Section 109--The Scribe's Question
Section 109
JEWISH RULERS SEEK TO ENSNARE JESUS
(Court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, A. D. 30.)
Subdivision C
A LAWYER ASKS ABOUT THE GREAT COMMANDMENT
MATT. 22:34-40
MARK 12:28-34
LUKE 20:40
"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.’" -Mark 12:29-30
It's easy to think I understand this concept--"loving God with all parts of me." But I can't say I fully understand any of these pieces or how they differentiate/blend. Here are some of the nuances from Vincent's Word Studies
Comments on "heart"
With all thy heart (ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας σου)
Lit., out of thy whole heart. The heart, not only as the seat of the affections, but as the centre of our complex being - physical, moral, spiritual, and intellectual.
Comments on "soul"
Soul (ψυχῆς)
The word is often used in the New Testament in its original meaning of life. See Mat_2:20; Mat_20:28; Act_20:10; Rom_11:3; Joh_10:11. Hence, as an emphatic designation of the man himself. See Mat_12:18; Heb_10:38; Luk_21:19. So that the word denotes “life in the distinctness of individual existence” (Cremer). See further on ψυχικός, spiritual, 1Co_15:44.
Comments on "mind"
Mind (διανοίας)
The faculty of thought: understanding, especially the moral understanding.
"And the second a like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
Love is the cure for sin, for we can not sin against those whom we truly love. Where we love, we desire to bless. But sin always carries with it a willingness to injure or to curse." -Fourfold
"Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." Romans 13:8-10
"The generic nature of the law of love is also noted by Paul (Rom. 13:8-10); but love without law is not sufficient. Love begets a desire to bless, but the law guides to the accomplishment of that desire. Perfect righteousness is the result of wisdom as well as affection. Love without law is power without direction, and law without love is machinery without a motor. (i.e., 1 Corinthians 13:1-13) -Fourfold
"And the scribe said unto him, Of a truth, Teacher, thou hast well said that he is one; and there is none other but he: and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God." Mark 12: 32-34
Regarding verses 32-33: "Here, as in the preceding subdivision, the answer of Jesus was so clearly right that it enforced admiration." -Fourfold
"Grand indeed was this scribe’s confession, that love "is much more than whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." All religions—the true as well as the false—are corrupted by a tendency in human nature to substitute the sacrificial, the ceremonial, the verbal, for the real, the spiritual." -Pulpit Commentary
Regarding verse 34: "Prejudice is the great obstacle to entering the kingdom." -Fourfold
JEWISH RULERS SEEK TO ENSNARE JESUS
(Court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, A. D. 30.)
Subdivision C
A LAWYER ASKS ABOUT THE GREAT COMMANDMENT
MATT. 22:34-40
MARK 12:28-34
LUKE 20:40
"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.’" -Mark 12:29-30
It's easy to think I understand this concept--"loving God with all parts of me." But I can't say I fully understand any of these pieces or how they differentiate/blend. Here are some of the nuances from Vincent's Word Studies
Comments on "heart"
With all thy heart (ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας σου)
Lit., out of thy whole heart. The heart, not only as the seat of the affections, but as the centre of our complex being - physical, moral, spiritual, and intellectual.
Comments on "soul"
Soul (ψυχῆς)
The word is often used in the New Testament in its original meaning of life. See Mat_2:20; Mat_20:28; Act_20:10; Rom_11:3; Joh_10:11. Hence, as an emphatic designation of the man himself. See Mat_12:18; Heb_10:38; Luk_21:19. So that the word denotes “life in the distinctness of individual existence” (Cremer). See further on ψυχικός, spiritual, 1Co_15:44.
Comments on "mind"
Mind (διανοίας)
The faculty of thought: understanding, especially the moral understanding.
"And the second a like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
Love is the cure for sin, for we can not sin against those whom we truly love. Where we love, we desire to bless. But sin always carries with it a willingness to injure or to curse." -Fourfold
"Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." Romans 13:8-10
"The generic nature of the law of love is also noted by Paul (Rom. 13:8-10); but love without law is not sufficient. Love begets a desire to bless, but the law guides to the accomplishment of that desire. Perfect righteousness is the result of wisdom as well as affection. Love without law is power without direction, and law without love is machinery without a motor. (i.e., 1 Corinthians 13:1-13) -Fourfold
"And the scribe said unto him, Of a truth, Teacher, thou hast well said that he is one; and there is none other but he: and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God." Mark 12: 32-34
Regarding verses 32-33: "Here, as in the preceding subdivision, the answer of Jesus was so clearly right that it enforced admiration." -Fourfold
"Grand indeed was this scribe’s confession, that love "is much more than whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." All religions—the true as well as the false—are corrupted by a tendency in human nature to substitute the sacrificial, the ceremonial, the verbal, for the real, the spiritual." -Pulpit Commentary
Regarding verse 34: "Prejudice is the great obstacle to entering the kingdom." -Fourfold
Comments