Master, You Got It Right

Mark 12:28-34 (CSB) One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked Him, “Which command is the most important of all?”

29 Jesus answered, “The most important is Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. 31 The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.”

32 Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, teacher. You have correctly said that He is one, and there is no one else except Him. 33 And to love Him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to question him any longer.

Here we have a scribe, one that has studied the scriptures, one that is well respected concerning matters of religion, one that has clout in the community. He is accustomed to teaching others, and they hang on his words.

A man such as this has a real temptation to walk in pride. We see it here. He, like most of the other scribes and Pharisees, cannot receive Jesus as the Messiah. With a teacher’s posture, he asks the Lord a question, and with a teacher’s posture, he evaluates the Lord’s answer. When a man can ask God a question and then evaluate the answer based on his own understanding, this is the worst kind of pride. Does this scribe have even an inkling that the One to whom he speaks is not an ordinary man? No, he does not. His religious pride pushes that possibility far from him. Such a man is a god to himself. He has not humbled himself before God. He will not accept teaching with which he does not agree – even from God. He feels satisfied and justified here because he agrees with the Rabbi Jesus.

Others who approached the Lord were so different, so humble. The Syro-Phoenician woman said, “Even the little dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

The centurion said, “I am not worthy that you should come under my roof.”

Blind Bartimaeus said with deference, “Lord, that I might receive my sight.”

But this guy doesn’t see his needs and wants to get into a discussion about theology. After the Lord answers him, he puts his approval on it: “You are right, teacher. You have correctly said …” How arrogant!

But we do the same thing sometimes. Do we not evaluate the servants of the Lord that we are among? Many dwarf me in the spirit, yet I often tend to listen with such a measuring ear. And there are things the Lord Himself tells me, and yet I respond with a “but, Lord.“ We too try to remain a god to ourselves. Let us quickly humble ourselves.