There Was This One Scribe…
Truth Taught- God’s ways are not our ways and neither are His thoughts like our thoughts
I’m so amazed at how God moves in ways we don’t expect. This is often how we know that it is God working. In our fallen nature we have a set way of processing the events in our lives. When God works, we are completely left in awe of Him and His ways. When we analyze a situation and are so surprised by the outcome and when our thinking goes something like this…I never would have thought of that then we know its God. Beloved everything is controlled by the Almighty. God’s sovereignty is the controlling factor of all events.
If we look close today at the passage, we can see God working behind the scene in a very extraordinary and surprising way.
I want to quickly review the latest events that happened in the Temple on that Wednesday because there was a Scribe that was listening very intently. This is part of his story.
Scribes meticulously copied texts, counting letters and words, ensuring that every manuscript was accurate, and following strict procedures for writing the name of God and preparing ink and writing materials. Here, a Scribe begins to actually see Jesus for who He truly is. It seems God is moving him past his technical work and into a relationship with Jesus.
Our Lord Jesus entered the Temple area on a Tuesday and chased out the money changers and those who were buying and selling inside the Temple area. That created quite the stir and quite the attention. He then leaves to go back to Mary, Martha and Lazarus’ home to spend the night.
The next day, Wednesday Jesus enters His Temple and begins preaching the Gospel to the people. For that day, it was His Temple. The people heard about their sin and how God stood ready to forgive them if they would but trust in Jesus, God’s Son. Our Lord had a wonderful day in the Temple and the Bible tells us that the people hung on every Word He said. So much so, that the religious authorities who wanted Him dead were afraid to do anything to Him because of the people they loved Him so much.
His day of teaching was quickly interrupted by the religious elite that wanted Him gone. Trap after trap was set of our Lord and He so wisely sidesteps each one…
The chief priests and scribes said to Jesus, by what authority do You do these things? Who gave You the right to clear the Temple of all the people buying and selling? Remember, He told them I have a question for you. Answer My question and I’ll tell you by what authority I do these things. Then Jesus asks about the Baptism of John…He asks them was it from heaven or from man? They called a huddle and spoke among themselves, if we say from heaven then Jesus will say then why don’t you believe Me because it was at John’s baptism of Jesus that God the Father declared Him to be the Son of God. If we say from man then the people will drag us out of the temple and stone us because they believe John was a true prophet. So, they said, we don’t know. Jesus then said neither will I answer your question.
Jesus then tells His parable about the vineyard. Each servant the owner sent to collect the portion of the harvest was either beaten or killed. Then the owner sent His Son and they killed Him too.
Mark 12:12 (ESV)
12 And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.
The next wave came closely following the previous.
Pharisees and Herodians team up and asked Jesus should we pay our taxes or not? Jesus quickly turns their trap back on them when He asks for a coin and they hand Him a Roman Denarius with the inscription Tiberius Divine Augustus and Jesus teaches that they had forsaken their worship of the true God for their worship of Caesar.
Then the Sadducees arrived who do not believe in the resurrection and tried to trick Jesus with a made-up situation where a woman had seven consecutive brothers as her husbands. Each died one by one and the question was, whose wife will she be in the resurrection. Jesus explained to them they don’t know the answer because they don’t know the Bible. He focuses His attention on the section of the OT they do believe in …
Mark 12:26–27 (ESV)
26 And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”
Through all of this, there was this one Scribe who was actually listening with a inquisitive heart and genuine consideration. This is an example of the fact that we never know all God is doing and here He is working through evil to produce good; He’s working through the evil Jewish leaders and their wicked traps to actually save this one man. We are not told the final verdict about his salvation but Jesus does acknowledge that the Scribe is moving in the right direction.
Please Stand:
Gracious and Glorious Father, this is Your word,
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
So, Father we ask that You would equip us then to see Christ, to love Christ with all our heart, to follow Christ and to love others for Your glory…Amen.
Mark 12:28–34 (ESV)
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important 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 and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.
1. The Scribe’s Question: Which Commandment is the Most Important of All? (12:28)
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”
This Scribe approached Jesus right after all the others tried to trip Him up. He was waiting and listening.
Their arrogance is really way over the top I do think though the traps were set by the demonic forces at work in high places. Jesus is preaching the Gospel and all they do is interrupt Him with their tricks.
I remember sitting in seminary class once with a godly older professor when a student raised his hand and the very wise professor said that to ask questions was wasting precious time. He knew that questions could be asked later but right now we only have 50 minutes and he had so much wonderful content to share with his students that he would take questions after.
Here the scribe waits and after Jesus answered everything so amazingly well, he asks his question. This one is not a trap; this one is a real and sincere question. Because the Scribe’s question is sincere, this is a positive encounter with Jesus.
It’s important that we understand that we too can ask Jesus questions. We can wonder and ask. However, we must search in sincerity not as a sceptic who is looking for a loophole to escape the Bible’s demands when our sin is involved or to somehow win an argument.
The Scribe asks Jesus which commandment supersedes all the others? He is not speaking of the Ten Commandments here specifically but he is referring to all the commandments that the rabbinic tradition held as coming from God in the OT…they counted 613 commandments. Scribes, because their role was to copy and interpret Scripture were always debating among themselves, which commandment was the heaviest of all others. Because they had accumulated so many commands, they had to also prioritize them from greater to lesser. So, he asks Jesus which command He considers the greatest.
