Pastor Rick’s Study Notes:

Mark 12:28-34

(PRT) v. 28 Then, one of the religious teachers, after listening in on the discussion and discerning Jesus answered them well, approached him and asked: “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” v. 29 Jesus answered: “The most important of all is this – “Here this, Israel; our Lord God is One Lord. v. 30 “And you will love your Lord God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. v. 31 “The second is this – You will love your neighbor like you love yourself. No other commandment is greater than these.” v. 32 Then, the religious teacher said to him: “Excellent, teacher – What you have said, that He is one and there is no one beside Him; this lines up with the truth. v. 33 And to love him fully with the heart, understanding, and strength and to love our neighbor like we love ourselves is more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.” v. 34 And Jesus, seeing that he answered wisely, told him: “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” Then, no one dared to ask him another question.

Study Notes:

v. 28 Then, one of the religious teachers, after listening in on the discussion and discerning Jesus answered them well, approached him and asked: “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

Matthew indicates that this priest “tested” Jesus, as if he was put up to it. But the curiosity seems to lead in this account. Could it be he was almost convinced to exchange allegiances?

Jesus is in the Outer Court where the Gentile God-fearers and the nations came to worship. He has a clear picture here of what love means.

This question was commonly debated among religious teachers. It relied on the level of piety to achieve or accomplish that law. But Jesus says in answer – the priority is immeasurable, unreachable, always the goal but never the attainment. That’s why grace is required.

If you were asked this question, what would you answer? Jesus accepts the question as valid and it has a valid response.

These religious leaders were the ones who interpreted the law. They saw life through the lens of the school of interpretation of either the Sadducees or the Pharisees (the full OT revelation or the Pentateuch.) Jesus is calling on him to see life through the lens of the Kingdom and he as King.

v. 29 Jesus answered: “The most important of all is this – “Here this, Israel; our Lord God is One Lord.

This is the Shema, the “Hear” or “listen up.” It’s the central passage in Jewish theology from Leviticus 6. Interesting that the word for “one” is the word for a compound unity that is a unity of elements into one. Father/Son/Holy Spirit.

To hear this is to seek to know the one true God.

Don’t miss the possessive – Our God is One, Our God is Lord, and Our God is relational. He has established a relationship with us.

v. 30 “And you will love your Lord God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength.

And to hear this is to love the one true God.

To love God is thorough in all ways for the individual. It is a response to love first demonstrated.

All is completeness. God has redeemed and restored us fully; we love him back fully.

Our love is not philosophical or academic; it is active, real-time expression of our choice to follow Him and love the unlovely.

Back to the Garden – there was no separation. All that Adam did was out of love for the Father.

v. 31 “The second is this – You will love your neighbor like you love yourself. No other commandment is greater than these.”

And this second commandment goes with the first. We can’t love God without love toward others; we can love other without the love of God in our hearts. Our self-centeredness gets in the way. And we might try to fix the relationships on the horizontal level; but without the vertical in place, the horizontal gets in the way.

Illustration: With God at the center, like a spinning top, the rest of our relationships are balanced and moving at the right pace; but without God as the point, the center, the first place in our lives as our confession, the rest of our relationships wobble or lose control

To love others = to give life as ransom, to serve and not be served.

Jesus connects love on the horizontal with love on the vertical. We love others because we had found God’s love to matter.

Unlike the first, this love is in response to love poured in through the Father’s love, but not in response to a horizontal love first given.

Our love for God is toward one who is perfect and complete and utterly deserving; our love for others is toward one who is often hateful, deceptive, unconcerned, greedy, etc., imperfect, broken, and undeserving of our love – apart from the father’s love poured into us.

Luke 10:25-37 A neighbor is more than “my people.” A neighbor is everyone.

v. 32 Then, the religious teacher said to him: “Excellent, teacher – What you have said, that He is one and there is no one beside Him; this lines up with the truth.

This religious leader gets it, hears it as truth, and steps toward the Kingdom.

v. 33 And to love him fully with the heart, understanding, and strength and to love our neighbor like we love ourselves is more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Hosea 6:6 Mercy above burnt offerings.

v. 34 And Jesus, seeing that he answered wisely, told him: “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” Then, no one dared to ask him another question.

The teacher of the law moved from antagonistic to accepting. Jesus’ teaching smacks of Kingdom truth. He is almost there to connect the person of Jesus with the presence of the Kingdom.

It could be that, after hearing this scribe equate love of God and love of man as superior to the sacrificial system that was so precious and guarded, no one wanted to step into another possible non-PC conversation.