Viktor Frankl was a Jewish psychiatrist in Austria during World War II. He was arrested by the Nazis and put in Auschwitz, the infamous death camp. There, he was stripped of everything: property, family, possessions, and a manuscript he had spent years researching and writing on finding meaning in life. The manuscript had been sewn into the lining of his coat.
“Now it seemed as if nothing and no one would survive me; neither a physical nor a spiritual child of my own,” Frankl wrote. “I found myself confronted with the question of whether under such circumstances my life was ultimately void of meaning.”
A few days later, the camp guards forced the prisoners to give up what little clothing they still wore. “I had to surrender my clothes and, in turn, inherited the worn-out rags of an inmate who had been sent to the gas chamber,” said Frankl. “Instead of the many pages of my manuscript, I found in the pocket of the newly acquired coat a single page torn out of a Hebrew prayer book, which contained the Jewish prayer ‘Shema Yisrael’ (Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one God. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.)
He asked, “How should I have interpreted such a ‘coincidence’ other than as a challenge to ‘live’ my thoughts instead of merely putting them on paper?” He eventually wrote a book titled, “Man’s Search for Meaning.” Isn’t that the challenge for every genuine child of God and follower of Jesus Christ? How should I live my thoughts? It’s a daily challenge for me!
Maybe you don’t put your thoughts on paper like I do. The teaching ministry the Lord has given me requires me to do that. However, even if you don’t write down your thoughts, you verbalize them. That’s why we speak of a person’s walk matching their talk.
As we continue to study Mark’s Gospel, the narrative includes Jesus’ interaction with one of the scribes. The scribes were teachers of the Law who drew up legal documents. They also copied the Old Testament Scripture, devoted themselves to the study of the law, and determined its applications in daily life. They studied Scripture concerning doctrinal and historical matters. Many of them were members of the Jewish council, the Sanhedrin. They were influential in the moral and religious life of the Jewish people. The one in our text was quite perceptive.
So, let’s read the text, Mark 12:28-34.
Jesus’ interaction with the scribe shows us the greatest commandment and how it impacts our lives today.
The First Part of this Interaction is,
The Question
Just before this, Jesus had silenced the Pharisees and the Sadducees in their attempts to trap Him in His speech. Think about what we would miss if these events hadn’t been recorded. Jesus gave clear teachings on our responsibility to civil government and the undeniable reality of the resurrection. Jesus’ antagonists meant it for evil, but Jesus used their questions for our good.
So, this scribe saw how Jesus had silenced these two groups, and he was impressed. He knew that Jesus had answered them admirably. However, Luke records this scribe as “testing” Jesus. We conclude that he admired Jesus yet remained critical. I can appreciate someone’s rhetorical skills without agreeing with their conclusions. That may be what’s happening here.
His question is, “Which is the first or foremost of all the commandments?” By foremost, he means first in rank and importance. The scribes declared there were 248 affirmative precepts, as many as the human body’s members, and 365 negative precepts, as many as the days in the year; the total is 613, the number of letters in the Decalogue. Was the scribe asking which of these commands was foremost? We aren’t sure.
You see, here, again, the basis of the question is about works. The rich young ruler asked, “What must I DO to inherit eternal life?” This man asked, “Which of the commands is most important for me to keep?” How can I earn God’s favor? How can I make myself acceptable to Him? Many people are still asking this question, trying to reduce a relationship with Jesus to a list of approved or disapproved actions.
While we cannot be sure of this scribe’s motives, we can commend him for wanting to know the truth. Thoughtful questions are often the first step in spiritual growth. We should learn how to ask them, too.
The Next Part of this Interaction is,
The Response
Somehow, I don’t think this scribe got the answer he was expecting! “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Interestingly, the Hebrew word echad, our English word, one, implies a unity in plurality – the Trinity.
Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:4, the supreme testimony of the Jewish faith. Each word is worthy of careful study, but the first – the verb Shema – deserves special attention.
There was a profound difference between the two ancient civilizations, Jewish and Greek. The Greeks were the supreme masters of the visual arts. Western culture is based on their model. Jews were not primarily visual, as a matter of profound religious principle. The second commandment expressly forbade them from making any physical representation of God!
God, the sole object of worship, is invisible. He transcends nature. He created the universe and is beyond it. He reveals Himself only in speech (Jesus—He is the Logos). Therefore, the supreme religious act in Judaism is to listen. The Greeks worshipped what they saw; Israel worshipped what they heard. When God approved of Jesus’ baptism, He said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, Hear Him.”
That is why the keyword of Judaism is Shema – hear. God is not someone we see but a voice we hear. Moses described the supreme revelation at Mount Sinai: “Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice” Deuteronomy 4:12. In my study, I learned that biblical Hebrew has no word for obey! However, the concept is present in the word hear.
In the words of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, “Hear, O Israel” means something like: “Listen. Concentrate. Give the word of God your most focused attention. Strive to understand. Engage all your faculties, intellectual and emotional. Make His will your own. For what He commands you to do is not irrational or arbitrary but for your welfare, the welfare of your people, and ultimately for the benefit of all humanity.”
