They did not come wanting to know what the scriptures taught, they came using the scriptures as a means of trying to trap the Lord Jesus.
But the Lord said to them in verse 24, “…Do you not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?”
A lot of folks think they know the scriptures when they do not. For example, a lot of folks think things are in the scriptures that are not in the scriptures.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger was conducting a funeral service. At the graveside it began to rain, and a man that meant well, but who was ignorant of the scriptures, said, “It is like the Bible says, the rain at a funeral represents God’s tears that are falling because someone He loves died.” Dr. Belger said, “Are you sure that is what the scripture says?” He said, “Oh yea, my mother told me it was in the scripture. I am sure it is in there somewhere!”
Ignorance is a terrible thing, but we see so much of it in all areas of our life.
Illus: A man was in a car dealership one day when a large motor home was towed into the garage. The front of the vehicle was in dire need of some serious repairing. He asked one of the mechanics what happened to the motor home. He told him that the motor home belonged to a commercial pilot, and during his trip, as he was driving, he set the "automatic cruise control" and then went in the back to make a sandwich. And has Paul Harvey would say, “You know the rest of the story!”
We see ignorance on the highways, but we see it in other places also.
Illus: Recently, a man went to McDonald's and he saw on the menu that you could have an order of 6, 9 or 12 Chicken McNuggets.
He asked for a half dozen nuggets.
• The teenager behind the counter said "We don't have a half dozen nuggets."
• "You don't?" He replied.
• "We only have six, nine, or twelve," was the reply.
• "So he said I can't order a half-dozen nuggets, but I can order six?"
• "That's right."
So he shook his head and ordered six McNuggets.
Like I said, we see ignorance in all areas of our life. Someone said, "Life is tough, but It's tougher if you're ignorant."
There have always been ignorant people around. We have to deal with them every day, and so did the Lord Jesus.
He told them they asked the dumb question of Him because they were ignorant of the scriptures.
This episode, with these evil people who were using the scriptures to set a trap for Him, leads into our next passage of scripture.
Since they could not trap Him as a group, they decided to send in an individual that was the cream of the crop.
The Lord knew that this crowd was trying to set a trap for Him by using the scriptures. They were not teachable, they were hopeless.
We see -
I. THE INQUIRER
Look at verse 28, we read, “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?”
The other groups that came before the Lord were greatly out-matched.
This INQUIRER, the Scribe that came, was skilled in his understanding of the Law. If anyone could be a match for Jesus, perhaps this man could be.
He most likely listened to Jesus, looking for some opportunity to discredit Him, because He represented a dangerous threat to the religious community.
But he was a man with an open mind.
Look at verse 28. It says, “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well…”
After hearing the conversation, the Bible says his assessment of the discussion was, “…That he had answered them well…”
Illus: This makes us think of the Presidential debate that we have every four years. The candidates come before the American people on national television and they are asked all kinds of questions.
They say that once, former president Bill Clinton was asked what he thought of FOREIGN AFFAIRS. They said he thought for a few minutes and smiled and said, “I do not know, I have not had one of those yet!”
Just kidding! The questions they ask in these presidential debates are serious questions. But after they ask these candidates the questions, the next day they announce on television who they thought won the debate.
Illus: For example, in 1984, when President Reagan debated Vice-president Walter Mondale, Reagan’s age was a factor. If you remember, at the age of 73 he was asked if he would be able to hold up to the heavy responsibility as the President of the United States. His opponent smiled because he had been trying to make President Reagan’s age a factor. But overwhelmingly President Reagan won the debate when he said his age would not be a problem. He said, “I will not make age a part of this political campaign and exploit my opponents youth and inexperience.” This wise comment brought the debate to laughter like no presidential debate before, and almost everyone said he won that debate.
This INQUIRER (scribe) had heard this discussion Jesus had with the Sadduccees and lay leaders, and he was impressed with His wisdom.
I believe that as he heard this debate, a subtle change had begun to take place in the heart of this man. That is, this Scribe was beginning to entertain the possibility that this Jesus was indeed Who He said He was. His attitude changed as he listened to Jesus and he sincerely had some questions he wanted the Lord to address
There is a tremendous lesson here for us to learn as Christians. That is, we cannot write off anybody when it comes to salvation!
Illus: I think of that song that Hank Williams used to sing, “Something Got A Hold Of Me.” It goes like this:
At first when I heard of some people who claim
That the old-time religion was real
I said "I'll go down, take a look at the crowd
For just that weak-minded I feel."
I walked up the steps and I peeked in the door
But the Devil said, "Don't you go in!"
