The Greatest Commandment

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Scripture: Mark 12:28-31 (ESV)

28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important 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 and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Devotion:

            In the verses prior to today’s passage Jesus had been questioned by the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Each coming as a group to ask about various aspects of the Jewish religion. In today’s scripture however, we have a lone scribe asking a particularly important question. The most important question of all. Which of the many (the Pharisees had 613) commandments was the most important. The one that all must keep to be faithful to God. Jesus did not hesitate with his answer.

            And the answer he gave cuts right to the important aspect. Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 6:4-5. This is a prayer called in Hebrew the Shema which translated means to hear. Devout Jews have prayed this prayer in the morning and in the evening every day for centuries. Jesus likely learned it from Joseph and Mary when he was a little boy. It is worth noting that Jesus did not stray from scripture but quoted it word for word.

            However, Jesus did do one novel thing. He went on to quote Leviticus 19:18 about loving your neighbor in the same breath. We have no example of these two scriptures being used together prior to Jesus’ usage here. What was Jesus trying to teach us by this combination of commands? Mainly, that if we are to extend our love for God to all the people we meet. We should, in the words of the golden rule, do to others as we would have them do to us.

            Words, however, sometimes are used differently and have different meanings from language to language and culture to culture. One such word is the Hebrew word for “hear.” In modern English it simply means to perceive a sound with the ear. To the Jew in Jesus day, it was a command to both hear and do what was heard. So, the command “to hear” is to do more than make mental assent, but to both hear and act on what was heard. This changes these words from being some nice saying that we can mentally agree to do. To a much more demanding command that requires us to live in a unique way. We are to love God with actions that show that we really do love him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.

Let us pray for the strength and courage to love in this way!

Prayer:

            Holy God, we come before you knowing that we have often not loved you with our deeds. We have too often been content to love you with our words alone. We say we love our neighbor but do not often act as if we really do. Teach us to listen to your word and obey it. Lead us in the ways of your love. Grant us courage to do what you command and teach. Lead us in the way of your love. Amen.

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