Not Far from the Kingdom: Mark 12:28-34
A teacher of the law had been listening. Unlike the others, he came with a genuine question, not a trap:
"Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
The rabbis counted 613 commandments in the Torah—248 positive, 365 negative. The debates about priority were endless. This man wanted Jesus' answer.
Jesus replied with the Shema, the prayer every faithful Jew recited twice daily: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."
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