Mark chapter 12 will begin in verse 28.
And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another,
! And seeing that he answered them well, asked him,
! Which commandment is the most important of all?
Jesus answered, The most important is,
Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this,
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.
And the scribe said to him,
You are right, teacher.
You have truly said that he is one,
and there is no other beside him.
And to love him with all the heart,
and with all the understanding,
and with all the strength,
and to love one's neighbor as oneself
is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely,
he said to him,
You are not far from the kingdom of God.
And after that,
no one dared to ask him any more questions.
This is God's word to us.
It was written for his glory and our good.
We would all do well to listen to it
in order to believe its promises
and obey its commands.
Let's pray together.
Father, we would ask for your namesake
that you would bless the preaching of your word.
Lord, we all need you in this time.
I need you to help me speak with clarity,
with a compassion,
and a conviction for the truth.
And we all need you to rightly apply these words to our hearts.
Change us from one degree of glory to another.
Father, to the praise of Jesus.
We pray this in his name.
Amen.
When we continue, if you're a guest with us,
we've been working through the Gospel of Mark,
verse by verse,
and we've come now here to Mark 12.
This is during the historical event of Passion Week.
Jesus has come into Jerusalem on Monday.
You can read about that at the beginning of chapter 11.
On Monday, on Tuesday,
he comes and he cleanses the temple.
He goes in and he runs out the money changers,
the people who were doing business in the temple court,
the court of the Gentiles.
He had, in fact, done so three years prior to this.
We can read about this in the second chapter of John,
that at the very beginning of his ministry,
he went and did this very same thing,
disrupted the temple practice of the day,
the apostate worship that was going on,
and he's now back.
And he's in this final week,
and we've come to Wednesday of this week.
Jesus will be crucified on Friday.
But here we find him having kind of dominated,
having set up camp and taken over in the temple,
having driven out those who were exchanging money
and extorting the people,
who were leading them astray,
and he is set up, presumably, teaching.
And as we see at the end of chapter 11
and then into the beginning of chapter 12,
we see a number of confrontations.
12.12, we see that as he indicts
these apostate religious leaders,
the text says,
And they were seeking to arrest him,
but feared the people,
for they perceived that he had told the parable against them.
So they left him and went away.
So he's disrupting this temple worship that's going on
and the power of these men.
He's becoming more popular than them.
And he's delivering indictments to them
that's going to disrupt this place of power
and influence and money that they're in.
And so they're seeking to destroy him.
This is absolutely what they're bent upon.
But their concern is
that the people have his...
Or he has the people's ear.
That he's found favor with the people.
And so they're trying now
to find ways to discredit him.
And so we see in chapter 12,
leading up to our text,
they send a faction of Pharisees
along with some Herodians,
which was a political group,
trying to trap him theologically and politically.
They try to put him in a tough spot.
And under inspiration from the Father,
he makes fools of them.
They then send to him a faction of Sadducees,
another group of religious elite individuals
with a theological trap.
And once again, he makes fools of them.
So rather than him being discredited,
they are discredited.
And in our text today,
they send a scribe.
Now, when we look at Mark 12, 28,
the record is,
and one of the scribes came up.
And the scribes were kind of the
religious scholars of the day.
They were the learned,
those who really poured over
and really studied the Scriptures.
In fact, you'll see them in places
referred to as lawyers,
not in that they defended it judicially,
but that they were experts on the law.
In the parallel text in Matthew 22,
verse 34 and 35, it says,
but when the Pharisees heard
that he had silenced the Sadducees,
they gathered together.
So there's this meeting of the Pharisees
and the Sadducees,
these groups that very rarely agreed
on much of anything at all,
but they gather together.
And then verse 35 says,
and one of them, a lawyer or scribe,
asked him a question to test him.
So we get a little bit more
as we look at the parallel text
about why it was that this particular man came.
So he heard them disputing,
and he saw that he answered them well,
and he said,
but I've got a question.
I've got a question for him
that will stump him,
that will discredit him.
At the outset of this interaction,
the scribe is not on Jesus' team,
although it seems to shift
as we go through our text today.
