Mark 12:30
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'
Love the Lord your God
This phrase is a direct commandment, echoing the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4-5, a central declaration of faith in Judaism. The Greek word for "love" here is "agapē," which signifies a selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love. This is not merely an emotional affection but a deliberate choice to prioritize God above all else. Historically, this commandment was revolutionary, emphasizing a personal relationship with God rather than mere ritualistic observance.

with all your heart
The "heart" in biblical terms (Greek: "kardia") is not just the seat of emotions but the center of one's being, encompassing will, intellect, and emotions. In ancient Hebrew culture, the heart was seen as the core of a person's identity and decision-making. To love God with all one's heart means to align one's innermost desires and decisions with His will, ensuring that every intention is rooted in devotion to Him.

and with all your soul
The "soul" (Greek: "psychē") refers to the life force or the essence of a person. It encompasses one's emotions, desires, and the very breath of life. In the Hebrew context, the soul is the life that God breathed into humanity, making it a divine gift. Loving God with all your soul implies dedicating one's entire life and being to His service, acknowledging Him as the source and sustainer of life.

and with all your mind
The "mind" (Greek: "dianoia") involves understanding, intellect, and reasoning. This addition to the Shema in the New Testament highlights the importance of engaging one's intellect in faith. It suggests that loving God is not anti-intellectual but requires thoughtful reflection, study, and understanding of His word and works. Historically, this would have been a call to integrate faith with reason, ensuring that belief is informed and robust.

and with all your strength
"Strength" (Greek: "ischys") refers to physical power and capabilities. In the ancient world, strength was often associated with one's ability to work and contribute to the community. To love God with all one's strength means to use one's physical abilities and resources in service to Him. It is a call to action, ensuring that love for God is demonstrated through deeds and not just words or feelings.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jesus Christ
The central figure in this passage, Jesus is teaching in the temple courts in Jerusalem. He is responding to a question about the greatest commandment.

2. Scribes
Religious leaders and experts in the Law who were questioning Jesus to test His understanding and authority.

3. Jerusalem
The city where this teaching takes place, specifically in the temple courts, a central place of worship and teaching for the Jewish people.

4. The Temple
The holy place where Jewish people gathered for worship, sacrifices, and teaching. It is the setting for this interaction.

5. The Shema
A traditional Jewish prayer from Deuteronomy 6:4-5, which Jesus quotes, emphasizing the importance of loving God fully.
Teaching Points
Comprehensive Love
Loving God involves every aspect of our being—heart, soul, mind, and strength. This means our emotions, spiritual life, intellect, and physical actions should all reflect our devotion to Him.

Heart
In the original Greek, "heart" refers to the center of our emotions and desires. We are called to align our deepest affections with God's will.

Soul
The Greek word (psyche) indicates our life force or essence. Loving God with our soul means dedicating our very existence to Him.

Mind
The term (dianoia) refers to our intellect and understanding. We are to engage our minds in knowing and loving God, seeking His truth.

Strength
(ischys) implies physical power and capability. Our actions and efforts should demonstrate our love for God.

Holistic Worship
True worship is not confined to a single aspect of life but encompasses all areas, reflecting a holistic devotion to God.
Bible Study Questions
1. How can you practically love God with all your heart in your daily life? Consider your emotions and desires.

2. In what ways can you love God with all your soul, dedicating your life to His purposes?

3. How can you engage your mind more fully in loving God? What steps can you take to grow in your understanding of His Word?

4. What are some practical ways to demonstrate love for God with all your strength in your actions and service?

5. How does loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength influence your relationships with others, as seen in the connection to loving your neighbor?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Jesus quotes this foundational Jewish text, known as the Shema, which commands love for God with all one's heart, soul, and strength.

Matthew 22:37-40
A parallel account where Jesus also emphasizes the greatest commandment and connects it to loving one's neighbor.

Luke 10:27
Another parallel passage where Jesus affirms the command to love God and neighbor, highlighting the comprehensive nature of this love.

Romans 12:1-2
Paul speaks about offering our bodies as living sacrifices, which aligns with loving God with all our strength.

