28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 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: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.
The culminating dispute with Jesus in this section of Mark is also the most well known and also perhaps the most surprising. This time it is not Jesus delivering the definitive final statement as not the closing frame of the scene.
The previous debates all began when people were sent to start a dispute with Jesus. In this case, the public disputes are overheard and a teacher of the law believes that Jesus has answered what were the koan like questions of the day with skill. So he asks him his own question, which seems from his heart rather than from some agenda. Over the years, Jewish religious types had determined that there were a large number of commandments from God. Some of these were profound and well known to us (e.g the ten commandments) others governed all sorts of personal and corporate behavior.
So faced with a raft of commandments, the teacher of the law asks Jesus which one is primary. Jesus answers with what is known as the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4. Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one, a phrase that is repeated in Jewish prayers. It reminds the people that the God they serve is unlike the gods of the surrounding people. They are to commit the entirety of their beings to love of Yahweh. This is not a command that is given in private to individuals but a challenge to the community.
But Jesus will not stop with merely a command about a corporate attitude to the divine, but attaches a second which also is about love, but focuses on others and self. The essential command then is to love a trinity of God, others and self.
In all of the previous disputation stories, this is where the period would be. Some observation about the amazement of the hearers might follow. But the teacher of the law speaks again, not to ask another question, but to essentially restate and emphasize what Jesus has already said. He observes that Jesus is right in his observation and that the commands that Jesus has focused upon are more important than the sacrificial system. This forms an appropriate conclusion to this section that begins with Jesus turning over the temple money changers tables and is followed by a series of questions about God's commands that are designed to trip Jesus up.
Jesus recognizes the teacher's wisdom, which is apparently to embrace what Jesus is saying, and tells him that he is not far from the Kingdom of God. This is almost certainly a positive appraisal, although being not far is certainly not the same as being within. What does the teacher of the law have yet to do to get in? Does he need to live the truth, or does he need to recognize that Jesus is not "rabbi" as he has addressed him, but Christ, the Son of God as Mark begins his gospel. Does he not yet understand that Jesus is not offering simply a lesson but a way of life? In some ways the encounter is reminiscent of another encounter that Jesus has where commandments are invoked. The rich ruler has said that he has kept all the requirements and Mark tells us that Jesus loves him. Unfortunately when asked to give up his wealth, he can not continue to follow. In this case, we don't know whether this teacher of the law turns away or enters. Like the ending of the gospel in a few chapters, Mark leaves us with a cliffhanger.
Mark concludes the section by observing that no one dares to ask him a question. Jesus has faced the trap questions about authority, Caesar, resurrection, and the fundamental commandment. This part of the passion week is now over, and Jesus is one step closer to the weight of the cross.
The culminating dispute with Jesus in this section of Mark is also the most well known and also perhaps the most surprising. This time it is not Jesus delivering the definitive final statement as not the closing frame of the scene.
The previous debates all began when people were sent to start a dispute with Jesus. In this case, the public disputes are overheard and a teacher of the law believes that Jesus has answered what were the koan like questions of the day with skill. So he asks him his own question, which seems from his heart rather than from some agenda. Over the years, Jewish religious types had determined that there were a large number of commandments from God. Some of these were profound and well known to us (e.g the ten commandments) others governed all sorts of personal and corporate behavior.
So faced with a raft of commandments, the teacher of the law asks Jesus which one is primary. Jesus answers with what is known as the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4. Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one, a phrase that is repeated in Jewish prayers. It reminds the people that the God they serve is unlike the gods of the surrounding people. They are to commit the entirety of their beings to love of Yahweh. This is not a command that is given in private to individuals but a challenge to the community.
In all of the previous disputation stories, this is where the period would be. Some observation about the amazement of the hearers might follow. But the teacher of the law speaks again, not to ask another question, but to essentially restate and emphasize what Jesus has already said. He observes that Jesus is right in his observation and that the commands that Jesus has focused upon are more important than the sacrificial system. This forms an appropriate conclusion to this section that begins with Jesus turning over the temple money changers tables and is followed by a series of questions about God's commands that are designed to trip Jesus up.
Jesus recognizes the teacher's wisdom, which is apparently to embrace what Jesus is saying, and tells him that he is not far from the Kingdom of God. This is almost certainly a positive appraisal, although being not far is certainly not the same as being within. What does the teacher of the law have yet to do to get in? Does he need to live the truth, or does he need to recognize that Jesus is not "rabbi" as he has addressed him, but Christ, the Son of God as Mark begins his gospel. Does he not yet understand that Jesus is not offering simply a lesson but a way of life? In some ways the encounter is reminiscent of another encounter that Jesus has where commandments are invoked. The rich ruler has said that he has kept all the requirements and Mark tells us that Jesus loves him. Unfortunately when asked to give up his wealth, he can not continue to follow. In this case, we don't know whether this teacher of the law turns away or enters. Like the ending of the gospel in a few chapters, Mark leaves us with a cliffhanger.
Mark concludes the section by observing that no one dares to ask him a question. Jesus has faced the trap questions about authority, Caesar, resurrection, and the fundamental commandment. This part of the passion week is now over, and Jesus is one step closer to the weight of the cross.
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