Mark 12:28-34 : The Great Commandment(s)


James Tissot (French, 1836-1902). The Pharisees Question Jesus (Les pharisiens questionnent Jésus), 1886-1894. Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper, Image: 7 3/8 x 11 1/8 in. (18.7 x 28.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchased by public subscription, 00.159.208 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 00.159.208_PS2.jpg)

And one of the scholars, having come, heard them arguing, and seeing that he answered well,  asked him:  ‘What is the first command of them all? ‘ 

Jesus answered :
’The first commandment  is “Hear, Israel, the Lord God, your Lord is one.” (Dt 6:4)

And you shall love the Lord your God from the whole of your heart, 

and from the whole of your soul,
and from the whole of your mind
and from the whole of strength.” (Dt 6:5)

The second is this:
“You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” (Lv  19:18)

 Greater than these is no other commandment. ‘

And the scholar said to him:
‘Well said, teacher; you have spoken truthfully,
because there is one, and no other besides him.
And “To love him from the whole heart,
and from the whole understanding
and from the whole strength,” 

and
“to love the neighbour as oneself”
– is much more than all the offerings and sacrifices’

And Jesus having seen, that he answered wisely, said to him: 
‘You are not far from the Kingdom of God’

And nobody any longer dared to question him. 

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that thou art –
Thou my best thought, by day or by night;
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

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