1 John 4:19
This verse reminds us that our love for God is a response to His love for us, providing a foundation for understanding the commandment.
Do You Love JesusJ. Vaughan, M. A.Mark 12:30
How it is that We Love GodJ. Vaughan, M. A.Mark 12:30
I Should Just Like to Point You to a Few Ways by Which We May Show Our Love to GodJ. Vaughan, M. A.Mark 12:30
LoveAnon.Mark 12:30
Love BuriedJ. Vaughan, M. A.Mark 12:30
Love for God At the Bottom of EverythingJ. Vaughan, M. A.Mark 12:30
Love for God SupremeJ. Vaughan, M. A.Mark 12:30
Love is the Most Important ThingJoseph Jowett, M. A.Mark 12:30
Love of God Peculiar to ChristianityJ. Vaughan, M. A.Mark 12:30
Love to GodH. Kollock, D. D.Mark 12:30
Love to God and MenA. H. Currier.Mark 12:30
Love to God Contrasted with not Loving HimBishop Simpson.Mark 12:30
Love to God Secures All BlessingsMark 12:30
Love to God the Supreme FeelingThomas Brooks.Mark 12:30
Loving Those Like GodJ. Vaughan, M. A.Mark 12:30
Of Loving GodSamuel Clarke, D. D.Mark 12:30
On the Love of GodJ. Seed, D. D.Mark 12:30
Supreme Love to God Impossible Without a SaviourChristian AgeMark 12:30
Supreme Love to God, the Chief Duty of ManMark 12:30
The First and Great CommandmentCharles Haddon Spurgeon Mark 12:30
The Great CommandmentMark 12:30
The Great CommandmentC. S. Robinson, D. D.Mark 12:30
The Life of Christian ConsecrationH. W. Beecher.Mark 12:30
The Mind's LoveIsaac Williams, M. A.Mark 12:30
The Nature of Love to GodJohn James.Mark 12:30
The Nature of Our Love to ChristC. H. Spurgeon.Mark 12:30
The Properties of LoveG. Petter.Mark 12:30
The Two Great Commandments: All True Love is OneHamilton.Mark 12:30
Thy GodJ. Vaughan, M. A.Mark 12:30
Question About the Greatest CommandmentJ.J. Given Mark 12:28-34
The Essence of ReligionE. Johnson Mark 12:28-34
The Great CommandR. Green Mark 12:28- 34
The Law Akin to the Gospel, But Inferior to itA.F. Muir Mark 12:28-34
People
David, Herodians, Isaac, Jacob, Jesus
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Command, Commandment, Heart, Love, Mind, Soul, Strength, Understanding
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Mark 12:30

     5015   heart, and Holy Spirit
     5334   health
     5894   intelligence
     8208   commitment, to God
     8223   dedication
     8239   earnestness
     8402   claims
     8625   worship, acceptable attitudes
     8752   false worship

