o The meaning of this Word
o Is meant to be a “strong” Verb.
All of the other Commandments
·
Rely upon,
o They Are Centered Upon,
o They Exists Because of
This One Commandment
And – Then – When We
Compare This Event
· With All 3 Synoptic Gospels
o Matthew Mark and Luke
§ We Will Find
·
An Interesting Tilt.
When we look at
· Matthew 22:34–35
· Mark 12:28
· And Luke 10:25,
Does It Not Get A
Little Interesting.
Mark tells his story
· Somewhat Differently
o
Then Matthew
§ And Still Different then Luke.
In Matthew 22:34,
· The scribe’s Question
o Seems to be
§ Simply One More Attempt
· To Engage
· Jesus In Just
· One More Debate!
Matthew 22:34-36 NLT
34 But
when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees with His reply,
they met together to question Him again. 35 One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap Him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is
the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”
And then in Luke – We Not Only
· Find that The Question Itself
·
Is Very Different,
o But the Scribe’s
o Intent is Hostile.
Luke 10:25 NLT
25 One day an expert in
religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking Him this question:
“Teacher, what should
I do to inherit eternal life?”
But within the Book of Mark – Vs 12:28,
· The scribe is Presented
o As If He
o Is Favorably Impressed
§ With Jesus’
· Previous Answers.
Do We Not See
·
That there ARE
o 3 DIFFERENT
§ VIEW POINTS?
But I am Interested In
·
Finding Out
o
Which Author writings:
§ DO YOU
§ RELATE WITH MORE!
Matthew: Is he setting A Trap?
Luke: Is he TESTING Jesus?
Mark: Or is he Seeking an Answer?
I believe Your Answer in this
· May tell You much about Yourself.
You Know,
· We had already talked
· About - That this Scribe
o Is Much Like How
§ We are Today
· Within God’s Church.
Are We Not as Well –
· Seeking to Know
o More About
§ Jesus Christ Our Lord.
And If You find Yourself
· ‘Within the Writings of Mark’
Then this may
· Also Be True
o
Of Yourself:
12:34 Realizing how much the man
understood,
Jesus said to him:
“You Are Not Far From
The Kingdom Of God.”
In our Reading for today,
· Mark Makes a Point
o
Out Of Painting this Man,
o
This Scribe,
§ Being In A Good Light
·
With the Lord!
BUT the Question for me is –
Does He Just Stay There?
Although – The Writing About this Scribe
· Seems to be In TOTAL Contrast
o To Mark’s Other Writings.
Let’s Read:
This is in Mark Writings: 11:27 thru 12:27
This is where We hear of
Jesus’ Frustration within His questioners.
Listen to Verse 11:29-30 (this is Jesus talking)
“I’ll tell you by what authority
I do these things
IF
You answer one question,”
“Did John’s authority to baptize come from
heaven, or was it merely human?
Answer me!”
And Then Again,
We hear from Mark
As he Records
Jesus Condemnation –
His Judgement Upon
The scribes as a group.
I am Only Going to Read
· Part of what is written
o In Mark 12:38–40.
Jesus Says:
“Beware of these teachers of religious law!
For they like to parade around in flowing robes
And receive respectful greetings
As they walk in the marketplaces.
And how they love the
seats of honor in the synagogues
and the head table at banquets.
Yet they shamelessly cheat
widows out of their property
and then pretend to be pious
by making long prayers in public.
Because of this,
they will be more severely punished.”
So, Allow Me to Ask,
Does This Raise Your Eyebrows?
Why does Mark
·
Write in Such a Positive Way
o When he is describing
o The behavior
o Of this one Scribe
§ Within Our Reading
·
For Today?
BUT – Do We Understand
Why:
Mark’s Writing So Positive
o All the While
§ Matthew’s and Luke’s
· Are NOT?
The answer is most likely
·
Because: Mark Wanted to Show
o
That There Was
§
a Conflict Between
§
Jesus
·
And the Jewish Establishment
o
As A Whole!
It Is VITAL For Us To Know
· That This Conflict
o Was-Not Based UPON
§ The Rejection of the OT
· Nor was it In Complete Denial
o Of The Law by Jesus.
But Instead,
· This Conflict Was Centered
o UPON The
o Jewish Authorities Refusal
§ Of Accepting Jesus
·
As the Final Interpreter
o Of the OT Law.
We See This - All the Way Through
· The Book of Mark,
Mark Continuedly Described How
· Jesus’ Has the Power
o To Interpret The Law
§ As Being The Devine Lord.
Jesus spoke of the Truth within these Laws
·
Which Just Like Today,
o
They went Against Most,
§
And of the Ways
·
Which The People Understood
§ What these Laws meant.
But How Well
Do We-Do,
In this - Today?
Just a Few Of These Issues Are:
· Matters of the Sabbath (e.g., 2:23–3:6)
· And Clean/Unclean (7:1–23)
But the BIG Point Here WAS THAT
·
Jesus’ Disapproved
o Of Their Traditions,
o BECAUSE – Through Them
§ They Totally Missed the Point!
All the Way Through This
Jesus Does Not - In-Any-Way -
o Reject The Truth
§ That the OT Law
· Came Directly
o From God the Father.
But Rather,
· It Is Within Jesus’ Reply
o To that scribe - In Mark 12:29–31
§ We See Jesus Expressing
§ What the PROPER POINT
· Of the Law Was To Be:
29 Jesus replied,
“The most important commandment is this:
‘Listen, O Israel!
The Lord our God is the One and Only Lord.
30 And you must Love the Lord your God
With all your heart, All your soul, All your
mind,
And All your strength.
31 The second is equally
important:
‘Love your Neighbor as yourself.
