Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons


Mark

The Great Commandment. 12:28-34

[Seed logo] Introduction
      A notable fact about this episode is that it is not recorded in the Luken account of the Messiah in the temple, 19:45-21:38. Luke and Mark parallel their accounts from the cleansing of the temple: there is the question of authority, the parable of the defiant tenants, the question on tribute, the question on the resurrection [in Mark, the question on the greatest commandment], David's greater son, the warning about Israel's teachers, the widow's offering and finally, both Luke and Mark end with the prophecies concerning the destruction of the temple. The problem with the question on the greatest commandment is that the questioner and the question seem genuine, while the other episodes show that the piety of religious Judaism is tainted by hypocrisy and so faces judgement. By implication, there is a warning to church leaders that they too can catch the same disease. In the episode of the "Greatest Commandment", the religious teacher is seemingly encouraged by Jesus. Yet, it is likely that this godly man thought his righteousness had already secured his position in the kingdom, so being told he was "not far from" it was probably quite devastating. Mark includes this episode, for like the others, it condemns Israel's hypocrisy.

The passage
      v28. Religious Judaism in the first century had identified 613 individual commandments of the Law. Much time was spent grading them according to importance, and this because keeping them secured a place in the kingdom.
      v29. Instead of giving his number one law, Jesus gives a summary of the whole law. This summary is based on Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. It was a commonly used summary by the first century AD. eg. "Love the Lord and the neighbor", Testament of Issachar. Jesus begins by quoting the Shema' - obedience rests on a knowledge of the unique character of God and of his covenantal love toward Israel.
      v30. God demands of his people a total devotion and commitment of their life to Him.
      v31. As a consequence, God demands a total commitment of life to those created in His image. As we love ourselves, so we must love our neighbor. Although Leviticus 19:18 had confined love to "the sons of your own people", Jesus had already widened the ideal of love to include everyone. Only the hardness of our heart limits love.
      v32. The teacher affirms Jesus' use of the Shema'. In line with Exodus 20:7 he does not use the divine name. He adds The phrase "and there is no other beside him", Deuteronomy 4:35.
      v33. The teacher affirms Jesus' summary of the Law, making the point that the love of God and neighbor is far superior to cultic sacrifices, specifically whole burnt offerings. Religious Judaism would often rate cultic sacrifice above care toward a neighbor, although the teaching of the Old Testament on this matter was also well understood, cf. 1Sam.15:22, Hos.6:6. The ethical superiority of benevolence over cult was not a radical idea.
      v34. The teacher has certainly answered intelligently, but he hasn't quite grasped the uncompromised perfection demanded of God's law. Jesus' response, at best, is ambiguous and serves to prompt self-examination. If the teacher has truly understood the substance of the Law, then he is bound to face the reality of his own failure to obey it, and thus, his place outside the kingdom. Yet, there is hope for him. If he properly understands his state of loss, then indeed he is "not far from the kingdom", for a recognition of sin may well prompt repentance. The trouble with testing Jesus is that the questions can come back and bite you. Best not to "ask him any more questions", and that's what the teachers of law did.

The Two Great Commandments
      In the Anglican (Episcopalian) tradition, the Ten Commandments is read to the congregation in the opening section of the Holy Communion. In a shortened service, clergy often replaced the Ten Commandments with a version of the two great commands.
      In Prayer Book revision this practice was formalized. The Australian Prayer Book of 1978 included the alternative "Our Lord Jesus Christ said: You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and with all your strength. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets", Matt.22:37-40, Mk.12:30-31.
      The response of the people, composed by Archbishop Cranmer for the 1552 Prayer Book, was "Lord, have mercy on us: and write your law in our hearts by your Holy Spirit." Often, congregations just use the response, "Lord have mercy," In Second Order services, the Confession and Absolution can be said following the Two Great Commandments. The latest Australian Prayer Book, 1995, continues this practice.
      The reformers understood well the purpose of the Law. Although the Law does serve as a guide to right living, it primarily serves to expose sin. Jesus used the Law to expose sin, and it was given this same function in the Anglican service of Holy Communion by the reformers. God's people gather, they hear the law, and are again reminded of their state of loss. Yet, they have gathered before a merciful and loving God, who in Jesus Christ has wiped away their sin. As confession moves to absolution, the congregation stands and joins in praise to a gracious God. When we honestly face the absolute nature of God's Law we are "not far from the kingdom."

Discussion
      In what sense is the scribe not far from the kingdom?