Mark 12:24-31

     2363   Christ, preaching and teaching

Mark 12:28-30

     1651   numbers, 1-2

Mark 12:28-31

     2048   Christ, love of
     8405   commands, in NT

Mark 12:28-34

     5381   law, letter and spirit
     8452   neighbours, duty to

Mark 12:28-40

     7552   Pharisees, attitudes to Christ

Mark 12:29-30

     8138   monotheism
     8297   love, for God

Mark 12:29-31

     2057   Christ, obedience
     8296   love, nature of
     8412   decisions

Mark 12:29-34

     5379   law, Christ's attitude

Library
God's Last Arrow
'Having yet therefore one son, his well-beloved, he sent him also last unto them.'--Mark xii. 6. Reference to Isaiah v. There are differences in detail here which need not trouble us. Isaiah's parable is a review of the theocratic history of Israel, and clearly the messengers are the prophets; here Christ speaks of Himself and His own mission to Israel, and goes on to tell of His death as already accomplished. I. The Son who follows and surpasses the servants. (a) Our Lord here places Himself in
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Dishonest Tenants
'And He began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. 2. And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. 3. And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. 4. And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Not Far and not In
'Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.'--Mark xii. 34, 'A bruised reed He will not break, and the smoking flax He will not quench.' Here is Christ's recognition of the low beginnings of goodness and faith. This is a special case of a man who appears to have fully discerned the spirituality and inwardness of law, and to have felt that the one bond between God and man was love. He needed only to have followed out the former thought to have been smitten by the conviction of his own sinfulness, and
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Marvels of Holy Scripture, --Moral and Physical. --Jael's Deed Defended. --Miracles vindicated.
Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the Scriptures, neither the power of God. ON a certain occasion, the Son of Man was asked what was thought a hard question by those who, in His day, professed "the negative Theology [588] ." There was a moral and there was physical marvel to be solved. Both difficulties were met by a single sentence. The Sadducean judgment had gone astray from the Truth, (planasthe our Saviour said,) from a twofold cause: (1) The men did not understand those very Scriptures
John William Burgon—Inspiration and Interpretation

Obedience to God the Way to Faith in Christ.
"When Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, He said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God."--Mark xii. 34. The answer of the scribe, which our blessed Lord here commends, was occasioned by Christ's setting before him the two great commandments of the Law. When He had declared the love of God and of man to comprehend our whole duty, the scribe said, "Master, Thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but He: and to love Him with all the heart, and with
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

The Unity of the Divine Being
"There is one God." Mark 12:32. 1. And as there is one God, so there is one religion and one happiness for all men. God never intended there should be any more; and it is not possible there should. Indeed, in another sense, as the Apostle observes, "there are gods many, and lords many." All the heathen nations had their gods; and many, whole shoals of them. And generally, the more polished they were, the more gods they heaped up to themselves. But to us, to all that are favoured with the Christian
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

For the Candid and Thoughtful
It strikes me that this scribe was half-hearted in the work of tempting our Lord, even at the first. I should imagine him to have been a very superior man amongst his fellows, a man of greater light and discernment than the rest, and of greater ability in statement and discussion. Possibly for this cause his brother scribes selected him, and put him forward to ask the testing questions. Now, it will sometimes happen that a man is thrust forward by others to do what he would never have thought of
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 26: 1880

The First and Great Commandment
It is "the first commandment," again, not only for antiquity, but for dignity. This command, which deals with God the Almighty must ever take precedence of every other. Other commandments deal with man and man, but this with man and his Creator. Other commands of a ceremonial kind, when disobeyed, may involve but slight consequences upon the person who may happen to offend, but this disobeyed provokes the wrath of God, and brings his ire at once upon the sinner's head. He that stealeth committeth
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857

Observing the Offerings and Widow's Mites.
(in the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, a.d. 30.) ^B Mark XII. 41-44; ^C Luke XXI. 1-4. ^b 41 And he sat down over against the treasury [It is said that in the court of the women there were cloisters or porticos, and under the shelter of these were placed thirteen chests with trumpet-shaped mouths into which offerings might be dropped. The money cast in was for the benefit of the Temple. An inscription on each chest showed to which one of the thirteen special items of cost or expenditure the contents would
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

A Serious Persuasive to Such a Method of Spending Our Days as is Represented in the Former Chapter.
1, 2. Christians fix their views too low, and indulge too indolent a disposition, which makes it more necessary to urge such a life as that under consideration.--3. It is therefore enforced, from its being apparently reasonable, considering ourselves as the creatures of God, and as redeemed by the blond of Christ.--4. From its evident tendency to conduce to our comfort in life.--5. From the influence it will have to promote our usefulness to others.--6. From its efficacy to make afflictions lighter.--7.
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul

The Cross as a Social Principle
Social Redemption is Wrought by Vicarious Suffering DAILY READINGS First Day: The Prophetic Succession And he began to speak unto them in parables. A man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a pit for the winepress, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into another country. And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruits of the vineyard. And they took him, and beat him, and sent him away empty.
Walter Rauschenbusch—The Social Principles of Jesus

