The Great Commandments are for All Christ Followers
Examining Jesus’s relationship with and posture toward women is an absolute delight. Much of our study requires the hard work of interpreting both Scripture and culture and then deducing the timeless truths which apply to you and me. It’s not easy! But like a cold-water break for our thirsty souls, we see in Scripture Jesus’s inclusion of women, elevation of women, and call to women to be on mission with Him. This is very good news for every generation.
In Mark 12:28-31, Jesus was in the temple with His disciples. He’d just been challenged by the chief priests, scribes, and elders (Mark 11:27), some Pharisees and Herodians had tried to trap Him with His own words (Mark 12:13), and the Sadducees had just questioned Him (Mark 12:18). In verse 28, after multiple antagonistic approaches by groups of men in leadership, one scribe (an expert in the law) approached Jesus:
“When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which command is the most important of all?’
Jesus answered, ‘The most important is Listen, Israel! The Lordour God, the Lordis one. Lovethe Lord your Godwith all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind,and with all your strength. The second is, Love your neighboras yourself. There is no other command greater than these.’”
One commentary makes an adjustment to how we typically read the scribe’s question. It says, “according to the Greek text the word ‘all’ . . . does not modify ‘commandments’ . . . The sense of the question is thus not which is the most important commandment, but rather which commandment supersedes everything and is incumbent on all humanity—including Gentiles.”1 The scribe was really asking which command applies to all people—not just Israel but Gentiles too. He wanted to know what God expects of all humanity.
Just as with the creation mandate and cultural mandate given to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28, the Great Commandments presented by Jesus to an inquiring scribe are also for all image bearers. These primary commands are for you and me too.
Verses 30 and 31 flow from verse 29, where Jesus affirmed the Shema from Deuteronomy 6. The Shema is the foundation for the Ten Commandments. It asserts that there is one God and Israel’s heart must not be divided between the Lord their God and anyone else. This truth was so fundamental Israel was meant to keep it in their hearts, repeat it to their children, talk about it constantly, keep the words on their physical bodies, and even write it on their doorposts (Deut. 6:6-9). Here Jesus affirmed the Shema. There is only one true God. Therefore, love Him with your whole heart, and love others the way you want to be loved
The scribe was pleased with Jesus’s answer and even added that to obey these two commands is better than offering burnt offerings and sacrifices. Jesus responded favorably to him and said he’s “not far from the kingdom of God.” We know from the rest of Scripture that Jesus was not saying, “You’re almost there! Try harder!” No, Jesus affirmed the scribe’s understanding that loving God and loving others captures the spirit of all 613 commandments in the books of Moses, consisting of 365 prohibitions and 248 commands.2
As we receive God’s love, by grace through faith, we are filled and moved by God’s love, and we return God’s love back to Him and show His love to others. The other inquiring minds in the temple must have been watching this exchange, because after Jesus’s explanation of the whole of God’s law, the interrogations were apparently over (Mark 12:34).
In our current age of self-help, self-love, and self-care, these verses can be misused to say, “Love yourself first and then you can love others.” And while self-care is not wrong per se, it does matter what we’re after when we seek it. The best self-care comes from rooting ourselves in our Creator, worshiping Him, and resting in Him. The meaning of the second great commandment is that we must consider how we want to be loved and then go and love others just like that. And wow, that is tough.
Jesus invites you and me to join Him in His upside-down kingdom, built on the love of God and the love of others. It’s a privilege and a joy to be invited. Will we accept? Will we lay ourselves down, as our Savior did, and pursue God and others?
Women, we’ve been invited. We are included. Our role is essential, not optional. Let’s not forsake the chance of a lifetime to follow Jesus and be on mission with Him.
1. James R. Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Eerdmans; Apollos, 2002), 370.
2. Ross H. McLaren, “Mark,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1583.
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