Notes

Textual notes   Abbreviations,   Bibliography
 
v28
      eiJV "one" - one. Equivalent to an indefinite pronoun, "a certain one" = "a scribe", Moffatt.
      proselqwn (prosercomai) aor. part. "came" - having come, approached. The participle possibly forms a circumstantial or temporal clause. "Then a scribe came up", Moffatt.
      akousaV (akouw) "heard" - having heard. Here the participle probably functions as if a relative clause, "who heard", followed by the supplementary participle "debating."
      idwn (eidon) aor. part. "noticing" - having seen. "See", in the sense of "understand." The participle possibly forming a temporal clause; "when he heard Jesus give a good answer", CEV.
      poia "which" - of what kind of. Probably here functioning as an interrogative pronoun, "what / which?"
      prwth adj. "the most important" - first, prominent.
      pantwn adj. "-" of all. The sense is unclear, although probably "the first of all the commandments" is intended.

v29
      Jesus answers by quoting the Shema, Deut.6:4.
      oJti "-" - Here serving to introduce direct speech.
      prwth "the most important one" - first. "Commandment" is implied. "The commandment that takes priority over all the others", Barclay.
      kurioV oJ qeoV hJmwn "the Lord our God" - A verb may be implied, "The Lord is our God."
      kurioV eiJV estin "the Lord is one" - lord one is. The clause may be translated differently: "is one Lord", "the Lord is one", or "is the only Lord." The difficulty lies in whether God's person is being described or whether his relationship with Israel is being described. So, Moffatt has "the Lord is our God, the Lord alone", underlining the Lord's relationship with Israel. Yet, it seem more likely that divine uniqueness is being proclaimed; "the Lord our God is the one Lord", REB.

v30
      agaphseiV (agapaw) fut. "love" - you shall love. The future is volitive, expressing the Hebrew imperfect, and thus serving as a command. What does it mean to "love" God? Loving the neighbor is probably best understood in the terms of acting with compassion toward the neighbor, but what of God? Is it commitment? Taylor notes that this is the only passage in the synoptic gospels that speaks of human love toward God. cf. Moffatt who discusses the reticence of NT writers to use love-language in addressing God. At least we can say that "it is a love which makes decisions and acts and is not a mere feeling", Cranfield.
      ex + gen. "with" - out of, from. Indicating that our response to God should come from within us rather than be just a superficial doing.
      oJlhV adj. "all" - whole, all. Underlining the complete response of obedience demanded by God, an obedience in response to his prior love.
      thV kardiaV (a) "heart" - the heart. In Hebrew thought, the center of our intellectual processing.
      thV yuchV (h) "soul" - the soul. Inner being.
      thV dianoiaV (a) "mind" - the mind, thought, intention, intelligence, understanding. Mark changes the LXX quote here adding this word, obviously to underline the importance of rational thought in the process of obedience, Thus he removes the possible confusion caused by the word "heart", which in Greek thought takes on an emotional function, as distinct from the Hebrew understanding of the "heart" as primarily a rational organ.
      thV iscuroV (uV uoV) "strength" - strength, might. Mark uses "strength" instead of the LXX "power."

v31
      deutera adj. "the second" - a second [this]. The scribe only asked for the first, but Jesus gives an integral second linked to the first. His linking of the two is probably not original, but the perfection he demands of them is. His unique "completing" of the law serves to expose sin and thus the need for a saviour.
      ton plhsion adv. "neighbor" - the one near. Adverb used as a substantive. "Neighbor" in Hebrew means "fellow citizen / friend / other person." A wide sense is clearly intended in scripture, for love even extends to the alien and traveller within our gates. "Love others as much as you love yourself", CEV.
      wJV "as" - as, like. For meaning it may be worthwhile repeating the verb as in the CEV above. The issue of self-love is raised in this verse. Commentators argue that Jesus has either endorsed self-love, or has not actually addressed the issue and so neither endorses nor condemns it. I would have assumed that self-love is nothing more than an amoral natural human trait. Psychologically it would be difficult for a person to love others if they didn't first love themselves. I take it that Jesus assumes the obvious. "In the same way we care for our own welfare, let us care for the welfare of others."
      meizwn (megaV) comp. adj. "greater than" - greater.

