Introduction
Again, we have a decision. It’s a little less cut and dry this week as John’s Lazarus story (John 11:32-44) is a really beautiful text. But again, I would encourage you to stick with Mark this week even though it’s All Saints (although I would not blame you for picking John).
But here’s a little of my rationale and it comes in two parts. First, Lazarus doesn’t stay dead. This is part of the reason that I don’t love preaching Lazarus at a funeral because technically Lazarus doesn’t die and therefore the message that we give is a little bit of false hope (I’m being nitpicky here). One of the first rules of pastoral care around death is that you have to acknowledge that it has happened. The person is gone. We have to acknowledge the loss and let the grieving start before jumping to platitudes and resurrection promise. The story of Lazarus muddies those waters. Because although we hear about Mary’s grieving, Jesus does not do pastoral care well (in terms of our pastoral care practices) and instead raises Lazarus from the dead and immediately alleviates the grieving of Mary and Martha. That’s not something that we can do and it’s not necessarily something that we should model as how God acts in this world. And so, I don’t love Lazarus for funerals.
And it’s why I don’t love Lazarus for All Saints either. All Saints is not a funeral. We are not reburying those who have died in the last year. But this is also not necessarily the right moment to jump into resurrection either. Grieving takes time. And a month, or three months, or a year, isn’t necessarily long enough either.
But it is a moment as the Church when we can remind friends and families that we have not forgotten their loss. One of the things that I hear time and time again is that around the time a loved one’s death (maybe for two weeks), a person is inundated with cards, flowers, texts, and calls, all to express care and support. It’s overwhelming how much the love pours in and it can almost be too much. It’s so much, all at once, when there’s already so many emotions being processed, that the person may barely be able to feel the love and the person may not be able to start the process of grieving (as they respond to the messages, navigate the logistical and legal details, and get adjusted to a new lifestyle). And then two weeks after the funeral, it gets deadly quiet. Maybe a stray text or card comes through. But all of a sudden, the world seems to move on, and the family is left to sit in their grief. And maybe a question begins, “Will anyone remember this?” All Saints is a moment as the Church when we can remind friends and families that we have not forgotten and that we are still here to walk alongside them.
All Saints is a remembrance and celebration of those who have gone before us. We remember their life and in doing so, we affirm that we are walking alongside all of those who are grieving.
So how does Mark help with this?
This Week’s Narrative Context
First let’s start with some context and then we’ll jump into the All Saints connection.
So, we’ve jumped ahead quite a bit since last week. Last week, Jesus was leaving Jericho when he heard and healed Bartimaeus. But between then and now, Jesus rides into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday), the following day he drives the money changers out of the temple (after cursing a fig tree in hanger), and now he is again in Jerusalem in the temple, and he is telling parables and holding court with different religious leaders. In Mark it starts (11:27) with the chief priests, scribes, and elders, who question is authority but who leave him in 12:12. Then it is the Pharisees and some Herodians (12:13) who test him with the coin. Then some Sadducees join (12:18) and try to trick Jesus with a question that assumes the resurrection (when the Sadducees don’t believe in resurrection). And then that gets us to today.
A scribe hears the disputing but has heard Jesus answer well. And so, he comes with a genuine question.
Now we as the audience are being directed to hear this as a genuine question but Jesus is facing test after test. He doesn’t know initially that this is a genuine question. Additionally, scribes have been some of the most consistent opponents of Jesus in the Gospel. So, Jesus very well may be defensive as he is approached yet again. And the scribe asks, “Which commandment is the first of all?”
Pausing for just a second and borrowing from my Matthew 22:34-46 commentary:
This was a typical rabbinical question. With 613 commands in the Torah, what should take priority? It’s a fair conversation and a fair debate. R. Alan Culpepper recounts two good stories of this. There is the famous story of Hillel. “When a gentile challenged Hillel, saying that he would become a proselyte if Hillel could teach him the whole law while he stood on one foot, Hillel replied, ‘What you yourself hate, do not do to your neighbor: this is the whole Torah, while the rest is the commentary thereof; go and learn it’ (b. Šabb. 31a; cf. Matt 7:12).”
