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The Greatest Commandment - Mark 12:28-44

Eric Fistler

image: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God” by Maurice Schnell wikimedia

Mark 12:28-44

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See this content in the original post

Mark 12:28-44

Initial Thoughts

  • One of Jesus’ greatest hits.

  • Task of the preacher is to make this fresh - realizing it is possible some haven’t heard this before.

  • Stewardship Fans rejoice….but should they? 

    • Widow’s Mite or unfaithful scribes?

Bible Study

  • Literary Context

    • “One of the legal experts saw the disputes and saw how well Jesus answered them.” What were the nature of the disputes:

    • Jesus’ parable of the tenant farmers who beat up his managers, and then kill his son.” Legal experts see that this is a story against them, so they “wanted to arrest Jesus.”

    • Traps:

      • Should we pay taxes to Caesar?

      • Who is the woman going to be married to in the resurrection?

    • Then this legal expert seems to ask a genuine question, and has a conversation.

  • Beyond orthodoxy (Ched Myers, Binding the Strong Man)

    • The question, “What is the first commandment?” is not a new question, but would have been a central question that scribes would have debated.

      • What is the most important amendment to the constitution?

      • What is the greatest good? (Socrates)

    • Jesus quoting the Shema is not out of the ordinary - Jesus linking Deuteronomy 6:4-5 with Leviticus 19:18 is very out of the ordinary

      • Jesus adds the mind

  • Leviticus 19:9-17 (Myers) - the culmination of a list of prohibitions to keep Israel from exploiting the weak and poor, including:

    • Leaving food for the hungry in the field-gleaning (vv.9)

    • Don’t steal, lie or profane God (vv.11)

    • Don’t oppress your neighbor, exploit employees, or discriminate against the disabled (vv.13)

    • Do no injustice or show partiality in judgment, slander or witness against your neighbor (vv.15)

  • Jesus’ central ideological and theological point: There is no love of God except through love of neighbor.

  • The Scribe Disciple (Myers)

    • While usually scribes were the antagonists - here there is possibility because this scribe sees and hears Jesus. Both are needed to be a disciple

    • Jesus recognizes that the scribe “answered widely” or “is thoughtful” - the Greek is νουνεχῶς which is from the root, nous which means “mind” (Left Behind and Loving It) 

    • Jesus recognizes that the scribe has grasped what it means to follow God intellectually - to love God. The scribe gets the orthodoxy, but misses the inseparable orthopraxis - to love your neighbor as yourself.

    • Therefore he is not living in the Kingdom, but is simply near the kingdom.

  • The conversation is familiar, but nuances of Mark are interesting.

    • Scribe asks “What is the greatest commandment?

    • Jesus responds “Love God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”

    • Scribe then: “ "Well said, Teacher. You have truthfully said that God is one and there is no other besides him. And to love God with all of the heart, a full understanding, and all of one's strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself is much more important than all kinds of entirely burned offerings and sacrifices."

    • Jesus saw the man had wisdom and said: “You aren’t far from God’s Kingdom.”

  • Seems like a change from the rest of the chapter, when they are just trying to trap Jesus. This Scribe seems sincerely intrigued, and wants to know more. He and Jesus then have a conversation, in which the man is ‘blessed.’

  • What we see is not a battle of different texts, but a battle over the interpretation of the text. All those in this chapter are referring to the same traditions and same texts. In Jesus answers, he does not go against tradition so much as reinforce an already extant one. One however, that was not the dominant interpretation of the leadership of the time.

    • Each group has a different understanding of the tradition.

    • Jesus’ reading is one that looks at the heart, the motivation, and overarching way of life - and this is the way to the Kingdom of God. 

  • Sacrifice - latin origin meaning “to make sacred”

  • Contrast between the scribes and the widow

  • Scribes

    • Warning:

      • Strive to be the best or highest place in the religious arena (fighting for honor at synagogues and banquets) - similar to the disciples jockeying for position

      • Like to wear their long robes (like the modern clergy in fancy robes and nice suits?)

      • Greeted with honor (like the local church bemoaning its loss of power in the public spectrum)?

    • Condemnation:

      • Hypocrites - claiming to be righteous yet “devouring widows houses” instead of caring for widows

      • Scribes were given charge over the estates of widows. Widows, as women, were considered unable to manage their finances, so this fell to to the scribes, the legal experts. The scribes would manage the estate for a fee. In a many cases this led to financial abuse and theft (Myers, Binding the Strong Man)

  • Widow

    • category of the most vulnerable (along with orphans and aliens)

    • On who should be cared for by the “righteous”

    • Gives little but sacrifices much

    • An example of a failed system- not an example of faithful giving

  • Message of critique against a religious system that results in the poorest giving all they have so the institutions can remain in wealth and comfort

    • This message strikes home for many- perhaps too close for some

    • Pastors concerned over losing their housing benefit

  • What matters?

    • Jesus is about to declare the destruction of the temple- all the offerings are somewhat useless in this regard - in some senses a terrible stewardship Sunday text

    • What matters? Maintaining the institution or caring for the least of least?

Thoughts and Questions

  • When Jesus says that the man is close to the Kingdom of God, that doesn’t mean the man is about to die. Does this mean the man is about to die. God’s Kingdom is not about where to go when you die. It is about understanding the will of God here and now. To love God and to love your neighbor is the purpose of living. Knowing that means you’re close. Living like that means you are there.

  • The first part of this chapter is more like modern news broadcasting. ‘Gotcha Journalism,’ has become a catchphrase. The religious leaders are trying to trap Jesus with ‘gotcha’ questions. Then the final man has a conversation. He wants to know what Jesus thinks. It seems that there is little time in today’s national discourse for trying to find out what people actually think. It is much easier to construct straw men or pithy memes or tweets. The traps leave Jesus and the leaders as adversaries. An honest dialog ends up with one of the Scribes getting close to the Kingdom of God.

  • Jesus does not present any new teaching here. He does add the part about loving your neighbor as yourself, but even this is from Leviticus 19:18. He is not giving them anything that they didn’t know. The passage he quotes would have been one of the most well known passages of their Bible. So much so, that the Scribes’ response is the other part of the Scripture.

    • Faith in God is equated with Love of God. Love of God is equated with loving neighbor. In order to show your faith in God, it is necessary to love your neighbor.

  • In what ways do we participate in a religious system which punishes the poorest? How can we overcome and transform those systems?

  • How is the “worth” of a congregation measured? 

    • In members? 

    • In budget?

    • In young families?

    • In the number of vulnerable cared for?

  • What are we unwilling to sacrifice for God? Our buildings? Our institutions? Our paychecks?

Opening music: Misirlou, One Man 90 Instruments by Joe Penna/MysteryGuitarMan at MIM

Closing Song by Bryan Odeen