“And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:”
My Notes
What Does Mark 12:29 Mean?
When asked which commandment is greatest, Jesus quotes the Shema — Israel's foundational confession from Deuteronomy 6:4: "Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord." Before naming the commandment to love God, Jesus establishes the theological foundation: God is one. The identity of God precedes the response to God.
The Shema was recited twice daily by every observant Jew. By quoting it, Jesus grounds the greatest commandment in the most familiar confession. The answer isn't novel — it's the thing they've been saying every morning and evening since childhood. The greatest commandment was always right in front of them.
The declaration that God is one (echad — unified, unique, alone) eliminates divided loyalty. If God is one, your devotion must be singular. The commandment to love God with all your heart (verse 30) flows logically from monotheism: one God demands undivided love.
Reflection Questions
- 1.How does the declaration 'God is one' serve as the foundation for undivided love?
- 2.What familiar spiritual truths have become invisible to you through repetition?
- 3.Where is your devotion divided between the one God and other loyalties?
- 4.What would it look like to give all your heart, soul, mind, and strength to the one Lord?
Devotional
Before Jesus tells you what to do (love God), he tells you who God is (one Lord). The identity comes before the instruction. You can't obey the greatest commandment without understanding the theological truth beneath it: there is one God. And one God demands one devotion.
The Shema was the first prayer a Jewish child learned and the last words on a dying person's lips. "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord." Every morning and every evening, Israel confessed the oneness of God. It was so familiar it could become invisible — the prayer you say without hearing anymore.
Jesus makes the most familiar prayer the answer to the most important question. The greatest commandment isn't some obscure teaching. It's the thing you've been saying twice a day since you were old enough to speak. The scribe who asked the question already knew the answer — he just needed someone to name it.
The oneness of God is the foundation of undivided love. If there were multiple gods, you could distribute your devotion. But one God means one loyalty. The heart, soul, mind, and strength that follow (verse 30) are the total human capacity directed toward the single divine reality. There's no remainder. No leftover devotion for a second god. One God gets all of you.
This is both the simplest and the hardest thing in the Bible: there is one God, and he gets everything. Not some of your heart. All of it.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And the second is like,.... "Unto it", as in Mat 22:39 and so it is read here in two ancient copies of Beza's, and in…
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The scribes and Pharisees were (however bad otherwise) enemies to the Sadducees; now one would have expected that, when…
And Jesus answered him Pointing, it may be, to the Scribe's tephillah, תפלה, the little leather box containing in one of…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture