Content
The 1st and 2nd commandments (Mk 12:28-34)
(question)
“And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, ‘Which is the first commandment of all?’ ” (v28) Some scribes were listening as the Sadducees questioned Jesus about resurrection. One of these scribes admired Jesus for his wisdom in answering their question. Unlike the Pharisees who wanted to tempt Jesus, he asked him a question about God’s commandments: “Which is the first commandment of all?” As a scribe, he must be very familiar with the Old Testament about God’s commandments. Since there are so many commandments recorded in the Old Testament, it is not clearly stated which one of these is the first commandment. The scribe was interested to know whether Jesus was able to answer him this tough question.
(answer)
Since Jesus knew that the scribe was not tempting him, he answered directly, “The first of all the commandments is, ‘Hear O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord (主我們神是獨一的主). And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength (你要盡心、盡性、盡意、盡力愛主你的神).’ This is the first commandment.” (v29-30) This verse is quoted from Deut 6:4-5, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might (你要盡心、盡性、盡力愛耶和華你的神).”
Although the scribe didn’t ask the second commandment, Jesus continued to say, “And the second is like, namely this (其次就是說), ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself (要愛人如己).’ There is none other commandment greater than these.” (v31) This Bible verse is quoted from Lev 19:18, “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself (卻要愛人如己). I am the Lord.” This verse is not as outstanding as the first one in the OT in that it is among the numerous commandments concerning how to treat other people. The scribe had no way of knowing which the second commandment was after the first. It was Jesus’ desire to let him and the people around know the importance of this commandment, which is only second to the first commandment of loving God. No wonder Jesus added in Matt 20:44, "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (這兩條誡命是律法和先知一切道理的總綱)."
(relationship between the two commandments)
Why is it necessary to mention the second commandment which was not asked at all? The reason is that the two commandments are very closely related to each other. In fact, the second commandment is the embodiment of the first commandment. The first is to love God and the second is to love man. How to love God? Or how do you know you love God? It is explicitly shown when you love people. How much should we love God? Or to what degree of our love of God should we pursue? We should do our utmost to love God—physically, mentally and spiritually—and there is no boundary for us to limit our love of Him, just as God loves us without boundary. God's love of us is fully expressed in Jesus Christ, as Rom 5:8 says, "God commendeth (顯明) his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." In Ephe 3:18-19, Paul prays for the believers in the church of Ephesus that they "may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge." (能以和眾聖徒一同明白基督的愛是何等長闊高深！並知道這愛是過於人所能測度的。)
How to love people? We should love them as we love ourselves. In other words, we should treat them equally as if we were treating our own selves. Jesus said, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” But who is our “neighbor”? This question is perfectly explained in Luke 10:30-37 as Jesus answered a lawyer (律法師) with the parable of the good Samaritan. In Luke 10:25-29, the lawyer asked Jesus, “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus asked him instead, “What is written in the law? How readest thou?” The lawyer answered, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” It’s definitely amazing that the lawyer’s answer is basically the same as the first and second commandments that Jesus answered in Mark 12! Whether the lawyer was listening when Jesus answered the scribe was not known. Jesus replied to the lawyer, “Thou hast answered right; this do, and thou shalt live.” But the lawyer, “willing to justify himself (要顯明自己有理)”, asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Then Jesus used the parable of the good Samaritan to explain that our neighbor is the person who is in need of our help when we come across him. We should be ready to offer help without making prejudice against him. To show our love and concern for others as to ourselves--this is the basic principle of other commandments of treating people. Hence, it is the most important one among them all.
(the scribe’s response)
The scribe responded to Jesus’ answer very positively. In response to the first commandment, he said, “Well, Master, thou hast said the truth, for there is one God, and there is none other but he.” (v32) This statement is in response to Jesus' answer "the Lord our God is one Lord". It stresses that since there is only one God, we should love Him only, no other gods or idols. This is already stated clearly in the first of the Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Exo 20:3; Deut 5:7) It seems like the scribe called to mind from Jesus' answer the First of the Ten Commandments, which is also the most important one among the Ten Commandments. The scribe then repeated the rest of the first commandment said by Jesus: “And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength...”
In response to the second commandment, however, it is interesting that he compared loving men to offering sacrifices to God: “…and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” This answer showed his wisdom, which pleased Jesus: “Jesus saw that he answered discreetly” (耶穌見他回答的有智慧). He had wisdom because he understood God’s heart and desire for men to do for Him. Unlike the Pharisees and the hypocrites, this scribe understood that without any love of people, any sacrificial offering to God was not going to please Him.
Still remember the story of Abel and Cain in Genesis? The two brothers both made offerings to God. However, "the Lord had respect (看中) unto Abel and to his offering. But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell (大大地發怒，變了臉色)." (Gen 4:4-5) Please note that God was pleased by the person first and then by his offering. Then, "the Lord said unto Cain, 'Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire (它必戀慕你), and thou shalt rule over him.' " (Gen 4:6-7) If you want God to accept your offering again, you have to first correct your misconduct.
In Matt 9:13 and 12:7, Jesus has quoted twice the following OT verse, “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.” This verse is quoted from Hosea 6:6, “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”
(Jesus’ final message to the scribe)
In response, Jesus gave the scribe an encouraging message: “Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.” (v34) He was near to God’s salvation because he knew the importance of loving people far more than offering sacrifices to God. What remained for him to do in order to reach the kingdom of God is to put his understanding into action, as Jesus told the lawyer in Luke 10 who asked him “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” : “Thou hast answered right; this do, and thou shalt live.” Do what? Do what the lawyer has himself answered, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” (Luke 10:27-28)
So, who were far from the kingdom of God? The hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, of course! They appeared to be loving God by offering sacrifices, but always disobeyed God’s commandments by doing things that displeased Him. How far are we near to God, or how much do we love God? The answer depends on how near we love our ‘neighbors’ as ourselves.
"And no man after that durst ask him any question." (v34) Since Jesus entered Jerusalem in the final week, the author Mark has recorded four occasions in which different kinds of people came to ask Jesus questions: first, the chief priests, scribes and elders questioned Jesus who gave him the authority (Mark 11:28); then, the Pharisees and Herodians asked him the tax question (Mark 12:14-15); next, the Sadducees asked him the resurrection question (Mark 12:23); and now, the scribe asked him the question about God's commandment. As the Passover was coming in several days, Jesus was going to be taken for prosecution and trial. I think that the author wants to state that from this time on until the trial of Jesus, nobody came to throw out questions for Jesus to answer anymore. That ends the 'question and answer' section.