So, if this scribe thinks about a box he can check for God’s approval, Jesus dismisses that notion. I believe Jesus is highlighting the need for relationships and love. God wanted to live among His people. He wanted them to know Him intimately, to fellowship with Him. That is still His desire, though now, because of what Jesus has done, we have God’s Spirit living, not only among us but within us.
After declaring God’s supremacy and the need to hear Him, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:5: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Hopefully, you noticed that Jesus’ quote differs from the original because He adds mind to heart, soul, and strength.
I’m glad He did that because some intellectuals loudly proclaim that faith in an invisible God is irrational, which is amusing since they believe in many other things they can’t see, like wind, oxygen, the force of gravity, and much more. However, I find it much more rational to believe in a sovereign Creator than in the random theories of evolution.
Some may say, “I don’t want to study. I want to have a simple faith.” God did not give Scripture to us to be treated like a children’s story. He calls us to apply the fullest ability of our minds to understand the riches and depths of what He has given us in His Word. In his epistles, the apostle Paul often encourages his readers to pursue more excellent knowledge of God.
I appreciate the words of R. C. Sproul, who said, “Faith, though it is the substance of things unseen, is not a leap into the darkness. God never calls people to make a blind leap into the darkness as an exercise of faith. The New Testament always and everywhere calls us to leap out of the darkness and into the light.”
So, no part of you is excluded. Jesus said, “You shall love God with all your being!” This is the key. When you and I love God wholly, His words are not seen as burdensome rules to be followed but wise guidelines for our protection. If we follow them, we will become the whole version of who and what God intended us to be. The apostle John wrote about this. “By this, we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.” First John 5:2, 3.
This leads us logically and naturally to the second part of Jesus’ response. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Ah, so easy to read, so hard to do. Paul, writing in Ephesians 5 about the marriage relationship, says, “For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it…” We care for ourselves; no one needs to encourage us to do that in marriage or any other relationship. We are born with that focus.
However, we don’t need commands to guide our actions when we love someone wholeheartedly. You’ve heard the sentence, “Your wish is my command.” That only happens when people genuinely experience the love of Jesus. When we “hear” with our heart, soul, mind, and strength, our choices reflect that. I don’t need a command to go to the office daily to earn a living so my wife can purchase what she needs to run our household. She doesn’t need a command to do my laundry or cook my meals. We do these things because we love each other. We want to help each other build our relationship and faithfully carry out our responsibilities.
These two commandments Jesus gave are inextricably linked together. In I John 4:19 to 21, we read, “We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar, for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannotlove God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.” Someone said, “Our debt to God is payable to our fellow men.”
We WILL love our brother if we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and in doing so, we will obey the greatest commandment.
The Final Part of this Interaction is,
The Reaction
Mark is the only Gospel writer who gives the scribe’s reaction to Jesus’ answer, and it is probably exclamatory. “Well said!” He was impressed with what Jesus said. He added, “You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
Wow, that was a mouthful, as we say. Where did the scribe get that comparison? In First Samuel chapter fifteen, he remembered how God told the people of Israel to eradicate the Amalekites – leave nothing alive. However, King Saul spared the king of Amalek and the best of the livestock. When confronted by the prophet Samuel, he made excuses and tried to blame the people under his authority.
Samuel wasn’t having any of it. He said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to [hearken] than the fat of rams.” Incidentally, the words hear and hearken come from similar Hebrew words. The scribe would have known this connection.
Jesus commends this man for using his mind to good effect, as evidenced by his wise answer. “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” Not far – the scribe’s critical attitude had melted before Jesus’s reply into genuine enthusiasm that showed he was near the kingdom of God. He doesn’t say, “You’re in the kingdom of God.” He says: “You’re close. You’re starting to get it. You’re starting to understand what it means when the Lord God is regarded as the sovereign King, and we are willing to love Him for who He is.”
Our text concludes with a double negative. “No man after that dared ask Him anything.” The debate was closed, and Jesus was the victor on every side. He has silenced the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodians, and all other critics. The die was cast, and the cross lay directly ahead.
As I ponder this interaction between Jesus and the scribe, I’m faced with a question. “Do I love God with all MY heart, soul, mind, and strength?” Do you? If I’m honest, the answer is “No.” I turn my mind to a thousand other things. Sometimes, I am more interested in learning about the things of the world than I am in understanding the Word of God.
We all know that none of us keeps the Great Commandment for a single day. But we are not under great conviction because we look around and see that nobody loves the Lord that way. We think, “What is the big deal if I do not?” Instead of comparing ourselves to God’s standard, we compare ourselves to others. That shows a lack of wisdom on our part.
And what about loving my neighbor? How well do I do that? Loving my neighbor is an outflow of loving God. If my love for God is weak, intermittent, or shallow, so will my love for my neighbor.
No sin is so small as to be insignificant. But if I asked you, “What’s the most serious sin of all?” what would you say? Murder? Adultery? Idolatry? Unbelief? If this is the Great Commandment, the most significant transgression would be the failure to keep it.
My only hope is to rest in the One who kept the Great Commandment perfectly. Every second of His life, He loved the Father with all His heart, soul, mind, and strength. He fulfilled the law of God, and He alone can save me. I trust alone in His righteousness! I hope you do, too.
