A few years ago my wife and I wrote a bible study called Questions (available on Amazon.com, rush out and buy copies for all of your friends, they'll love it) and this morning while sitting in my favorite coffee shop I was thinking that it would be a good follow up to look at some of the answers we find in the scriptures, concentrating on the answers of Jesus as these are definitive, being the answers of the Lord himself.

The first of Jesus' definitive answers that I'd like to look at is found in Mark 12:28-31. A similar exchange is also found in Matthew 22:34-40, but it's hard to say with 100% certainty that it's the same encounter as Mark describes the questioner as a scribe, while Matthew describes them as a Pharisee. Matthew also does not include the proceeding verse (Deuteronomy 6:4) whereas Mark does (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). The fact that it seems like Matthew omitted arguably the most important verse of Old Testament scripture seems very strange and is an argument for their having described two different exchanges. Deuteronomy 6:4 deserves it's own essay, but it's important enough that it has its own name, being referred to as the Shema (pronounced Sha-mah), named after the first word of that verse of scripture. Either way the answer is based upon the same passage of the Mosaic Law, so I'm going to go with Mark's version because I think that it makes more sense when you include the Shema.

Before we get to the answer I want to observe that the question itself is also interesting. Jesus was asked many questions during his time of earthly ministry and many of them were intended as tricks to get him to say something that could be used against him. Trick questions though generally brought a question as their response, but here we see in Mark 12:34 that Jesus was impressed with the sincerity of his question and the tenderness of his heart towards the Lord.

The question is interesting because the Matthew Henry commentary tells us that the rabbinical teaching had, at times, emphasized that all aspects of the law are great (Hosea 8:12) and there is no, or shouldn't be any, partiality in the law (Malachi 2:9). If this was the prevailing understanding, then certainly there should not be any first commandment, but even a cursory glance at the Mosaic Law would indicate that the ceremonial commandments were unlikely to carry the same weight as the moral commandments. King Saul got a crash course in this inequality after disobeying the word of the Lord. The prophet Samuel read him the Riot Act (1 Samuel 15:22) clearly stating that the Lord valued obedience more highly than sacrifices. Further, during the time of Jesus' earthy ministry, among teachers of the law it was pretty much a settled matter (Luke 10:25-28). Jesus, on another occasion, also acknowledged that while all of the Law was important, that there were absolutely some commandments that carried more weight than others (Matthew 23:23).

Having examined the operating precedent for there to be a first commandment, let us return to the answer that Jesus gave. Knowing that the scribe genuinely desired an answer for the question, Jesus delivered an answer that even nearly two thousand years later is definitive and informative. The answer, of course, is that we are to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. Here Jesus is quoting from Deuteronomy 6:5, but the answer is made more interesting and informative by first quoting its preceding verse Deuteronomy 6:4 (the previously mentioned Shema). By his inclusion of the Shema, Jesus helps us understand not only the answer, but that the answer is wholly dependent upon the Shema.

We are to love God with everything we've got (heart, soul, mind and strength), but the reason for that is that there is only one God and that he is distinctly one. There were plenty of other religions at that time and some of them had multi-person gods. The Shema tells us that these other gods are false. They are non-existent because there are no other gods beside the one true God. There is only one God that we can serve and he is loving and merciful, so we should dedicate ourselves to him totally.

Having answered the question as asked, Jesus continued to provide a follow-up to his declaration of the first commandment by informing us of the second commandment (Leviticus 19:18). By tying these two commandments together, Paul helps us understand that Jesus was teaching us that love is the ultimate fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:10). What an epic answer to a question!

Jesus was asked many questions during his ministry. He often took time to answer the sincere questions, while he generally responded to the trick questions with questions in return. In this instance, to get an answer and an extended one at that, is notable. This is why I argue that this is the greatest answer that Jesus gave to anyone who was not one of his disciples.