Now, as I said,
the Pharisees and the Sadducees
didn't agree about much,
but they did both esteem the law very highly.
Both held a high degree of respect
for the law.
And there was a common debate amongst them
about which law was the greatest law.
This very question that the scribe
is going to come and ask to Jesus.
There was much debate about this.
These men had little else to do
than to sit around,
collect people's money,
and debate theology together.
Shame on them and shame on us
when we do the same.
Rabbinical tradition holds
that they considered there to be
613 separate commandments
in the Old Testament,
many of which were hedge laws
or those traditional things
added to the law
to help the Jews
from breaking any of the laws,
hedge laws,
but 613 separate commandments.
And you may ask,
how exactly did they arrive at this
even as they were adding
their tradition to it?
And the foolish thing is
that they arrived at 613
because there are 613 letters
in the Hebrew of the Ten Commandments.
Isn't that ridiculous?
So they took the Ten Commandments,
they counted up the number of letters,
there are 613,
and then they came up with 613 laws
that they said the Scriptures taught.
Some were, of course,
some were not.
248 affirmatives,
things that should be done,
and 365 negatives,
one for every day of the year.
It was rather ridiculous and foolish
the way they had gathered
these laws together.
And so as I said,
they debated often
about the greatest law
because they knew
they couldn't keep the whole thing,
right?
Not all 613.
They knew they were capable
of doing this,
of amassing enough good work
to credit them before God.
They knew their own frailty,
but if they could just
keep a couple of them,
right?
If we could reduce it
to just a couple
that are the most important,
then maybe we can tip the scale
in our favor.
Maybe we can set off
against all the other laws
that we break.
If we can get the couple
that we think are most important
right and set those
on the good side of our scale,
we'll find favor before God.
This effort exists today
in great degree,
does it not?
People running around
trying to weigh out
what is most important
to live in society.
And you'll hear people
say things like,
well, yeah,
I think I'm a good person
because,
and I'll list off
some major things,
and they neglect
other parts
of God's standard.
These people recognized
that God had a standard,
but they wanted to
redefine the standard
in a way
that they could keep.
But all of us,
every single one of us,
the great metanarrative
of humanity
is that we have failed
to keep God's standard.
In fact,
we are incapable
of our own power
to do so.
You know this to be true
of yourself.
If you are honest
with yourself,
you know that you cannot
be a good person.
You know how much
bad you do.
Even in the things
that the world thinks
are good,
you know the motivation
behind it is so often
bad.
If you're honest
with yourself,
if you're not,
I suggest that you get
honest with yourself.
If you can't do that,
if your conscience
doesn't bear witness
against you,
your wife or your husband
know how bad you are,
how much you fail
at holding to the standard
of God.
Your kids know.
Young people,
your parents,
ask them,
am I a good person?
They will tell you
the truth.
Your roommate,
your employer.
We are all very aware
of this reality.
We are deluded
and deceiving ourselves
and others
if we think
that we're not.
We think that we're
good enough.
And this is what
they were about doing
as they debated this
and they had this
conversation,
this question.
Jesus delivers
an indictment to them
in Mark 7,
verses 6-8.
Mark records,
and he said to them,
Well, did Isaiah
prophesy of you hypocrites?
As it is written,
This people honors me
with their lips,
but their heart
is far from me.
In vain do they
worship me,
teaching as doctrines
the commandments
of men.
You leave the commandment
of God and hold
to the traditions
of men.
So these people
had elevated
their own idea
of what it meant
to follow God.
They were worshiping
the right God,
but they were
worshiping him
wrongly.
And this is a serious
matter.
This is a serious
issue.
It would seem
that they were
so close.
They were Jews.
They were descendants
of Abraham.
And yet,
they had totally
become apostate.
They had totally
wandered away
from the faith
of Abraham,
that saving
faith.
And so this was
a trap,
this question
was.
Because the Sadducees
and the Pharisees
elevated,
believed in,
esteemed the law,
although it was a
very distorted
misunderstanding of it.
And they held a
particular person
in very high regard.
They agreed
that Moses
was to be held
in high esteem.
