READING 28

  1. Read the headings in Mark 12:28-44.

  2. Highlight verses 29-31, 36, and 43-44 of chapter 12.

  3. Read Mark 12:28-44.

  4. Consider the following questions.

What are some of your "house rules"?  What is the most important unspoken "commandment" at work?


Read the explanation to the First Commandment in Luther's Small Catechism
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"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength... and love your neighbor as yourself."  What makes these two commandments the greatest?  How do they relate to the Ten Commandments?


Have you ever been in a situation where you felt a tension between loving God and loving your neighbor?


Are you better at loving God or at loving your neighbor? How do you relate these two types of love in your own life?


FYI: Psalm 110:1 is quoted by Jesus in verse 36.  In the Hebrew of the Psalm, the first line reads, "The Lord [i.e., God] said to my lord [i.e., my master]."  Originally the psalm was written by someone to honor the king, his lord and master, but Jesus explores and fulfills its prophetic possiblity.


As in 12:41, how would you feel if Jesus was watching as the offering plate went by you?


What's the point of Jesus' comparison?  When is 'more' actually 'less'?  When is a 'little' a 'lot'?