The Greatest Commandments and the Realm of God - Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 23B (Mark 12)

Mark 12:28-34 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

28 One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one;30 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.’31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; 33 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,’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question.

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           As Jesus made his way to Jerusalem for a final visit, he found himself engaged in a number of disputations. Along the way, he began to draw large crowds because people were looking to him for answers to their social, cultural, and theological questions. He also drew people who were looking for healing. Since he was an outsider from Galilee and with his popularity apparently on the rise, the religious establishment and political elite became concerned. Truth be told, insiders are always concerned about outsiders because there are too many unknowns about such persons. Outsiders can make life difficult for the insiders. 

        So, it shouldn't surprise us that the leading members of society from Jerusalem were a bit leery about Jesus. After all, he is a Galilean peasant without proper rabbinic training and credentials. I can sympathize with the folks from Jerusalem since I'm the chair for my region's Commission on Ministry. It's our job to make sure clergy in our region have all their credentials in order. When it comes to Jesus, not only did he lack the proper credentials, he even might have been illiterate (Most peasants were illiterate, but that didn’t mean that Jesus didn’t have a good background in the Jewish scriptures just because he couldn’t read. Remember that this was a predominantly oral culture). Therefore, out of concern for proper order in their society (including the religious side of things), the elite had been testing him and would continue testing him up to the time of his arrest. You can understand why can't you?  

          So, in this story, we have a Scribe, that is, a person familiar with the biblical text, who overhears some of these disputes and decides to get involved. He asks Jesus a question of biblical interpretation. It's good to remember that all conversations about the bible are interpretive ones, which is why people of faith can claim adherence to the Bible and disagree mightily about what the text means. We all read the text with a contextual set of lenses or presuppositions. We choose to focus on certain elements and emphasize them while de-emphasizing other parts. 

     In this case, the Scribe asks Jesus about the Commandments. He wants to know which commandment Jesus believes comes first. Jesus answers with the Shema (Deut. 6:4-5). Every religiously inclined Jew would know that this is the first and foremost commandment of Judaism. It is the Jewish creedal statement: “Hear O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone . . . .” Jews were expected to recite it, teach it to their children, and meditate upon it, much as we do with the Lord’s Prayer. Everything flowed out of this confession. It summarizes the first table of the Law. If you keep it then you won’t make idols or worship them. You also won’t make unlawful use of the name either. You also will want to keep the Sabbath because to do so is a sign of one’s covenant loyalty to God (Deut. 5:6-15).

            Then Jesus adds another commandment. This time he draws from Leviticus 19:18. When we think of this commandment we usually think in terms of Jesus’ use, without much reference to the use of the phrase in Leviticus. Perhaps hearing the phrase in context will broaden our understanding. Verse 18 of chapter 19 reads: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.” In its immediate context, it is simply one statement among many dealing with kinship relationships. But when Jesus repurposes it, it becomes a summary of the second Table of the Ten Commandments, which speak of interpersonal relationships. 

          It is important to remember that when we speak of the second commandment, which many Christians emphasize, the commandment has little meaning if not read in relationship to the first commandment. It is more than the Golden Rule. Loving our neighbor flows out of our love of God. So,  if we say we love God and don’t love our neighbor, then our claim to love God is meaningless. That's because our neighbor has been created in the image of God. If we do love the one whom God created and loves, this lack of love contradicts God’s intentions. So, it makes sense that Jesus would draw the two together for they form the backbone of the gospel. Loving God and loving neighbor ultimately serve as two sides of the same coin. A similar point is made, I think, in James, who connects faith and works (James 2:14-18). The Scribe recognizes this truth, for he notes that loving one’s neighbor is much more important than burnt offerings and sacrifices. In other words, ritual is not enough.  You can offer all the sacrifices you want or go to church every time the doors are opened, but if you don’t love your neighbor your religious observances are meaningless.

            This conversation leads to a most interesting statement. Jesus tells the Scribe that in affirming his interpretation of the Commandments the Scribe had answered wisely. Then Jesus tells him: “You are not far from the Kingdom.” I find this statement interesting because I’m left with the impression that kingdom values require both love of God and love of neighbor. One without the other doesn’t represent the kingdom or realm of God.

The question that always seems to trip people up concerns the identity of the neighbor. As a kingdom person, am I required only to love those within my community? Or does it extend beyond the community to include every body? Reading Leviticus 19 leaves the impression that the message of love of neighbor is limited to the community of Israel. It is a word about building a tight community. Thus, we are to love our neighbor who shares religion, tribe, etc. There is an argument that is made by some, and it has some support in the biblical record, that when Jesus speaks of the “least of these” in Matthew 25, he means the church. In other words, our first responsibility is to the church and its members, but not necessarily to those outside the community. That is, Jesus isn’t speaking of a missional calling to care for those living on the margins of society. Instead he is speaking to the way the church is treated by those outside. While I understand why this interpretation may fit the context, as for me, it doesn’t resonate. Whatever Jesus had in mind in that moment, in this day and age in which there is increasing polarization, with parts of the Christian community stoking the polarization, I think it is wise to keep the meaning broad. 

If we keep the meaning broad, including the vision of the realm of God encompassing not just the church but the world itself, then love of neighbor is foundational to the extension of kingdom values. This then gives support to the church's calling to engage in ministry in the community that blesses the community as a whole and moves toward a transformation of the world itself. That calling is rooted in the prior calling to love God with our entire being. 

What is required of those who embrace the message of God’s realm? It is to love God with one’s entire being and love one’s neighbor as one’s self.