There was no one
greater than Moses.
Moses,
the one who was
given the Ten
Commandments
on the mountain,
who met with God
face to face,
whose face
shone with the glory
of God.
You remember
these stories,
right?
Moses had a close
encounter with God.
They esteemed him
very highly.
And so,
when the scribe
comes to ask Jesus
this question,
he's setting him up
to have authority
over Moses
and therefore
discredit himself.
Therefore,
have the people
not follow him
any longer.
Now,
of course,
our Lord
perfectly
articulates
a response.
And he does so
by quoting
from the Old Testament,
from Deuteronomy
and from Leviticus.
This scribe
was sent on behalf
of the Pharisees
and the Sadducees.
The Sadducees
relegated.
They didn't care
too much
about the prophets.
They cared primarily
about the first
five books
of the Bible.
So he quotes
from there.
He gives them
an answer
that they would
have been very,
very familiar
with.
From Deuteronomy
6,
4 and 5,
which reads,
Hear, O Israel,
the Lord our God,
the Lord is one.
This is a
restatement
of the law.
Just as the people
are about to go
and take the land
that God had promised
to them.
This is a restatement
here.
Verse 5,
You shall love
the Lord your God
with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your might.
And then Leviticus
19,
18 says,
But you shall love
your neighbor
as yourself.
And these sum up
the rest of the law.
We'll look at that a bit
in just a minute.
But these are the
great commandment
that Jesus speaks of
here.
And we could spend
months
unpacking
and trying to understand
all the implications
of this command.
In fact,
we will spend our lives
endeavoring to do so.
To see what it means
to love God
and to love people
in this way
is the great endeavor
of the Christian life.
I hope we'll get
enough of it
this morning
to set us on
the right trajectory.
That we'll have in mind
what this looks like
so that we can continue
to do this
in our life.
And we'll continue on
next week
in Mark.
The greatest commandment
is a commandment
to love.
Verse 31b.
A commandment.
Jesus says
there is no other
commandment.
Singular.
It's singular in the original.
There is no other commandment
greater than
these.
So the great commandment
is a commandment
to love.
To love vertically
God
and to have that
spill over
into a horizontal love
for others.
Vertical and horizontal
love.
Because you see,
beloved,
what we love
directs
how we act.
The affections
of your heart
deem
how you'll respond
in any given
circumstance.
For example,
if you love
Georgia football,
you're going to
tend to do
certain things.
Are you not?
I think we all
either are
or know
Georgia football
fans.
You'll probably
wear something
red and black.
I know
that you're going
to put things
on Facebook
regarding the game.
Why do you
live tweet
and Facebook
post a game?
If somebody
cares about it,
they're watching it.
I don't need
to know the
play-by-play.
I know
what you're
going to be doing
on the times
when Georgia's
playing,
unless somebody
plans a wedding.
How dare you?
During Georgia
football season.
It's going to
dictate certain
things.
It's what you're
going to talk
about.
People are
very aware
of those who
love Georgia
football.
The same thing
is true of our
children,
isn't it?
I've got friends
that vented
about how moms
always put stuff
on Facebook
about their
children.
I can't believe
clogging up my
feed with all
these pictures
of your babies
and now they do
it.
It's just so
wonderful.
It's so
ironic and
apropos that
they're now
doing it as
well and it's
because they
love their
kids and they
want to share
their kids
with the
world.
I don't fault
them or the
Georgia football
fans for doing
so.
What we love
directs how we
act, how we
respond.
If we love
God properly,
we will love
people properly
and we will
keep the
commandments.
we read
beyond Jesus'
quote in
Deuteronomy.
So he quotes
from Deuteronomy
6, 4 and
5.
Deuteronomy
6, 6
says,
and these
words that I
command you
today shall
be on your
heart and it
can also be
very readily
translated,
shall be in
your heart,
planted in
your heart.
speaks of a
change in
our hearts
themselves.
Not merely
some mental
cognition to
the law of
God, but
that the law
of God is
within us and
therefore we
respond as
we should.
It's an
internal issue,
not merely an
external issue,
it's an
internal issue.
