When there is much to do, knowing what should be first, or what is the most important, is the only way to succeed. You can mistake the order of things to do, but if you mistake the priority or the importance of which things should be done at all, you are doomed to failure. Imagine transcribing a court case has been assigned to you. The only way to insure justice is done, is to faithfully transcribe every word, just as it occurred in the court case. This might take a while, but it insures every question that can be answered will be answered. The accuracy is the thing that gives the wisdom to anyone who comes looking for what happened. But what if, after transcribing it all, you were asked to summarize what occurred in only 3 sentences. This new task changes the equation. Being accurate and detailed is not possible if constricted to only 3 sentences. The entire book, the entire volume of what you originally wrote down, must now be summarized in extreme brevity, yet still convey what took place, and really, what is most important.
Court transcriptionists are asked for accuracy in every word, even every gesture. Inaudible answers must be clarified with precision by the attorneys before the witnesses can continue with their testimony, so that the words can be preserved. Court reporters on the other hand, have no ability to preserve everything, they must summarize details into a story, then present the story in a way that catches our attention. Court reporters are used to leaving out things that are uninteresting, or do not follow the narrative they wish to report. But there is not a profession, where a person who knows all the details, is then asked to summarize for us what happened in only 3 sentences. That task would be daunting, nearly impossible. And whatever the summary was, it could always be debated by others who have a different take on the details they are aware of.
But this is what Jesus was asked to do. And He was asked by no less, than the court transcriptionists of His day. Scribes were the third leg of the Sanhedrin ruling class. Their jobs were to transcribe scriptures from older parchments on to newer ones to preserve the text exactly as it was written before. It was and remains, the accuracy that makes their work important, and what offers wisdom to the seeker. Scribes could be asked for clarification on scriptural quotes. It was more likely they would be able to recite the texts word for word. It was their job to write these texts over and over with precision every day. If you wanted to debate scriptures, you were highly unlikely to pick a scribe to argue with. And so, after the Pharisees had failed to entrap Christ on the role of the Messiah to eliminate Roman rule and its taxes; and the Sadducees had failed to entrap Christ about the Resurrection and the impracticalities of our marriage practices in heaven; the Scribes were now set to entrap Christ about the summary of the Law.
This was to be their best efforts. The audience here still had members who sat listening to a twelve-year-old Jesus teach them all for 3 days many years ago in this same Temple. Despite His humble parents and upbringing, the carpenter’s son recited scripture and its meaning with the authority of an author of the text. His memory was absolute. He did not miss details. He did not forget sections of the stories, nor what they meant in detail. The 12-year-old was beyond an apprentice, beyond a savant, He was a miracle in their ears. So the effort to entrap Him could not be based in memory, or in details. It had to be based in priorities, and a summation of what is truly important across all scriptures and the Law. They would ask Jesus to summarize the entire Bible in 2 or 3 sentences. But make no mistake, this was another trap, no less calculated to destroy the reputation of Jesus in front of the people, exactly like the other two should have done.
Peter recalls its beginning to John Mark in his gospel in chapter 12 picking up in verse 28 saying … “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?” A scribe had seen the failure of the Pharisees, and then of the Sadducees, and now it was his own turn at bat. But his trap was better. To ask which commandment was more important than the others, implied there is a pecking order in all 10 commandments in the law. This further implied that as long as I keep the important ones, the less important ones may not be such a burden to my soul, and my eternal status. Comparative salvation did not start in our day; it has been a popular fallacy for a long time. The notion that my sins are not as bad as your sins, and so by comparison, I am holier is an old lie. No matter which commandment Jesus selected, an argument could be made that a different one was somehow better.
