Daily Devotions
Mark
For You will not leave My soul in Hades "Acts 2:27a"
Day 267 – Mark 12
A DEEPLY PROFOUND ANSWER
It would take no one less than Jesus the Master-Teacher to come up with the right answer. Let us ponder this answer carefully.
“The first of all commandments is:
‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God,
the LORD is one.
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.'”
MARK 12:29-30
1. The Shema
This text is commonly known as “The Shema”. It is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-5. It is a text that is recited by Israel from earliest times to the present day! This text is recited at the beginning of worship services. (This oft-frequented recitation of the Shema helped Israel to guard its faith in the post-exilic years. Israel had learned its lesson bitterly in the years of their Diaspora).
2. It is a cry of faith
a) National faith
b) Personal faith
c) A faith in One God (Monotheism)
3. It is also a declaration of love for the Lord
It is not enough to speak of having faith in God. One must also be able to speak of relating to this great God in love.
a) A love from the heart (the seat of all emotions)
b) A love that engages the soul (the immaterial part of the human being)
c) A love that involves the mind (the intellect)
d) A love that demands strength from the believer (the body)
4. The First Commandment
Jesus did not speak of the Decalogue at all here. The codified Law is obviously not the first commandment. (Many make this mistake of thinking that the first law in the Ten Commandments is the first commandment).