Jesus says it
this way,
stated in the
negative,
Mark 7,
20-23,
and he said,
what comes
out of a
person is
what defiles
him.
From within,
out of the
heart of man
come evil
thoughts,
sexual immorality,
theft,
murder,
adultery,
coveting,
wickedness,
deceit,
sensuality,
envy,
slander,
pride,
foolishness.
He covers
all the things
that would
transgress the
law.
All these
evil things
come from
within and
they defile
a person.
It's the
matter of
somebody's
heart that
makes them
wrong before
God,
that makes
them not
able to
stand in
God's
presence,
that costs
them,
that gives
to them
eternal
destruction.
And so
therefore it
has to be
in the
positive that
the other
is true,
that it
comes from
our heart,
the good
things that
God requires
of us.
Because Jesus
is stating it
here in
the positive.
Elsewhere
in the
scriptures,
John 14,
verse 21,
Jesus says,
whoever has
my commandments
and keeps
them,
he it is
who loves
me.
And he
who loves
me will
be loved
by my
Father,
and I
will love
him and
manifest
myself to
them.
1 John 2.15,
John writes
again,
do not love
the world
or the things
in the world.
If anyone
loves the
world,
the love
of the
Father is
not in
him.
And so
the adverse
is true.
If the love
of the
Father is
in you,
then you
will not
love
the world.
And this
is at the
very center
of all
of our
experience
and how
it is
we're trying
to work
out Christian
living.
It is a
matter of
our affection.
What do
we love?
Those of us
who have been
redeemed,
who have been
set free
from the
bondage of
sin,
the great
travesty
of our
sin is
that we've
been freed
from it.
We no
longer have
to.
We've been
freed to
love God,
but when we
sin,
it proves
that in
that moment
we love
the sin
more than
we love
God.
It's a
tragedy.
We do
it all
the time.
We spit
back in
the face
of the
Father
and praise
God
because of
His goodness
to us
in Christ.
He's
forbearing
and His
love is
never-ending.
Now,
the commandment
in Deuteronomy
6.5
says that
we're to
love the
Lord our
God with
all our
heart,
with all
our soul,
with all
our might.
And so
it's worth
us talking
about this.
Jesus
adds to
that with
our minds.
So in
brief,
your heart
is the
core of
who you
are.
From it
emanates
all of your
thoughts,
your words,
your actions.
It is the
very core
of your
identity.
Proverbs 4.23
says,
keep your
heart
with all
vigilance
for from
it flow
the springs
of life.
It is the
very essence
of who
you are.
Your soul
is the
seat of
your
emotions.
Matthew
26.38
Jesus says
to them,
my soul
is very
sorrowful
even to
death.
And then
He asks
them to
remain with
Him
in the
garden
to pray.
My soul
is the
place from
which emanates
our
emotions.
Our
mind,
again,
Jesus'
addition here
to the
commandment
in Deuteronomy,
our intellect,
our power
of reason,
our intention,
our purpose.
1 Kings 4.29
records that
God gave
Solomon wisdom
and understanding
beyond measure
and breadth
of mind
like the
sand on
the seashore.
He made
him able
to understand,
able to
comprehend,
able to
hold out
cognition
and logic
and to
be wise
in his
judgment
over Israel.
And then
our strength
which speaks
to our
physical
energy.
In Deuteronomy
it's translated
our might.
That physical
energy that we
have,
the way in
which we
get up
and the
way that
we act,
the way
that we
carry out.
It's
every bit
of us.
These are
all the
components
that make
up a
human being.
Our heart,
our soul,
our mind.
our strength.
And before
each one of
these in
the original
language,
we see the
little phrase
all of
your,
all of
your heart
and all
of your
soul
and all
of your
mind
and all
of your
strength.
And the
original
doesn't say
with all
of your
heart,
soul,
mind,
and strength.
It puts
the emphasis
and puts
it before
the phrase
before each
one of
these
nouns
to say
every
single
bit.
All of
your heart,
all of
your soul,
all of
your mind,
all of
your strength.
We're not
to be
divided
in any
way,
but we're
to be
completely
devoted
in our
affection
to the
Lord.
