Reading 5
The greatest commandment
The reading
Mark 12:28-34
One of the scribes came, and heard them questioning together. Knowing that he had answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the greatest of all?” Jesus answered, “The greatest is, ‘Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one: 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.’ This is the first commandment. The second is like this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” The scribe said to him, “Truly, teacher, you have said well that he is one, and there is none other but he, and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from God’s Kingdom.” No one dared ask him any question after that.
The companions
Psalm 15
LORD, who shall dwell in your sanctuary? Who shall live on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly does what is right, and speaks truth in his heart; he who doesn’t slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his friend, nor casts slurs against his fellow man; in whose eyes a vile man is despised, but who honors those who fear the LORD; he who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and doesn’t change; he who doesn’t lend out his money for usury, nor take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be shaken.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (selected)
Hear, Israel: the LORD is our God. The LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.
The note
Someone asks for the top-level rule. It is a compression question, the kind people ask when a rule set has grown past what anyone can hold. Of all of this, which part actually matters.
The answer is two lines, and neither can be scored. Love God with everything you have. Love your neighbor as yourself. No threshold, no target, no way to report progress upward to anybody.
Watch the scribe. He is not trapped and he is not arguing. He says the answer back in his own words and adds a conclusion of his own: this matters more than the whole system of offerings and sacrifices. He has just ranked love above the machinery of his own profession, out loud, in public.
Jesus tells him he is not far from the Kingdom. Not in it. Near. Agreeing with the right answer gets you close, and the passage leaves him standing there so you notice the gap.
This week
Take one system you keep and defend. A process at work, a rule you enforce, a routine you have optimized. Check it against the second line. Does it make it easier or harder to treat one specific person as yourself?
Name the person. Not people in general, a person with a name and a phone number. If the honest answer is harder, write down the smallest change that would move it, and make that change before the week is out.
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (public domain). The divine name is rendered “the LORD” in the companions.
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