Patrick Comerford
We have moved in the Church Calendar from Ordinary Time to the Kingdom Season, the time between All Saints and Advent. In the Church Calendar, we have celebrated All Saints’ Day (1 November) and commemorated All Souls’ Day (2 November). Today is the Fourth Sunday before Advent (3 November 2024), although many churches and parishes are marking today as All Saints’ Day.
I hope to attend the Cathedral Eucharist in Saint Thomas’s Cathedral, Kuching this morning, when the Revd Roannie W Cannidy is presiding and the preacher is the Revd Ralphael Rueben. Later today, we plan to celebrate our first wedding anniversary.
But, before today begins, before having breakfast, I am taking some quiet time early this morning to give thanks, and for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:
1, today’s Gospel reading;
2, a short reflection;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;
4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.
Mark 12: 28-34 (NRSVA):
28 One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ 29 Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 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.” 31 The second is this, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ 32 Then the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that “he is one, and besides him there is no other”; 33 and “to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength”, and “to love one’s neighbour as oneself”, – this is much more important than all whole 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.’ After that no one dared to ask him any question.
Today’s Reflection:
In the Gospel reading last Sunday (27 October 2024, the Last Sunday after Trinity), Jesus sets out on the road from Jericho to Jerusalem (see Mark 10: 46-52).
In the interval, the narrative of Saint Mark’s Gospel continues with Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Mark 11: 1-11), which we read this year on Palm Sunday (24 March 2024).
The lectionary skips over the Palm Sunday story this week, and the cleansing of the Temple (Mark 11: 12-19).
The setting for the Gospel reading this morning is the Temple in Jerusalem, where Jesus is teaching in the Temple after his entry into Jerusalem, where the Chief Priests, the scribes and the elders have challenged his authority to teach (Mark 11: 27-33), where he has been challenged by some Pharisees and Herodians (Mark 12: 13-17), and where some Sadducees question him too (Mark 12: 18-27).
Now it is the turn of Scribes. A scribe who has overheard all these questions, answers and arguments is impressed by Jesus’s answers and the way in which he has avoided falling into the traps laid for him. This scribe has a question of his own, but he is asking genuinely without seeking to set another trap for Jesus.
The scribes pay attention to the law and have intimate knowledge of its content. They are responsible for making copies of the law and teaching it to others (see Ezra 7: 6; Ezra 7: 10-12; Nehemiah 8: 1, 4, 9, 13). For example, Ezra ‘was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses’ (Ezra 7: 6).
In the Gospel narratives, the scribes are usually Pharisees, although not all are Pharisees (see Matthew 5: 20, 12: 38). They support but sometimes also supplement the written law with their traditions (see Matthew 23: 2). In the Gospels, the titles ‘scribes’ and ‘lawyers’ are often interchangeable (see Matthew 22: 35; Mark 12: 28; Luke 20: 39). They are the public teachers of the people, and frequently they come into collision with Christ. Later, many scribes are hostile to the apostles (see Acts 4: 5, 6: 12).
The scribes are teachers of the people (Mark 1: 22) and interpreters of the Law. They are widely respected by the community because of their knowledge, dedication, and law-keeping. They act responsibly and seriously in their task of preserving Scripture, and are faithful in the study of Scripture, particularly the Law and how it should be followed. They copy and recopy the Bible meticulously, even counting letters and spaces to ensure each copy is correct.
They are professional at spelling out the letter of the Law, although in the Gospels they are often accused of ignoring the spirit behind the law, so that the regulations and traditions added to the Law become more important than the Law itself. They know the Law and they teach it to others, but do not always honour the spirit of the Law.
There is a contrast in the passages immediately before this reading: while Jesus teaches with personal authority (see Mark 11: 27-33), no Scribe ever gave an independent judgment or a decision on his own, but would begin, ‘There is a teaching that …’
The scribe in today’s reading asks Jesus in the Temple, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ (Mark 12: 28).
There are 613 commandments, precepts or mitzvot in Jewish law. They include positive commandments, to perform an act (mitzvot aseh), and negative commandments, to abstain from certain acts (mitzvot lo taaseh). The negative commandments number 365, which coincides with the number of days in the solar year, and the positive commandments number 248, said to be the number of bones and main organs in the human body (Babylonian Talmud, Makkot 23b–24a).
The number of tzitzit or knotted fringes of the tallit or prayer shawl worn by pious Jews at prayer is connected to the 613 commandments: the Hebrew numerical value of the word tzitzit is 600; each tassel has eight threads (when doubled over) and five sets of knots, totalling 13; the sum of these numbers is 613. This reflects the idea that donning a tallit or prayer shawl with tzitzit reminds the person who wears of taking on or being wrapped in all 613 Torah commandments.