No other commandment is greater than these.”
Now My Hope – Is That We Will ALL Grasp
· What Mark is INSPIRING
o Within his readers
So That They – We - Will Understand that
· Jesus’ Words
o Mean - That we must
o Have Absolute Devotion
§ To God ALONE! (v. 30)
But - Does This Not Involve
·
In The Keeping Of
o All The Many Regulations
§ Which were being Enforced
§ Within The Scribal Tradition.
613 Commandments
And as we follow Jesus in the Bible,
· We have Example after Example
o Of where the Religious Authorities
o
Feel that Jesus and His followers
§ Were Not Observing the
§ “Requirements”
Some examples are –
· Within The Matters of the Sabbath
· And Certain Ceremonial Concerns.
In other words,
· The difference between
o Jesus
o And the Scribal Authorities Was,
§ From the Standpoint of Both Parties,
IT WAS - SERIOUS!
But Mark uses this passage
· To show that Jesus
o Should Never – Be - Seen
§ As a Jewish Religious Outcast!
But Rather,
·
Jesus’ UNDERSTANDING
·
Of What The Law
o Really Represented
§ Was Truly - Quite Profound.
In Making This Point,
· Mark Sees the Scribe
o As Responding Favorably
§
To Jesus’ Reply to His Question
(v. 12:32–33)
32 “The teacher of religious law replied, “Well
said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God
and no other.
33 And I know it is important to love him with
all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my
neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt
offerings and sacrifices required in the law.”’
And Mark shows
· Jesus Commenting
o Favorably on
§ The scribe’s response (v. 12:34).
34 “Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus
said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”’
HOWEVER – There is Still Differences
· That Remain
· Between the scribe and Jesus.
And we know this - Because At The End,
·
Mark Shares that This Scribe
o Does Not Become a Follower
However, the scribe and Jesus
Are Not at Totally Odds Either.
12:34 Realizing how much the man understood,
Jesus said to him:
“You Are Not Far from The Kingdom Of God.”
So Close –
But Yet –
So Far Away.
AND - It Is Perhaps
So, Significant to Point Out - That
o In This Scribe’s Answer (vv. 32–33),
‘Love of God and Neighbor’
Is Placed Above
As Well As In Contrast
To the ‘Temple Ritual’.
This comment,
· May Be Explained
o By the Fact that in Mark (Chapters 11–16)
§ There is a ‘CLAIM’
§ That Surfaces Again and Again.
This ‘CLAIM’ Is That Jesus
·
In Some Way –
o Replaces the Temple
§ As the Central Place
§ Of Where God Manifests Himself.
At the Beginning of Chapter 11,
· Jesus Enters the City
o And Goes Directly to the Temple!
In Doing This
Jesus is Emphasizing
· That It Is The Temple
o Which Is the
§ Object of Attention.
Do You See This?
But then we find the
·
Spliced Story -
o Of the Fig Tree
o And the Temple Disturbance (11:12–26)
This is when Jesus states:
· That the Temple
o Has become
§
Desecrated –
§
Defiled –
§
And Even - Vandalized
· By the Priestly Leadership (v. 17).
Next - Comes a Series of Encounters
· Between Jesus
o And the Jewish Leadership
(11:27–12:27),
All with the Implication
· That they ALL Take Place,
o (WHERE)
In the temple area! (11:27).
And then, It is the Temple’s Location
· Which is Indicated within
o The Passage that Follows
§ The Present Event
(12:35), and again in (12:41)
And we need to Note:
·
That Immediately Following
o Our Word for Today,
§ There Is The Prediction
·
Of The Destruction
o Of the Temple! (13:1–2)
Do We Begin to ‘Understand’
·
What the ‘Temple’
o Meant to these People?
And then Finally,
·
We may note Once Again
o That at Jesus’ Crucifixion,
§ It Was The Curtain of the Temple
· Which Is Ripped in Two.
(15:38).
This is The Proof
· That Jesus’ Ministry
o Really did Bring to An End
§ Of the Authority of the Temple
§ And of it’s Rituals
§
As Being the Prescribed Place
§ As well as the Way
§ To Meet
· And To Be with God!
But – Let’s Go Back to Today’s Scripture -
·
It-Is-In the Scribe’s answer:
o About ‘Love for God’ ‘And Neighbor’.
It Is This Kind of Love which is
More Important than
The Temple Rituals! (v. 33)
This Fits Mark’s Overall Theme
· About the Temple Being
o Superseded,
o Outdated,
o Replaced,
o And Even - Obsolete!
The Question for Us Is:
Can We Let Go of Our Temples?
Are We Like today’s Scribe,
· Who Gets So Close
o To the Kingdom of God
§ But We Never
· Get to FEEL it?
29 “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, People
of HALL!
The Lord our
God is the One and Only Lord.
30 And you must Love
the Lord your God
With all your heart,
With all your soul,
With all your mind,
And With all your strength.
31 The second is equally important:
‘Love your neighbor as yourself.
No other commandment is greater than these.”
As Readers of the Book of Mark,
· We have seen the scribe
o As anticipating that their belief
o Of the Temple
o And it’s Rituals
§ Were Replaceable
§ And Thoroughly Secondary
· To the Higher Obligations
· Which are Reflected
· Within these
o
2 Commandments.
However – the scribes Love for
· The things of this world
o Were To Great!
And so,
· Jesus’ Praise of today’s scribe
o Seems to
§ Underscore,
§ Underline,
§ Emphasize
· Jesus’ position.
So – The Question Remains:
Whose Writings
Do You See Yourself Within:
Matthew: Is he setting A Trap?
Luke: Is he TESTING Jesus?
Mark: Or is he Seeking an Answer?
Amen
