Mark 12:30-33 (ESV)
Jesus answered, “The Lord our God, the Lord is One. ‘The most important is… 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.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that He is one, and there is no other beside Him. And to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole offerings and sacrifices.”
This is my first time reading through the ESV (English Standard Version) of the Bible. It’s one of the closer translations to the original languages of the Bible, and although many other translations might be easier reads, this time through I wanted to aim for closer to original. (If only we could all just understand and be fluent in Greek and Hebrew…sigh. Maybe when I grow up.) Each translation has a time and place, and I love so many of them. But since I am a word nerd, and because I love looking up the original, this has been a really good translation to foster that connection for me.
This morning I read the above passage. I’ve read it bunches before. But today…
TODAY… I saw it in an entirely new way.
The scribe questioned Jesus, agreed with His answer, and responded,
BUT today I noticed that he responded in a detached, non-personal way.
“… love Him with all THE heart and all THE understanding and with all THE strength…”
Weird.
Why have I never noticed this before?
I looked up a bunch of other translations, and almost all of them personalize his response. Some say “your” heart, while some even say “my” heart, etc.
But that is not what the original language says.
First, Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy 6:5, so the original original is Hebrew. Jesus then speaks it in Greek in the Gospel of Mark, and the Greek word for “your” is σύ (sy). This is the personal pronoun of the second person singular.
The scribe responded with the Greek word ὁ (ho) which means the/this/that, which is the definite article.
Jesus then said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (vs. 34)
Not far.
Who wants to be ‘not far?’ Not really there yet, but just not far. Where exactly is ‘not far?’
What is missing?
The scribe knows in his head what the right answer is. But that doesn’t mean his heart is there.
Jesus has just explained that this is the greatest commandment of all time, which sums up all of the laws that had ever existed. This is what is “most important” – Jesus’ own words. “There is no commandment greater.”
Oh, how I hope I’m more than ‘not far.’
What would it look like for the scribe (and for us) if we TRULY loved the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength?
Here’s a word break-down:
Heart καρδία (kardia)
*heart, center of life, center/seat of spiritual life, understanding, intelligence, will and character
*soul: sensibilities, affections, emotions, desires, appetites, passions
Soul ψυχή (psyche)
*breath of life, vital force
*seat of feelings, desires, affections
*designated for eternity
*heart/soul
Mind διάνοια (dianoia)
*faculty of understanding, feeling, desiring
*spirit
*thinking/thoughts
Strength ἰσχύς (ischys)
*ability, force, strength, might
And an important word to not leave out:
ALL ὅλος (holos)
*all, whole, completely
All. Not part of. Not sometimes. Not when I feel like it.
How to get past ‘not far?’
Ask. Ask for help.
A few years ago I asked God to help me want to want to read the Bible. I wasn’t there, couldn’t plow through, just didn’t have it in me. I knew it’s where I should be and where I wanted to get eventually, but I didn’t even have a strong desire to start.
Baby steps.
God formed a curiosity in me, began a journey of hunger for learning, and placed such a deep love for His word in my heart. I could not have done it on my own.
So how do I love Him with my whole heart? Ask for help. My human heart is divided. So many things crowd in fighting for attention and energy. But I know that I truly want to Love God with all that I am.
Zephaniah 3:17
The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
He will rejoice over you with gladness.
God delights in us, and it brings Him joy when we seek Him.
If we can understand that when we make baby steps – when we ask Him to help us grow closer to Him – it brings him joy. This absolutely blows my mind. The God of the Universe smiles when I turn my face towards His. He delights in my seeking, and is blessed when I love Him. Wowza.
When we really wrap our head around this, it makes our response of loving Him back a bit easier. To see Him for Who He Is makes our response a natural reciprocation.