"The Shema"

“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?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 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.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:28-31 ESV)

In Chapter 12, we see that the Jewish leadership were continually trying to trap Jesus into saying something that they could twist and turn the people against Him. Then in verse 13, we read “… in order to trap Him in a statement,” and in verse 18. “They came to Him and began questioning Him,” and then, after they had tried their best to present hypothetical problems that would surely trap Jesus, we read that the scribes "asked him, 'Which commandment is the most important of all?'” 

Now, certainly, this would trip us up. So how could Jesus pick which of the 613 Old Testament laws were more important than the others, and, by picking one, deny the importance of the other 612? But Jesus, “knowing their hypocrisy,” saw through their non-sincere questions and answered truthfully. Jesus and every faithful Jew had repeated His answer many times in their lives. Jesus answered with the Jewish “Shema”. Shema is the word in Hebrew that means “Hear”, it is the first word of the command in Deuteronomy 6:4-6: “Hear, O 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 might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.” 

Is there anything more important than to “HEAR” and remember that “our God, the LORD is one!” Because He is the only true God, we still today, “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.” Friends, if we started each day that God gives us by remembering that this life and everything in it is a gift from Him, if we would begin to live each day loving our God with all our soul and with all our minds and with all our strength, we would be starting each day off with the proper attitude, expectations and appreciation for just who our glorious God is.

Faithful Jews repeated this command every day of their lives as instructed in Deuteronomy 4:7-9: “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 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. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” 

You see, the scribes who proposed the question to Jesus about the “greatest commandment” already knew the answer. The Jewish leadership did indeed wear phylacteries, small leather boxes containing portions of Scripture, on their foreheads and left arms in the sight of everyone they met, to show their dedication to God and strict adherence to His commandments. But Jesus knew that these religious leaders wore them only for show; their hearts did not accept the intent of the Shema.

Jesus, as he often does, really goes to the heart of the Shema and says, “The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Now here is where the problem occurs: Jesus is talking about fulfilling God’s law in our hearts, not in our outward works. This concept always escaped the Jewish leaders. They were so focused on keeping the letter of the Law in their outward demonstrations that they completely missed the Law's intent. It took Jesus to point out that God never wanted the sacrifice of bulls and goats, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17). God always wanted our hearts, “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.” And “‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

My friends, we can’t please God only by our Church attendance, our prayer time, or how often we study and read God’s Word. God first wants our hearts. He wants us to recognize that He provides the only way of salvation, through faith in His Son.

For those of us who have accepted this wonderful gift of salvation, please don’t get so wrapped up in binding our good works “as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes”, remember we serve God not so others can see how dedicated we are to Him, but because we love our Savior.

Shema, Hear Oh believer, “The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 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.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

"Living in Grace is not about what I can do, but about what Jesus has already done!"