Love

Powerful Words From The Last Week of the Life of Jesus

Love

Mark 12:28-44

Introduction

We are looking at powerful words from the last days of the life of Jesus. Last week we examined the parable of the tenants and the word was REJECTION. This week we will look at the context of Mark 12 and settle in on the powerful word LOVE.

Various groups are represented in our text for today.

- Herodians - loyal to the house of Herod, the Roman appointed King of the Jews. The Herodians and Pharisees usually have a hostile relationship but find unity in their hatred of Jesus.

-Pharisees were known for their meticulous observance of obligations under the Law for purity, tithing, and Sabbath observances. They are not spoken of in positive terms in the NT, often clashing with Jesus. They seemed to exhibit a self-righteous and hypocritical attitude. (Ross)

-Sadducees. “One of the major difficulties in describing the Sadducees is that all that we know about them comes from their opponents. They themselves left no written records of their history, their organization, or their views.” (Ross) Many believe they were the ruling class in ancient Israel; most of the priests, Sanhedrin, and men of status were Sadducees. This group denied the resurrection at the end of the age and the existence of angels and spirits (Acts 23:8). Barclay notes that they were aristocratic and wealthy. This is the first and only time that the Sadducees make an appearance in Mark’s gospel.

-Scribes. Barclay says the profession of the scribes was to interpret the law in all its many rules and regulations. Scribes were necessary for the transmission of religious texts and other documents. They copied the Scriptures they became authorities on the text. Ultimately a Scribe became known as a learned guardian of the Law. They were experts in judicial procedures, helpful in the enforcement of Jewish law and custom, and even joined the governing class and served on the Sanhedrin. They depended on the wealthy for their training and positions. They were loyal to the chief priests.

We see these groups coming in to play in this section of Mark, an escalation of conflict.

1. THE ESCALATION OF CONFLICT

Bookout: It is like everyone is taking their final shot to trap Him or catch Him in some inconsistency.”

-Mark 11:27-33 - Jesus turns the tables at the temple in a statement of judgment against the leaders of Israel.

-Mark 12:1-12 - Dark and bloody parable of the tenants, aimed at the leaders and their rejection of the Messiah.

-Mark 12:13-17 - Jesus has conflict with the Pharisees as they bring out trick questions about paying taxes to Ceasar.

-Mark 12:18-27 - Jesus conflicts with the Saducees over marriage in the resurrection, another trick question. “You are quite wrong” (vs. 27).

Beginning in verse 28 Jesus engages the Scribes.

-Vs. 35-37 - about the identity of the Son of David, Christ.

-Vs. 38-40 - a scathing indictment of the Scribes. They want the best dress, best greetings, best seats,

best honors. What they are best at is devouring widow’s houses and offering up long pretentious prayers to be noticed.

-Vs 41-44 Contrasts the hypocritical Scribes with a widow who offers a penny and Jesus states, “this poor widow has put in more than all of those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on” (ESV).

Right in the middle of all of this conflict and condemnation is a conversation between Jesus and a Scribe.

Mark 12:28-31, ESV

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.”

2. THE ELEVATION OF LOVE

The Scribe asks which command is the greatest of all. “This is one of the few times that Jesus gives a straightforward answer to the question. Perhaps Jesus responds this way because the question is sincere.” (Bookout)

Wouldn’t the 10 Commands be the greatest commandments?

Bookout: “…if you read the commandments with these two commands in mind, you see how they all fit together … If you truly love God and love your neighbor, you don’t need the Ten Commandments because you will already be practicing them. The Law helps you practice love.”