His question came from those who thought Jesus was teaching some new doctrine and not from the Law of Moses, here we see that was not the case at all.
The Pharisees felt that the gospel that Jesus preached was contrary to the teaching of the Law of Moses. That’s pretty basic, right? In fact, that was the cry against Jesus, that He speaks against the Law. It was the same thing against Paul, that he speaks against the Law. And it was, of course, what they accused the apostles of doing. Therefore, that Jesus proclaimed things that were inconsistent with Moses, that His teaching was an attack on Moses and Old Testament Law…
Here’s Jesus’ answer…
2. Jesus’ Answer: Love God with All Your Heart and Love Others (12:29-31)
29 Jesus answered, “The most important 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 and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Jesus explains in a sentence that if we are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength it is vital to know who this God is.
Deuteronomy 6:4–9 (ESV)
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 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. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
We are to respond in love to the total lordship of God. We must realize that God lays rightful claim to every part of our being. He created us and we belong to Him. There is nothing left out. Every part of our humanity is claimed by God and the right response is to love Him.
We are to love Him with all our heart…all our emotions
We are to love Him with all our soul…our spirit
We are to love Him with all our mind…our intellect and logic
We are to love Him with all our strength…our will and desires
We see it’s the intellectual, emotional, volitional and physical elements of personhood all combine to love the one true God. It is an intelligent love, it is an emotional love, it is a willing love and it is an active love. It is an all-consuming love. Back in to Mark 12, just to show you how the words are all repeated, “with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” And the addition of those words “with all” every time is to lay out the emphatic nature of this comprehensive whole-hearted love. We might say that God’s whole-hearted love toward us should not be returned with a half-hearted love on our part.
We know the one we love, do we not? Because He’s disclosed Himself to us in Scripture. He’s worthy of our love. He’s worthy of far more love than we will ever be able to give Him.
That’s the command. Love God with all your being. Do you always love God like this?
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And 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.’
That’s the command of God. That’s the minimum requirement. That’s what He expects as the norm. His command is not some elevated far above only for a few super Christians, this command is for every person. The command is for us. Do we love God like this? Remember this is the minimum He accepts because this is what is due Him for His person and glory and for what He has done for us.
We are also commanded to love others.
Jesus shows by His order of these commands that God comes first and we must be wholeheartedly committed to loving Him the way He commands. Do you love God like that? Do you always love God with you whole being and with each part of your humanity without exception all the time?
Do you love others with a self-sacrificial love. Do you seek to meet their needs always before your own. Do you care more about them that you do yourself?
This is God’s minimum requirement. If we do this then God promises wonderful blessings if we don’t the condemnation and all the Law of Moses falls upon us and we are guilty.
The truth is when we see the requirements of God we stand before Him guilty. We have never loved God as He commands and deserves…never.
Because we fail to love God appropriately ever. We never love Him according to His minimum requirements why should we ever think we can please God in ourselves or in what we would categorize as good works.
Mankind finds himself in this very awful dilemma. Some have sought to twist the truth to somehow lessen God’s demands. They believe they can please God on their own. This mindset will inevitably end in the wrath of God being poured out and His just judgement meted out. This was the course that the religious elite in Judaism took.
Those Israelites needed to cry out in response to the message of Moses. “How can we do this? How can we do this? We’re sinful, we’re sinful. We have a history of breaking Your law even here in the wilderness for 40 years, how can we keep this law?” The whole nation could have fallen on its knees right there on the plains of Moab. — John MacArthur
We have in the NT an example of what this looks like…
Luke 18:9–14 (ESV)
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
All the sinner must do is cry out to God for mercy.
Herein is the glory of the Gospel. You see Jesus did love God the Father like this every second of every day through His entire life.
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.’
Here is our answer in God’s wonderful provision in Christ…
Romans 10:3–4 (ESV)
3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
In the Gospel, we are credited with Jesus’ love for God. His love for God which far exceeds the minimum is given to us by faith. Do you see? Everything God requires Jesus accomplished for His people. Listen beloved, fall before Him in true humility and confess the truth that you cannot love God like that. Trust Jesus Christ as your Savior and by faith all God’s requirements are fulfilled and given to you as a free gift.
Let go of all your feeble and truly pitiful attempts to accomplish what God requires and cling to Christ. You don’t love God like you should.
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
3. The Scribe Who is Not Far from the Kingdom of God (12:32-34)
32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.
The Scribe is so pleased with Jesus’ answer, well said he exclaims!
This man also understood that to be truly a lover of God is far more important than offering sacrifices in a prescribed manner. God has told us in Isaiah that He has had enough sacrifices because their hearts are far from Him.
I find myself rooting for this Scribe…a little more, just trust Christ as Savior!!
All the religious leaders were setting their traps and every time they were caught and Jesus got to teach about the Kingdom of God. Even their traps became wonderful sermon illustrations for Jesus. This was happening so often that they decided it best to leave Him alone the rest of the day.
after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.
We are not told the end of this Scribe’s story. Did he trust Christ? Did he believe later? We don’t know. But if he did; if he saw the futility in trusting in his own righteousness and believed Jesus and trusted in Him…he was born again.
What about you? Is it time for you to be saved? Is it time for you to be honest and stop pretending you’re good enough on your own? Maybe the next strange and unexpected event God accomplishes, one that no one could imagine is you to trust Christ and believe?
He stands ready to show you kindness and mercy.
Resources Used:
Mark by William Lane
Mark by James Edwards
Words of grace
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