Mark 12:28

 Mark 12:28 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?  At least one of the scribes was willing to listen to Jesus and acknowledge that He had answered well the question that the other Sadducees were attempting to discredit Jesus with.  When we read what Jesus said in the Bible, or anything said by the Heavenly Father before Jesus came, we must acknowledge that what was said is the truth.  Verse twenty-nine adds, And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: This scribe then asked Jesus which was the first commandment of all.  I am not sure what his purpose was in asking the question, but it is a good question for anyone to ask when they are questioning what God expects of them when they encounter Jesus, especially if they have accepted Him as their personal Savior and Lord.  Verse thirty continues, 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, Jesus told the scribe that the first commandment was that they should hear God and acknowledge that the LORD our God is One God.   I believe this would also be an acknowledgement that Jesus is God.  Then, we should love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, or with all that we are in in other words.  It is not enough to just acknowledge God’s existence, or even His power.  We must give Him all that we are.  Verse thirty-one concludes, And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.  Though not asked, Jesus said the second commandment was that we should love our neighbors as ourself.  Jesus said there were no other commandments greater than these.  We may take pride in not stealing, killing, or breaking any of the other commandments, but unless we put our heart and soul into loving God more than we love ourself, and loving our neighbor the same way, then we have failed in our faith.  Jesus did not say if our neighbor was loveable or like us that we were to love him or her as we love God, but that we were to love them more than we love ourself, no matter who they are.  I believe that if we truly love God that we have to love our neighbor as well.  Verse thirty-two states, 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 thirty-three adds, 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 said that Jesus had answered with the truth and basically repeated the two commandments, saying they were worth more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.  We can give our tithes and offerings, be in church every time the doors open, and do all kind of good works, but if we then go out into the world hating our neighbor, then all of these things really don't accomplish much in God's kingdom.  Verse thirty-four continues, 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. Jesus saw that the scribe did this discretely and told him he was not far from the kingdom of God.  I believe the reason for this was because even though the scribe knew the answers, he had not made a commitment to put his faith in Jesus openly.   Knowing the answers to questions about God is not enough.  We must acknowledge Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord to the world in order to become a part of the kingdom of God.