Mark 12:28  And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
29  And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
30  And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
32  And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:
33  And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
34  And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.

This week there was another great tragedy in Canada. A young man, aged thirteen or fourteen, depending on which report you hear, walked up to an elderly woman in her yard and stabbed and killed her. Apparently he did not know this woman. There are many questions that are raised by this event. The politicians and police have no answers. They have arrested the young man and charged him with first degree murder. Due to his age, and due to our corrupt laws, he cannot be identified as of yet.
This incident again points to the depravity of man. What is going through the mind and heart of a young man like this that would cause him to go up to someone and stab them to death? Why is a young man walking down the street with a knife? This was obviously a planned attack because he disguised himself somewhat before the attack.
The media is talking of the need for more mental health workers. They claim there is such a backlog of needs in this field. In the Gospels we read of people who would fit into what is classified as mental health. Those people were possessed of devils and Jesus cast out the devils.
Man has a physical aspect to him and he also has a spiritual aspect to him. The spiritual part of man is unseen but the effects of the spiritual part is seen. The drugs and alcohol are ways that people try to address the spiritual needs. Rock music and its many offshoots is also a way that people try to address the spiritual needs. The video game scene is another way. There are many things that man has developed to try to deal with something that can only be properly addressed through the Word of God.
Parents need to be saved in order to see the necessity of truth in their own lives. Saved parents need to see the importance of a true, local church. You cannot isolate your children from a true, local church and expect them to grow up healthy, well informed children. Children have minds. Their minds are corrupt. When there is no right teaching about God in their lives, they will fill that void with other things. Most parents are content to fill that void with other things such as video games. Other entertainment avenues are also used. Sporting activities, are another way that parents try to pack things into their children’s lives to keep them occupied.
All of those venues may occupy them physically, but their spiritual aspect is not being addressed properly. That young man had things going on in his life that brought him to this tragic event. His parents were not addressing that in his life. Others who observed this young man also did not address his needs properly. The way people behave, sends a message of who they are. God designed man to care about others. There needs to be privacy, but when a person is in public and behaving a certain way, that is not a private matter. That is a public matter because it is taking place in public.
In our text, one of the scribes came to Jesus with another test/temptation. This time the goal was to narrow down the law of God. Again, the purpose was not to know the truth. The purpose was to interfere with the will of God for man.
Jesus took this man back to the book of Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
5  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Jesus elaborated a little more on this commandment, but He did not change it. Jesus took this man and those around him back to what is known as the “Shema”. The Jews were taught to repeat this commandment twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. It had become a ritual to them, rather than a Truth to follow. It was also misunderstood by many and thus they rejected Jesus as God.
The fact that there is one LORD, does not take away from the godhead. Genesis 1 reveals the three persons of the godhead to man. God continued to develop that fact throughout the Scriptures. It was only due to wilful ignorance that the Jews fought against the fact of the triune God which is often referred to as the “trinity”.
Jesus pointed out that the key issue for man is with the heart. That is the spiritual aspect of man. That is the area that can only be addressed properly through the Word of God. Parents need to address this need in their own lives. Daily Bible reading is essential to good spiritual health. Meditating on what you read in the Bible is also essential. Knowing the truth in the heart is essential. It is important to be exposed to the truth, but it is another thing to love the Truth. Thus God commanded that we must love the LORD thy God with all thine heart. Our lives need to be preoccupied with the love of God in order to be successful.
Since the advent of the radio, man has had a way to send sound out. Most restaurants have music of some sort broadcasting. Some stores also have music playing. Many people have their radio or some other noise promoter on in their vehicles. Then there are those who need something beaming into their ears while walking down the street, etc.
A healthy soul is the soul that is saved and is filled with Truth. Psalm 1 is a short Psalm that gives foundational truths on how to be blessed. There is no substitute for Truth. What we choose to fill our hearts with, will be reflected in what we want to talk about. If a person is saved and reading God’s Word properly, he will have some blessing to share with others, or he will have some question to share with others. He will delight himself in God’s law. He will not be desiring to do evil.
Jesus also pointed out that the second commandment is similar to the first. Man is to love his neighbour as himself. A spiritually healthy person does not want to do harm to himself. There are people who get some sense of satisfaction from self-mutilation. That is because their heart is wicked. Jesus dealt with that when He cast out devils. That young man would never have walked up to another person with a knife, intent on killing, if he had the love of God in his heart.
Jesus pointed out that these two commandments form the basis of all other commandments. Everything in life will depend on the nature of the heart. Once the health of the heart is addressed, everything else can be addressed. The person that refuses to address that issue, will never move beyond that need. Yes, that person might do well in school and find a “good” job. They may make money and get married and have children, but the root issue will not be addressed. Thus that person will influence those around him with his own secular ideas. You will find that there is greater agreement among people when there are no absolutes. When a person chooses to build their life on principles rather than rules, it is easier to find “harmony” with others. People who choose that philosophy will avoid truth. They will fight against the truth. That is where the majority of society is at.
That is where this scribe was at. He did not want the truth. He was looking for a way to justify himself and those around him.
He tried to impress Jesus with his response to Him. Jesus pointed out that this man had answered Him “discreetly”. This man was careful to agree with Jesus with his mouth, but Jesus knew his heart was not in it. His heart was not in it because he was part of a group of people who rejected the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. That in itself proved he did not love the Lord with all his heart. He offered lip service to the Lord, and he wanted the Lord to fit into his philosophy of life, rather than being transformed to God’s way of life.
The tragedy that community in Ontario is dealing with is the result of a society that is rejecting the truth and building on lies. It is a reflection of the broader problem facing Canada and the world. Yes, there is much religious activity, but there is very little interest in knowing the true God. Until that matter is addressed, there will be more tragedies like the one that happened this week. There will be a continued opposition to the truth. People will want to silence the truth because it does not agree with their philosophy of life.
This scribe was surrounded by like-minded people. He assumed he was right because he had a support system in place. Jesus was the “odd man out” in this situation. Therefore, Jesus must be wrong and He must be changed. That is still the idea today. That is what modern religion is actively working on.
What about you? What are you interested in? Are you listening to the drawing of the Holy Spirit? Are you reading the Word of God daily? Are you attending a true, local church? Are you examining what you hear through the sure Word of God? Are you willing to discuss what you believe with someone who believes in the Word of God? Be sure you build on Truth.
We read in our text, that no one in that crowd dared to ask Jesus any further questions. They knew they could not get what they wanted out of Him. They did not want the Truth and Jesus was not interested in entertaining lies. It was not up to Jesus to change to meet their corrupt hearts. It was up to them to humble themselves and be changed to believe the Truth. They were not interested in that. They were the losers, not Jesus.
Pastor Bartel