Later in this chapter, in the reading provided for the following Sunday (Mark 12: 38-44), Christ refers to the fashion of the scribes walking around in long robes (Mark 12: 38), perhaps a reference to an ostentatious display of prayer shawls that indicate a claim to observing each and every one of the 613 commandments. But this scribe wants to know which of one of these 613 is the most important.
In his reply, Christ offers not one but two commandments or laws. But it is interesting to notice how neither is quoted from the Ten Commandments (see Exodus 20: 1-17 and Deuteronomy 5: 4-21). Instead, Christ steps outside the Ten Commandments and quotes from Deuteronomy 6: 4-5 and Leviticus 19: 18.
The first command Christ quotes is the shema, ‘Hear, O Israel …’ (verse 29), recited twice daily by pious Jews. The shema became a prayer composed from Deuteronomy 6: 4-9 and 11: 13-21, and to this day it is recited twice a day in Jewish practice.
Christ links this first commandment to a second, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’ (verse 31). Once again, he is not quoting from the Ten Commandments; instead, here he is quoting Leviticus 19: 18.
Christ combines these two precepts into a moral principle, linked by love. But he is not the first, nor is he the last, to do this, and the combination is not unique for the scribes or the Pharisees.
Hillel the Elder (ca 110 BCE to 10 CE), who was asked a similar question, cited this verse as the most important message of the Torah for his teachings. Once, Hillel was challenged by a gentile who asked to be converted on condition that the Torah was explained to him while he stood on one foot. Hillel accepted him as a candidate for conversion to Judaism but, drawing on Leviticus 19:18, told the man: ‘Do not do to anyone else what is hateful to you: this is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn’ (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbath 31a).
The scribe agrees with Jesus and elaborates. Both precepts are much more important than all the burnt-offerings and sacrifices in the Temple (verses 32-33). For responding in this way, Christ tells this scribe that he has answered wisely and is near the kingdom of God (verse 34). And that silenced everyone who was listening, and it put an end to the debates … for the moment.
The ‘Golden Rule,’ the principle of treating others as one would wish to be treated by others, is a maxim found in many religions and cultures. The Golden Rule may have been first codified in Babylon in the Code of Hammurabi stele and tablets (ca 1754 BCE). A partial copy exists on a 2.25 metre stone stele, now in the Louvre in Paris, and a copy is on display in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.
The term ‘Golden Rule’ or ‘Golden Law’ began to be used widely in the early 17th century in England by Anglican theologians and preachers. The earliest known usage is that of Anglicans Charles Gibbon and Thomas Jackson in 1604.
It is interesting that on three occasions Saint Paul presents the second of these commandments, and not the combination of the two, as the summary of the Law:
‘… for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law’ (Romans 13: 9); ‘love is the fulfilling of the law’ (Romans 13: 10); and, ‘For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself”.’ (Galatian 5: 14).
Saint James offers the same emphasis, ‘You do well if you really fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself”.’ (James 2: 8).
Today’s Prayers (Sunday 3 November 2024, Fourth Sunday before Advent):
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Conflict, Confluence and Creativity’. This theme is introduced today with reflections by Rebecca Boardman, former Operations Manager, USPG:
One year ago, USPG launched FeAST, the Fellowship of Anglican Scholars of Theology. The network seeks to build an open table; a space of mutual challenge and sharing through which a new community of Anglican scholars, engaged in the academic pursuit of theology, can be built. It has been exciting to see it flourish in its inaugural year.
A highlight of the year was the e-conference held on 5 December 2023 which drew together over 40 scholars and practitioners from around the Anglican Communion. The day sought to look afresh at the Anglican Communion’s Five Marks of Mission which have been an adopted framework for mission over the past 40 years and, in many ways, have been a marker of contemporary Anglican identity.
As a mission agency that rethinks mission and seeks to be at the cutting edge of missional thinking, we welcome the space to revisit the rationale, role and relevance of these marks in the reimagination of mission.
As FeAST continues to grow in 2024, we hope that through ongoing events and publications of the network, we are celebrating the diversity, creativity, critical edge, and courage that emerge when we extend the table and build a wider community of scholars.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Sunday 3 November 2024, Fourth Sunday before Advent) invites us to pray:
Healing God,
May we look to you in uncertain times.
Let us take the words of your Son to heart:
‘Do not fear, only believe’.
The Collect:
Almighty and eternal God,
you have kindled the flame of love
in the hearts of the saints:
grant to us the same faith and power of love,
that, as we rejoice in their triumphs,
we may be sustained by their example and fellowship;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Post Communion Prayer:
Lord of heaven,
in this eucharist you have brought us near
to an innumerable company of angels
and to the spirits of the saints made perfect:
as in this food of our earthly pilgrimage
we have shared their fellowship,
so may we come to share their joy in heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
God of glory,
touch our lips with the fire of your Spirit,
that we with all creation
may rejoice to sing your praise;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s Reflection
Continued Tomorrow
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
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