John
MacArthur
said it
this way,
so the
intellectual,
emotional,
volitional,
and physical
elements of
personhood all
combine to
love the
one true
God.
It is an
intelligent
love.
It is an
emotional
love.
It is a
willing love.
And it is an
active love.
It is an
all-consuming
love.
This is the
way we are
to love
the Father.
Part of
the greatest
commandment.
How do
we do
that?
How is
this
possible?
Those of
us who
were once
enemies of
God have
now been
made His
friends by
the power
of the
gospel.
Our
hearts
have been
made new.
He is
redeeming
our
emotions
and our
mind.
We are
now capable
of being
set free
from sin
to live
to Him,
to live
to righteousness
by our
strength.
The natural
response of
the redeemed
soul is to
love the
one that
redeemed
Him.
So we
love God
because of
the gospel.
Verse 31,
the second
is this.
That was the
vertical element
of this
love,
affection set
on God.
The second
is this.
You shall
love your
neighbor as
yourself.
You shall
love your
neighbor as
yourself.
It shall
flow out
for your
love for
God to
other people
as well.
And your
neighbor is
anybody that
you encounter.
So don't
think we're
just merely
talking about
the person
who shares
a property
line or
a wall in
your dorm
or apartment.
This is
anybody that
you encounter.
It's those
people that
you work
with.
It's those
people that
ring you up
at the
places that
you buy
your groceries.
It's the
server,
server that
serves you,
that you
tip so
poorly.
Love these
people.
Love these
people.
Romans 13,
8 and
10,
Paul writes,
O no one
anything except
to love each
other.
For the one
who loves
another has
fulfilled the
law.
Isn't that
interesting?
Paul understood
the greatest
command.
For the one
who loves
another has
fulfilled the
law.
For the
commandments,
you shall
not commit
adultery,
you shall
not murder,
you shall
not steal,
you shall
not covet,
and any
other
commandment
are summed
up in
this word.
You shall
love your
neighbor as
yourself.
The last
four of the
ten commandments
he says are
summed up by
this and
any other
commandment,
any other
commandment
that is about
us relating
to one
another are
summed up
in the word.
You shall
love your
neighbor as
yourself.
Verse 10,
love does
no wrong
to a
neighbor,
therefore love
is the
fulfilling of
the law.
Paul wrote
again in
Galatians 5
14,
for the
whole law
is fulfilled
in one
word,
you shall
love your
neighbor as
yourself.
And then
James writes
in chapter 2
verse 8,
the book of
James,
if you really
fulfill the
royal law
according to
the scripture,
you shall
love your
neighbor as
yourself.
You are
doing well.
How do we
love our
neighbor?
We love
our neighbors
sacrificially,
in practical
ways.
We empty
ourselves of
our self
determination,
our own
self glorification.
If we properly
love God,
if we are
humble before
Him,
we recognize
that this is
not a proper
thing for the
one who
worships God
to do,
and we serve
our neighbor
sacrificially.
We find
ways in
which we
can serve
them that
no one
else would
do.
We lay
down our
lives for
the sake
of their
lives.
And we
do this so
that we
can preach
the gospel
to them.
So that we
can give
them the
great solution
to their
major problem.
Remember
meta-narrative
problem.
We come
and we
fix the
little
problems.
We're
there as
a shoulder
to cry
on,
but then
we need
to give
them
Jesus.
So the
greatest
way that
you can
love
anybody,
fill their
belly,
and then fill
their soul.
Matthew 22,
40,
Jesus says,
on these
two commandments,
this is the
parallel text,
depend all
the law
and the
prophets.
It's
fulfilled in
all of
this,
this vertical
access of
affection towards
God and
the horal
access of
it as
well.
And then
verse 32
of chapter
12 of
Mark.
The
scribe seems
to be a
bit open-minded
as he comes
to him,
to test
him,
is very
pleased with
his answer
because he
repeats it
back.
The
scribe said
to him,
you are
right,
teacher,
you have
truly said
that he
is one.
We know
we're
worshiping
the right
God
together,
this God
that is
one.