But I said, "It won't hurt me I'll just step inside
And I'll set as far back as I can."
They sang like they meant it, they all clapped their hands
I said, "It's commotion, that's all."
"When they get down to pray, I'll just get up and leave
For I don't wanta be seen here at all."
But about that time, he got started to preach
And he looked straight down at me
He told everybody how mean that I was
He didn't talk like he thought much of me.
I sat in my seat just thinkin' it o'er
And then they all started to pray
The fire fell from Heaven, I fell to the floor
I prayed there and God had His way. [For-]
CHORUS:
Something Got A Hold Of Me [Praise God]
Yes Something Got A Hold Of Me [Oh! Lord]
I went there to fight, but I'll tell you that night
God certainly got a hold of me.
When you bring people to church, you might think they are such big sinners God can not save them. But I am here to tell you that when they sit under the preaching of God’s Word, SOMETHING WILL GET A HOLD OF THEM.
Here was a man whose purpose likely had been to serve as the front man for the Pharisees, but change takes place as he listens to Jesus;
• His heart begins to soften
• His eyes begin to open
• His mind begins to consider Jesus’ words
No, he is not in the Kingdom yet, but something is happening!
We see THE INQUIRER and -
II. THE RESPONDER
Look at Mark 12:29-31, we read, “And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.”
The man has a question for Jesus. He wants to know which commandment in the Bible is the greatest.
Notice, the Lord answered without hesitation or equivocation. Also notice, He lays the foundation for answering that question. That is:
• He wanted to establish first of all, that in Monotheism there is only ONE GOD,
• He wanted to refute the idea of (Polytheism) (many Gods).
Look at verse 29, He says, “…Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord.”
In other words, He wanted this scribe to know you can not have a bunch of gods in your life. THERE IS ONLY ONE!
But once He established that there is only ONE GOD, He then says there are two GREAT COMMANDMENTS.
WHAT IS THE FIRST GREAT COMMANDMENT?
Look at verse 30, we read, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”
WHAT IS THE SECOND GREAT COMMANDMENT?
Look at verse 31, we read, “And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.”
We see THE INQUIRER, THE RESPONDER and -
III. THE QUESTION
WHICH COMMANDMENT IS THE GREATEST?
Why did the Lord Jesus consider these two commandments to be the greatest of all the commandments?
The reason that loving the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind, and with all our strength is the greatest commandment of all, is because when you recognize there is ONLY ONE GOD and you love him as God has commanded us to love Him, everything else in our life will revolve around our loving Him.
This is why He said, in Matthew 6:33, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.”
When we do not love God like we are supposed to love Him, NOTHING ELSE IN OUR LIFE REALLY MATTERS! You may think it does, BUT IT DOES NOT!
Notice the second commandment. When we love God like we are supposed to love Him, we will love people like we are supposed to love them.
The Jews were all wrapped up in legalism. They thought they were saved by WHAT THEY DID, not by WHAT HE DID!
They studied the scriptures to see all the commandments, and this INQUIRER (Scribe) wanted to know which was the greatest.
Illus: Did you know that -
• The Pharisees had found 613 commandments in the Scriptures.
• 248 were “positive” (“do this, do that”),
• 365 were “negative” (“don’t do this, don’t do that”).
For them, “A don’t a day” kept the devil away.
This INQUIRER wanted to know which was the GREATEST COMMANDMENT!
Perhaps you have also believed that in order to please God you have to keep a bunch of rules. Listen, if you love God like you are supposed to love God, you will have no problems doing the rest.
Conclusion:
Listen, it is not difficult to get people who love God:
• To attend church regularly
• To attend Sunday School where God’s Word is taught
• To give the tithes that belong unto the Lord
• To give offerings of love for God’s work
• To live a holy life
• To love others
These things come naturally when people love the Lord the way they are supposed to love the Lord.
Before we close, we need to mention a few things abut this unnamed scribe.
And Jesus said of him, “Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.”
As we look at this statement of Jesus, we see both some good things, and some tragic things.
It is a much better thing to be near the kingdom, than a long ways from it, for possible entrance into the kingdom is greater.
The tragic element of His statement, of course, is the revelation that the man was not in the kingdom, but only near it. Thus it is a sad story.
DID HE EVER MAKE IT IN? We do not know! But we do know the Lord said this nice thing about him because it was true. And we know that the scribe looked into the eyes of the greatest teacher who ever walked on this earth.
We have looked at:
I. THE INQUIRER
II. THE RESPONDER
III. THE QUESTION