v32
      The Scribe, in what seems like a friendly response, quotes Deuteronomy 6:4-5, to make the point that worship from the inner self transcends external acts of worship. Verses 32-34 are peculiar to Mark.
      kalwV adv. "well said" - well. Probably used as an exclamation, cf. NRSV, Moffatt.., but possibly to be taken with "said", "truly, Master, thou hast well said", Cranfield, cf. RV. "You are absolutely right", Phillips.
      ep alhqeiaV "you are right" - upon truth [you say]. Your words are "in accordance with truth", TH.
      eiJV estin "God is one" - one there is. "God" is understood, and is unstated in typical Jewish style.
      plhn + gen. "but" - [there is not another] except, only [him]

v33
      to agapan (agapaw) inf. "to love" - the to love. The infinitive is used as a substantive and serves as the subject of the sentence; "Love toward God that involves the totality of our thinking, understanding and strength ..... far outweighs ...."
      thV sunesewV (iV ewV) "understanding" - the intelligence, understanding, sagacity. As with v30, this word serves to exegete the sense of "heart" and is not found in Deut.6:5, although here it does serve to replace "soul". "All our heart, mind and strength", CEV.
      perissoteron (perissoteroV) comp. adj. "[is] more important than" - more exceeding, more abundant, much more. The word is not as strong as Jesus' "greater". See note v34. Far outweighs", Barclay.
      twn oJlokautwmatwn (a) "burnt offerings" - whole burnt offerings. Animal sacrifices where the whole carcass is consumed by fire. The scribe is not denouncing the sacrificial system, rather "what he does is to assert the supremacy of love of God and man over the cultus", Taylor.
      qusiwn "sacrifices" - General sacrifices where the flesh was eaten by the worshippers.

v34
      As is always the case, the teaching saying of Jesus, the punch-line, is crucial to our understanding of the episode. The problem is that we cannot read Jesus' body language or tonal inflections, so is Jesus being complementary or sarcastic? Commentators tend to think Jesus is being complementary, so: Taylor; Lagrange, "he almost has the necessary disposition to receive the gospel"; Cranfield, "the scribes unreserved acknowledgement of the demands of God's law without any attempt at evasion or at self-justification indicated a certain openness and humility before God"; France; Gundry; Rawlinson, "you come near possessing the qualifications needed for entry into the kingdom of God"; Johnson; "Jesus recognizes him as genuinely religious"; Anderson; Lane, "these verses record the approving response of the scribe and Jesus' recognition of his favorable disposition in the perspective of the Kingdom of God." Yet, the context of this episode records Jesus' ongoing conflict with the religious authorities and his critical analysis of the religion of Israel; they are blind guides leading the people to destruction. So, given the context of the episode, it is unlikely that Jesus is being complementary. It is also worth noting that the scribes initial question is most likely antagonistic, and it is possible that his reply to Jesus actually moves from Jesus' uncompromising demand for perfection. The scribe's answer may have been intelligent, but he still remains outside the kingdom, and thus, like all humanity, is lost. Being just out, is as good as being a long way out. Finally, the fact that Luke drops this episode in his account of the messiah's temple discourse, indicates that, on the surface at least, Jesus' words on the greatest commandment seem out of place. Of course, they are out of place if Jesus did actually "commend" the scribe, but definitely not if in fact he condemned him with faint praise.
      idwn (eidon) aor. part. "when [Jesus] saw" - seeing. The participle probably forms a temporal clause, as NIV.
      idwn auton oJti "saw that" - having seen him that. An example of a hyperbaton where the subject or object of a subordinate clause is displaced such that it becomes the subject or object of another clause, usually, as here, the main clause. Common in Aramaic, but also found in Greek. Some manuscripts try to sort the problem by dropping the pronoun. So, read as "when Jesus saw that he."
      nounecwV adv. "wisely" - wisely, thoughtfully, with understanding, sincerely, discreetly, with good sense. This is the only use of this word in the NT. "In a manner that showed he had a mind", Gundry.
      makran adv. "[not] far from" - [not] far away, far off. Here the accusative of the noun is used as an adverb. Possibly, not far from the kingdom, in the sense of, not far from the person and teaching of Jesus in whom the kingdom is manifested, so Cranfield. Possibly of the future manifestation of the kingdom in the last day, although it is unlikely that Jesus is confirming the scribe's membership in the heavenly kingdom. Probably a spacial sense is intended where the kingdom is a now/not yet reality which a person may enter, a reality which is accessible to the scribe, as it is accessible to all humanity. "Within reach", Dodd.
      oudeiV ouketi "from then on no one" - no one any longer. Double negative serving to underline Jesus' victory in his debate with the religious authorities, and further evidence that this particular interchange is not as positive as first seems.
      etolma (tolmaw) imperf. "dared" - was daring [to question].


[Printer icon]   A print friendly justified 10pt Times New Roman version sized to fit a 1 page A4, or 2 page A5 format.
 
[Pumpkin Cottage]
Pumpkin Cottage Ministry Resources
Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons
www.lectionarystudies.com