Which Is the First Commandment of All?

Mark 12:28-34

28 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?"

29 Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. 30 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

32 So the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. 

33 And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."

34 Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."

But after that no one dared question Him.

A certain scribe asked Jesus, “Which Is the First Commandment of All?” after hearing the reasoning about the resurrection from the scriptures, for they spent their days in pursuit of interpreting them to explain God’s commandments to the people as if an arbitrator between the religious rulers and the common man.  These listened carefully to the words of the Lord and then asked this vital question after hearing His wise answers.  Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Leviticus 19:18 that explained the twofold aim of true love we are to exhibit in our hearts, minds, and lives with all the body and soul.  We are first to love the LORD God unconditionally and without reservation with all we possess and are within and without.  This love is with our complete desire of the heart and thoughts as we give our lives to serving and worshipping Him with all the effort of strength we can muster, holding nothing back for another or ourselves in our life’s primary aim.  This is summed up in the first four of the Ten Commandments.  Then the other six commandments are summed up in our sacrificial love for others after our LORD God.  We are to display sincere love (1 Timothy 1:5) for our neighbors who are all that we meet and live around, not just the ones loving us (Matthew 5:43-44, 46).  These then are the two greatest commandments which summarize the ten for us to follow in pleasing the Lord as Jesus told all those sincerely seeking to know and follow God in true worship of the life.  The scribe who sought such wisdom to interpret and apply the scriptures may have expected a different answer, but was left in silent awe of the truth which he received from Jesus.  He then echoed back what he heard in agreement with the word of the Lord and added that such love is more excellent than any mere sacrificial offering done by rote in the temple, comprehending this truth of sincere love for God and man was the aim of all the commandments of God.  This man may not have fully understood that we are to be living sacrifices (Romans 12:1), but was on his way to that knowledge because Jesus told him he was very near to the kingdom of God with that understanding in his reply.  This passage leaves us with the others listening in and being afraid to question Jesus further for fear of confronting truth and having to submit to the Lord or argue a losing battle, as well losing face with the people they sought to control with their own laws and rules added to the core essentials of doctrine that were written in the scriptures and taught by Jesus.  We do well to comprehend the essentials of God’s word and follow it wisely as well.  Our comprehension of the answer is essential.