There is
no other
besides
him.
And to
love him
with all
the heart,
with all
the understanding,
and with all
the strength,
and to love
one's neighbor
as oneself
is much
more than
all whole
burnt
offerings
and sacrifices,
he understands
that this
commandment is
greater than
all of the
temple worship
that was
going on
in this
day,
all of the
religious
practice
that was
happening.
And then
Jesus'
response,
when Jesus
saw that
he answered
wisely,
said to
him,
you are
not far
from the
kingdom of
God.
And then
Mark records
for us
that they
stop asking
questions,
and Jesus
spends the
rest of
Wednesday
teaching,
telling them
rather than
being on
the defense,
he's now
on the
offense in
the rest of
this chapter
and a bit
beyond that.
But he
says to
this scribe,
you are
not far
from the
kingdom of
God.
And this
gives me
some encouragement
for this
scribe's soul.
We don't get
a record of
what happens
to him.
He's nameless
in our text,
and he is in
all the parallel
texts as well.
I hope that
he got it.
I hope that
he witnessed
the crucifixion,
that he heard
of the
resurrection,
and he placed
believing faith
in Jesus
Christ,
but we
don't know.
But we
can say
this from
our text,
that not
far is
not good
enough.
Not far
from the
kingdom is
not in
the kingdom.
It wasn't
good enough
at this
point in
our text.
My dad,
all of my
life growing
up,
would say,
close only
counts in
horseshoes
and hand
grenades.
It's a
familiar phrase
to some of
you, I
can tell.
Close only
counts in
horseshoes,
hand
grenades.
It doesn't
count in
the kingdom
of God.
There's not
a measure.
We don't
vary in
degree.
We're good
enough to
get into
the kingdom
of God.
You either
are in
the kingdom
of God
or you
are not
in the
kingdom
of God.
You
either are
under God's
rule over
your life
because of
what Christ
has done on
your behalf.
God has
worked a
faith in
you that
you would
believe in
him and
he has
changed
you.
He's made
you a new
creation.
You are now
a citizen of
his kingdom,
no longer
his enemy,
but his
friend,
adopted as
a son,
redeemed,
you've been
bought with
a price.
That's either
true of
you or
it's not.
And at
this point,
this is the
case for
this man.
He had
the wisdom
to give a
wise answer,
but that
wasn't enough.
It wasn't
enough for
him just to
know the
truth and
give some
assent to
it in
his mind.
He had
to give
all of
himself,
pick up
his cross,
and follow
Jesus
Christ.
I hope
he did.
And I
hope that
all of
us in
this room
today are
doing the
same.
We must
enter the
kingdom of
God by
faith in
the completed
work of
Christ on
our behalf.
This man
recognizes that
it's an
internal issue.
That's to
his credit.
He gets
that it's an
internal issue
with his
mind.
He's yet to
be changed
internally.
We have
much to
praise God
for if
this is
true of
us.
Of all
the men
of Israel,
these scribes
should have
most understood,
most gotten
the scriptures.
They were
much smarter
than any
of us
in this
room.
But yet,
the truth
of God
had not
been revealed
to them.
Praise God
that he's
revealed his
truth to
simple minds
like mine.
That he
has rent
my heart.
He has
changed it.
From an
old heart.
A stony
heart.
A heart
that was
bent against
him and
set it in
his direction.
We have
much to
praise him
for.
If you
are not
found in
Christ,
if you
find yourself
relating to
these Pharisees
and Sadducees,
to these
scribes,
trying to
figure out
what are
the weightier
matters,
what things
must I
make sure
I'm doing
well to
earn favor
with God,
then I
would ask
that you
recognize
that nothing,
nothing earns
you favor
with God
except the
completed work
of Christ
on your
behalf.
He took
your place
on the
cross.
The song
Mercy that
Wes sang
was about
that.
He hung
on your
tree,
on your
behalf,
took the
wrath of
God for
your sin.
Those things
you've done,
those things
you're doing
even now,
and those
things you
will do,
this completed
work,
it is
finished.
If you
would just
believe in
Him.
Let's pray
together.