One
of the scribes came, and heard them questioning together. Knowing that he had answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the greatest of all?”
Mark 12:28
Mark 12 [24.] Jesus answered them, “Isn’t this because you are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God? For when they will rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. But about the dead, that they are raised; haven’t you read in the book of Moses, about the Bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’ ? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are therefore badly mistaken.”
Mark 12 [28.] One of the scribes came, and heard them questioning together. Knowing that he had answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the greatest of all?”
Mark 12 [29.] 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.”
Meaning:
Jesus had answered the Pharisees and Herodians about taxes and the Sadducees about the resurrection. Each question had been a trap. Now a third person comes forward, a scribe, and his question is different. It is the most important question anyone asked Jesus that week, and his answer gives the summary of the whole Law of God (Mark 12:29).
- “One of the scribes came”
The scribes were the experts who copied, studied and taught the Law of Moses, and most belonged to the Pharisees. In Mark’s Gospel the scribes are usually Jesus’ opponents. They accused him of blasphemy when he forgave sins (Mark 2:6-7), they sought to destroy him after he cleansed the temple (Mark 11:18), and Jesus would soon warn the crowds to “Beware of the scribes” (Mark 12:38-40).
This scribe is an exception. Matthew, telling the same event, focuses on the testing nature of the question (Matthew 22:35-36). Mark shows a man whose heart was open. At the end of the conversation Jesus would tell him, “You are not far from God’s Kingdom” (Mark 12:34).
- “Knowing that he had answered them well”
The scribe had heard the debate. Believing in the resurrection, he recognised that Jesus had defended it from the Law unanswerably. Many of his colleagues were hostile to Jesus, but this man was willing to admit that Jesus had spoken well.
- “Which commandment is the greatest of all?”
The rabbis counted 613 commandments in the Law of Moses, and they often discussed which were “heavy” and which were “light”, and whether one principle could sum them all up. The question was a real one, and it was not new. The Law itself had asked, “What does Yahweh your God require of you, but to fear Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 10:12). Micah had answered, “What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8).
The question mattered because it is possible to keep many small rules and miss the heart of God’s will. Jesus later rebuked those who “have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith” (Matthew 23:23). His answer to the scribe went straight to that heart: love for God with all one’s being, and love for one’s neighbor as oneself (Mark 12:30; Mark 12:31).
The Significance of Mark 12:28
- Ask what matters most
It is easy to be busy with details of religion. The scribe’s question invites us to ask what God cares about above everything else.
- Love fulfils the Law
The whole Law is summed up in love: “Love doesn’t harm a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10).
- Sincere seekers find answers
The scribe came with an honest question and received a clear answer and words of encouragement. Jesus still welcomes those who truly want to know God’s will.
Cross-References:
Matthew 22:36: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?" Matthew’s record of the question.
Deuteronomy 10:12: "What does Yahweh your God require of you, but to fear Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him" The Law’s own summary.
Micah 6:8: "What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" The prophet’s summary.
Mark 12:34: "When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from God’s Kingdom.”" Jesus’ verdict on this scribe.
Conclusion: A scribe who had heard Jesus answer the Sadducees recognised that he had answered well, and he asked a sincere question: “Which commandment is the greatest of all?” Teachers of the Law often debated which commands mattered most. The question opened the way for Jesus to sum up the whole Law in love for God and love for neighbor, and it reminds us to seek what lies at the heart of God’s will.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible