Bible Studies for Life: October 5

The Greatest Command • Mark 12:28-34

By Melody Mercer

Last week, we looked at the greatest gift being our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. My pastor says that when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, that’s not the end.  Once we become a Christian, our work is just beginning. Something we are called to do as Christians is to keep the Ten Commandments, but throughout the Bible, God gives other commands as well. This week the lesson deals with two of these — loving God and loving your neighbor.  

Mark 12 finds Jesus teaching in the temple courts during Holy Week. The scribes and teachers of the law were always trying to trap Him with His teachings. This day was no different. Jesus had just been answering a question from the Sadducees about the resurrection. After that, “One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which command is the most important of all?’” (CSB) This scribe knew exactly which command was the most important since he was a scholar of the Mosaic Law. Jesus’s answer was taken from two Old Testament scriptures: “Listen, Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength,” (Deut. 6:4-5 CSB) and “…Love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18 CSB).

Jesus said that there is no greater commandments than these. In Matthew, it says that this two-sided commandment is the foundation of all of the law and the prophets. “All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands” (Matthew 22:40 CSB). If we truly love God and are totally surrendered to Him, then we have no other choice but to love our neighbor. “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother or sister, he is a liar” (1 John 4:20a CSB). These are not two separate commandments, but two phases of one responsibility to love.  These commandments were not new in the teachings of Jesus, but Jesus joined them as a single demand. God’s sovereignty demands total commitment from us as Christians.  

When I read the scribe’s response to Jesus, I was a little surprised. It was not what I expected. He agreed with Jesus that “he (God) is one, and there is no one else except him” (v. 32b CSB). He also said that to love God with all of our being and to love our neighbor was “far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mark 12:33b CSB). What a minute! What did he say? I wonder just how many religious leaders actually believed Jesus and answered His call to discipleship. We know of Nicodemus, but I would find it interesting to know how many others. 

Ok, back to our scribe. The fact he acknowledged that the commandments Jesus had just given were more than Old Testament ritualistic acts of worship was huge. This was true devotion that came from heartfelt love. Jesus knew it, too. He told the man, “You are not far from the kingdom of God” (v. 34 CSB). Unfortunately, it seems that the scribe may have just accepted Jesus’s teaching instead of committing his life to following Christ. However, our passage tells us that “no one dared ask Him any more questions” (v. 34b CSB). Jesus’s understanding and wisdom must have been so impressive that it completely shut down the onlookers that were trying to discredit Him.

I find so many times in scripture that commands are much easier said than done. Loving our neighbor as ourself might be one of those times. Sure, we have plenty of neighbors that we have no problem loving, but what about all of them? In a child’s mind, a neighbor lives next door, but Jesus meant literally anyone we come in contact with. I don’t mind saying that sometimes I have to remind myself that God created us all in His image and for His glory. We are all His children. We have two phases of one responsibility to love — we love God with all of our being and we love our neighbor, not just a little, but as ourself. We need to let that sink in and take it very seriously.  

Mercer is a member of First Church, Jackson.