Whether to the Words, "Thou Shalt Love the Lord Thy God with Thy Whole Heart," it was Fitting to Add "And with Thy Whole Soul, and with Thy Whole Strength"?
Objection 1: It would seem that it was unfitting to the words, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart," to add, "and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength" (Dt. 6:5). For heart does not mean here a part of the body, since to love God is not a bodily action: and therefore heart is to be taken here in a spiritual sense. Now the heart understood spiritually is either the soul itself or part of the soul. Therefore it is superfluous to mention both heart and soul. Objection
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

The Tribute Money
"And they send unto Him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, that they might catch Him in talk. And when they were come, they say unto Him, Master, we know that Thou art true, and carest not for any one: for Thou regardest not the person of men, but of a truth teachest the way of God: Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? Shall we give, or shall we not give? But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye Me? bring Me a penny, that I may see it. And they brought
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

Christ and the Sadduccees
"And there come unto Him Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection: and they asked Him, saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother die, and leave a wife behind him, and leave no child, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. There were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed; and the second took her, and died, leaving no seed behind him; and the third likewise: and the seven left no seed. Last of all the woman also
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

The Discerning Scribe
"And one of the scribes came, and heard them questioning together, and knowing that He had answered them well, asked Him, What commandment is the first of all? Jesus answered, The first is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one: 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. The second is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

David's Lord
"And Jesus answered and said, as He taught in the temple, How say the scribes that the Christ is the Son of David? David himself said in the Holy Spirit,-- The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand, Till I make Thine enemies the footstool of Thy feet. David himself calleth Him Lord; and whence is He his son? And the common people heard Him gladly. And in His teaching He said, Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and to have salutations in the marketplaces, and chief
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

The Widow's Mite
"And He sat down over against the treasury, and beheld how the multitude cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a poor widow, and she cast in two mites, which make a farthing. And He called unto Him His disciples, and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, This poor widow cast in more than all they which are casting into the treasury; for they all did cast in of their superfluity; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living." MARK
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

Talks with Bohler
I asked P. Bohler again whether I ought not to refrain from teaching others. He said, "No; do not hide in the earth the talent God hath given you." Accordingly, on Tuesday, 25, I spoke clearly and fully at Blendon to Mr. Delamotte's family of the nature and fruits of faith. Mr. Broughton and my brother were there. Mr. Broughton's great objection was he could never think that I had not faith, who had done and suffered such things. My brother was very angry and told me I did not know what mischief
John Wesley—The Journal of John Wesley

The Room was Like and Oven
Sunday, 8.--We were at the minster [21] in the morning and at our parish church in the afternoon. The same gentleman preached at both; but though I saw him at the church, I did not know I had ever seen him before. In the morning he was all life and motion; in the afternoon he was as quiet as a post. At five in the evening, the rain constrained me to preach in the oven again. The patience of the congregation surprised me. They seemed not to feel the extreme heat or to be offended at the close application
John Wesley—The Journal of John Wesley

The Morality of the Gospel.
Is stating the morality of the Gospel as an argument of its truth, I am willing to admit two points; first, that the teaching of morality was not the primary design of the mission; secondly, that morality, neither in the Gospel, nor in any other book, can be a subject, properly speaking, of discovery. If I were to describe in a very few words the scope of Christianity as a revelation, [49] I should say that it was to influence the conduct of human life, by establishing the proof of a future state
William Paley—Evidences of Christianity

Prophecy.
PROPHECY. Isaiah iii. 13; liii. "Behold, my servant shall deal prudently; he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonished at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: so shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
William Paley—Evidences of Christianity

In Reply to the Questions as to his Authority, Jesus Gives the Third Great Group of Parables.
(in the Court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, a.d. 30.) Subdivision C. Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen. ^A Matt. XXI. 33-46; ^B Mark XII. 1-12; ^C Luke XX. 9-19. ^b 1 And he began to speak unto them ^c the people [not the rulers] ^b in parables. { ^c this parable:} ^a 33 Hear another parable: There was a man that was a householder [this party represents God], who planted a vineyard [this represents the Hebrew nationality], and set a hedge about it, and digged a ^b pit for the ^a winepress in it
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

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