So Jesus answered saying in verse 29 … “ And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: [verse 30] 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.” The answer of Christ, was that our love of the Father was more important than any other law, tradition, doctrine, or religious practice. Jesus grabs our attention with His declaration to “Hear”. He then points our attention upwards identifying the real God from all the other claimants. Loving God is more important than the Sabbath. Loving God is more important than avoiding murder, or adultery, or lying, or lust. Loving God was the number one thing to strive for, even if at the exclusion of everything else. But why? Why is this the first priority of the entirety of the Bible according to our God?
Consider the mechanics of our salvation. When we love our God, we trust our God. It is natural to do so. When God promises us He will do something for us, we can trust Him, because we love Him, and we know He loves us. It is love that motivates us to do anything, to change who we are. So when our God tells us, He will change us, from the inside out, we know He will do it. Having this love based relationship, becomes the fundamental building block, of changing me from who I am now, to who He wants to be. I start wanting different things because He changes what I want. I start loving different ways, more passionately, and for others, instead of myself. When the new me thinks differently, wants different things, and loves others with a burning passion … I start acting differently, my life begins to reflect the changes His Holy Spirit brings.
I think about ways to love you more, to find ways to make you happy. I would not consider stealing from you, I am looking to give you stuff, not take it. I would not lie to you, because the truth about how much I love you is something you really will want and need to hear. I do not lust after others because using someone does not lift them up, it degrades them. And I would not consider hating that which I love, let alone killing it. All of the sudden, the new me, is in harmony with every other commandment naturally. It is no longer a struggle. As for how I behave with God; if God wants to take one day off each week to be with me, sign me up. I honor His name, and reverence it. For it is the name that transforms me into His image, saving me from the old me. There are no other gods, only my God. So harmony with Gods entire law, begins with choosing to love Him.
Jesus continues in verse 31 saying … “And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” Extremely important how the mechanics of your salvation work here. First we love God, we trust Him, we submit to Him. Then He changes us into the person that loves our neighbor. God first, change first, THEN comes obedience. You CANNOT do this the other way around. Loving our neighbor can ONLY happen when we love our God with everything that we are. Otherwise, if we still love ourselves, instead of God, we will treat our neighbor like an opportunity to make us happier. We will use our neighbor, despise our neighbor, cast aside our neighbor (if he is lucky). We will go so far as to kill our neighbor if there is something in it for us. For absent the love of God, there can be no real love for anyone other than me loving me.
The scribe concurred with Jesus, to his own surprise. He responds in verse 32 saying … “And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: [verse 33] And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” The scribe can hardly believe his own mouth, but then the wisdom of Christ is irrefutable. His voice has dropped its accusatory tone, it has softened. He is now responding almost like a collaborator in a worship study group; than an arrogant prosecutor in the court of public opinion. He does not understand what is happening. His confusion is evident.
Jesus responds in verse 34 saying … “And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.” The scribe accepted the truth of what Christ had said. In so doing, He was near to entering the Kingdom of God. It is only in our humility that we can accept the truth of what Christ says, instead of what we are so certain about. The Pharisees after their encounter with Christ did not change their views in one iota, they were committed more than ever that Jesus was still wrong. It was the same for the Sadducees, but for this scribe, there was a glimmer of hope. The scribe was willing to change. The scribe was willing to accept truth in humility. And Jesus looked to claim this scribe for His own kingdom.
The Sanhedrin could not risk the defection of an entire third of its base. There would be no more tests of Christ in front of any one. They would close ranks, and spew hatred among themselves, never letting the truth of Christ enter their ears if they could. We do not know, if this particular scribe defected from his original intentions, and joined the followers of Christ. It is likely. The power of the love of Jesus is a lure no evil can withstand. For those scribes who refused His wisdom Jesus would pose a few questions of His own. But for this one, for the redemption of this man, who answered Him “discreetly” there was a hope that could not be extinguished. As it is for us. When we are ready to love God, and trust God, putting aside the wisdom we think we have and learning to just listen. We can follow instead of lead. And in our deference is our elevation. In our weakness we find His strength. And in our submission to Him, is our Salvation perfected.
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