Tidbits from the Gospel of Mark (Jesus, Moses, Kingdom, disciples)

[angellous_evangellous]

12.30 ‘And you will love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your self and with all of your strength.’


For the greatest commandment, I rendered the Greek psyche as 'self' rather than 'soul' appreciating the theological and philosophical baggage associated with the word 'soul.' I don't think that the Gospel presents any kind of material that would help us locate the inner self with some kind of philosophically or theologically defined inner essence.

So I will stick with "self" here.

[angellous_evangellous]

This one is important. I am calling it the "anti-parable." The Gospel couches this in the format of Jesus' parables, but it is from the mouths of his enemies. This is perhaps the most rhetorically significant portion of Mark in this respect in the first twelve chapters.


Mark 12.18-27
And the Saducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and questioned him saying:

“If a man dies and leaves behind a wife and leaves no children, so that his brother takes the woman in order to raise up seed for his brother. There were seven brothers, and the first took a wife and dying he left no offspring. And the second took her and died leaving no offspring, and the third likewise. And the seventh did not leave offspring. Last of all the woman died also. In the resurrection, whose wife will she be? For the seven of them had her as a wife.”

Jesus answered them: Are you misguided because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they will not marry or be married, but will be as angels in heaven. But concerning the dead - that they are raised - have you not read in the Book of Moses, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob?’ He is not God of the dead but of the living. You are greatly mislead.

[angellous_evangellous]

It is interesting and perhaps significant that the Gospel formulates the greatest commandment not as an imperative but as a future tense. An imperative would be positive or negative "you shall" or "you shall not." I found it curious that the Gospel uses a positive future "you will love." This leaves it sort of open-ended for us to imagine why - will God treat his people in such a manner that they "fall in love" with God, will God force it, or should the people compel themselves?


12.28 And one of the scribes came to him having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that he had answered them well, questioned him, ‘Which of the commandments is first of all?’


12.29 Jesus answered, ‘The first one is, ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord your God is one

12.30 ‘And you will love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your self and with all of your strength.’

avgaph,seij verb indicative future active 2nd person singular from avgapa,w

12.31 The second is this, ‘You will love your neighbor as yourself. There are no greater commandments than these

[angellous_evangellous]

The greatest commandment comes together - along with several other teachings - come together with the story of the widow's penny. She gave two thin copper pieces that together were worth the smallest Roman coin and Jesus said:

12.42b ‘Truly I say to you, that this poor widow has cast in more than all the ones who threw into the treasury.’


12.44 For they gave from their wealth, but she from her poverty gave all that she had, her whole livelihood.

This is phrased the same as loving God with ones whole heart - she gave from her own bios (life), which sums up the heart, self, and strength. Earlier Jesus taught that it was difficult for rich people to enter into the kingdom of heaven. The disciples asked, 'Who then can enter?' One such as this, who is like a little child, trusting in God. Here the rich and poor are contrasted again, with the poor commended.

[angellous_evangellous]

This is interesting. The word translated as "rumors" of wars is most commonly used of true hearings. That is, the word is used very often in the NT to mean "report" or "hearing." To my ears, 'rumor' seems like something which may or more likely is not happening.

NKJ Mark 13:7 "But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.

Angellousian "And when you hear of wars and reports of war, that must happen, but the end is not yet (come)."

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Originally Posted by angellous_evangellous

For the greatest commandment, I rendered the Greek psyche as 'self' rather than 'soul' appreciating the theological and philosophical baggage associated with the word 'soul.' I don't think that the Gospel presents any kind of material that would help us locate the inner self with some kind of philosophically or theologically defined inner essence.

So I will stick with "self" here.

"Mind" wouldn't work?

Originally Posted by angellous_evangellous

It is interesting and perhaps significant that the Gospel formulates the greatest commandment not as an imperative but as a future tense. An imperative would be positive or negative "you shall" or "you shall not." I found it curious that the Gospel uses a positive future "you will love." This leaves it sort of open-ended for us to imagine why - will God treat his people in such a manner that they "fall in love" with God, will God force it, or should the people compel themselves?

Interesting. You make it sound like those two commandments are framed as a prophesy, not as instructions. It's the difference between the ideas of "you must love God" and "you will love God".

I'm not sure why these statements would be called "commandments", though, if they're some sort of inescapable result of our circumstances or compulsion from God. It wouldn't make much sense to say "it is imperative that you do what God will force you to do", would it?