Mark 12:28-34

Mark 12:28-34

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,

“Which is the first of all the commandments?”

Jesus replied, “The first is this:

Hear, O Israel!

The Lord our God is Lord alone!

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,

with all your soul,

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.”

The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher.

You are right in saying,

He is One and there is no other than he.

And to love him with all your heart,

with all your understanding,

with all your strength,

and to love your neighbor as yourself

is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,

he said to him,

“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”

And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I love you above all things. I desire to love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I can only do that with your grace. Give me the gift of your grace and pour your divine love into my heart.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Testing the Lamb of God: The episode in the Gospel, when the scribes “tested Jesus,” took place between Palm Sunday and Passover. There is a very deep meaning to the testing of Jesus during those days. The lambs to be slaughtered for Passover were brought into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the first day of the week. And they were examined throughout the week to make sure they were unblemished and worthy of being sacrificed. The same thing happened to Jesus during Holy Week. Like the lambs, Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Jesus was then put to the test throughout the week. The scribes, the Sadducees, and the Pharisees all tested him and could not find any fault in him. The high priest did not declare Jesus’ innocence. But Pontius Pilate did so three times: “I find no guilt in him” (John 18:38; 19:4, 6)

2. Not Far from the Kingdom: The scribe tested Jesus, the Lamb of God, with the “yoke” question about the Law. Every scholar of the Law had an opinion on which of the 613 laws of Moses was the most important, the one “yoke” on which all the other laws depended. Jesus answered that all the other laws depend on the two laws of love: first, love of God above all things (Deuteronomy 6:4); second, love of neighbor (Leviticus 19:18). Elsewhere, Jesus teaches: “My yoke is easy and my burden light” (Matthew 11:30). This means that Jesus not only gives laws about love but also gives the power to fulfill the New Law of charity. The scribe was pleased by Jesus’ answer and added that love of God and neighbor was worth more than the holocausts – the burnt offerings – and the other sacrifices offered in the Temple. In response, Jesus told the scribe that he was “not far from the Kingdom.” The scribe had not yet entered into the Kingdom of God through faith in Jesus and Baptism, but he was at the doorstep of the Kingdom.

3. The Pleasing Sacrifice of Love: Just as the flawless lambs examined throughout Passion Week foreshadowed the spotless Lamb who would be slain, so every Old Testament sacrifice – every burnt offering, sin offering, and peace offering – stood as a forward-pointing shadow of the one true and final Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. When the scribe rightly declared that loving God with all one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength and loving one’s neighbor as oneself is “much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices,” Jesus affirmed him with divine approval. In Christ, the entire sacrificial system reaches its glorious fulfillment: the Lamb has been offered once for all, and the altar is now the human heart. Therefore, the only sacrifice still required – and the only one that is truly pleasing to God – is the living offering of ourselves in wholehearted love for him and sacrificial love for others. This is how we present our bodies as a holy and acceptable sacrifice (Romans 12:1), not by the ritual slaughter of an animal but by the daily surrender of love made possible through the work of Jesus. In this pleasing sacrifice of love, every believer is united with Christ and joins in the eternal and heavenly worship of the Father, the Lamb, and the Spirit.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I desire with all my heart and soul to live according to the two commandments of love. Enlighten my mind so that I know how I should love both God and neighbor and strengthen my heart to give my life for others.

Living the Word of God: How am I living the commandment to love God above all things? Is there anything I prioritize above God? How am I living the commandment to love my brothers and sisters? Do I put myself before them, or am I seeking to serve them?