Mark 12:28-34 (New King James Version)
The Scribes: Which Is the First Commandment of All?
28 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving[a] that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?” 29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. 30 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’[b] This is the first commandment.[c] 31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’[d] There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. 33 And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul,[e] and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” But after that no one dared question Him.
This is a Scripture that Pastor Mike has mentioned several times these past two weeks. The scribe was probably counseled by others to ask this question to Jesus. In Matthew 22:34-35 it implies that there was an ulterior motive to maybe try and discredit Jesus. But in Mark, it seems that the scribe was arguing with others and I think he might have just wanted the theological question answered. The question of which commandment is first was asked because according to the statement of Jewish writers, there was a dispute among the rabbis as to which commandment was the greatest one. There were some who said that the law that commanded sacrifices was the greatest and others said that purification and still others said that the great feasts were the most important. They were going over the commandments of Moses which numbered around 600. Out of 600 commandments there were many who had different opinions as to which was the greatest.
In this last verse "you are not far from the kingdom of God," is a statement that the kingdom was available then through faith in Jesus. This man understood the Old Testament theology but he would not be right with God without putting his faith in Christ. I find it interesting that even though you might feel your theology is correct, it does not assure your salvation. Even knowledge of the Bible does not assure it. And definitely the performance of religious rituals does not assure salvation. What does assure your salvation is your faith in Christ and your acknowledging and submitting that He is your Savior.
Jesus said the first one is to love God with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself. There is none other commandment greater than these. If you look at how this sentence is quoted, you see that is is singular (meaning one) and these is plural. So even though these are two commandments, Jesus actually considered them as one. This is because if you really love God with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength, then you will love your neighbor just because they are made in His image and likeness.
God's laws are not a burden. It's actually pretty simple - love God and love others. So as Pastor Mike has been saying, let us check our hearts, make sure we are obeying the commandment to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength and we love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Are our hearts really in the right place? Ask Him, He will show you your true heart. If you are not sure what to do, just ask yourself what course of action is the best way to show the love for God and the love for other people.