And another, “Similarly, the oral tradition of the Pharisees records that Simeon the Just used to say, ‘By three things is the world sustained: by the Law, by the [Temple-]service [or worship], and by deeds of lovingkindness” (m. Abot 1.2).”[1]
These are cherished stories, and the Hillel story in particular is supposed to show wisdom and make you chuckle, right? The absurdity of the challenge is met with almost flippant simplicity.
This is clearly the trajectory that Mark takes. The scribe is sincere in this question, wanting to know Jesus’ take in this matter and it follows closely in this tradition that we hear in the two accounts above.
But there is brilliance in how Mark is a part of this larger tradition and how he’s connecting it to the larger narrative. So, there are a few things to look at with the question. First, is the word “first.” In Matthew the question is asked as “What is the greatest commandment?” But in Mark, this scribe asks, “What commandment is first of all?”
This should immediately cause us to tilt our head. It’s an odd phrasing. Yes, the Shema is the first in the order of commandments (the 10 Commandments) and would have been the most well-known as it was part of most daily prayers from the time of Moses (see Deut 6:4-9). Culpepper writes, “Moses instructed the Israelites to keep these verses in their hearts, discuss them with their children, and recite them morning and evening. Although the practice of reciting the Shema daily originated much earlier, the earliest reference to it is in Let. Aris. 160 (2nd c. BCE; see Josephus, Ant. 4.212). All men and boys above the age of twelve were expected to observe this practice, which was later followed by the recitation of the eighteen benedictions.”[2]
And so, Jesus begins to answer with the literal answer but also the most traditional one, “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.’”
But this word “first” should still give us pause. After all the debates, tests, and questioning, from the other religious leaders there has to be more to this question, even though the scribe is coming to Jesus genuinely there is still a test in here.
So, looking into it, when has Mark used the word “first” (πρώτη).
Mark 9:35 He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”
Mark 10:31 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
Mark 10:44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.
Jesus continues, “31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Jesus subverts the question by adding a second commandment. One that is already found in the Hebrew Scriptures (Lev. 19:18). But that’s not the only way that it’s subverted, and it is the scribe that begins to lead us to the greater interpretation/subversion. “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 neighbor as oneself’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
The scribe rightly makes the jump that to love God is to love our neighbor. And his next line is one that almost makes the complete jump. He says, “this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” In the place of the temple, where worship of God is paramount, the scribe says that it is more important to love one’s neighbor than it is to give sacrifice (worship) to God.
And Jesus says, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” Remember, Jesus has been talking about an in-breaking kingdom. This is an apocalyptic Gospel. God is being revealed in Christ. The kingdom of God is breaking in through Christ. And so, Jesus indicates that the scribe is almost there. Almost seeing the kingdom as it is meant to be. So, where’s the missing link?
Jesus Incarnate Subverts the Commandments
Mark 9:35 He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”
Mark 10:31 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
Mark 10:44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.
But here’s all of 10:43-45:
43But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
Cue flashback montage: The Son of Man came to serve. To be first is to be last. What commandment is the first of all? Here is the second. To love neighbor is to love God. I do not require burnt offerings.
Jesus in his double answer is subverting the very first commandment and placing the second commandment before it. God does not demand worship (Mark 12:33; Isaiah 1:13-14; Amos 5:21-23) above all else. God wants God’s people to love one another. Jesus, God incarnate, is flipping the commandment order. To love our neighbor is to love God.
If Jesus came to serve, then Jesus is not demanding that the first commandment be to love God. Jesus is saying that the first commandment is to love our neighbor. It is only then that we are loving God. To love God is to love neighbor. To love neighbor is to love God.
This is the essence of God. The Alpha and Omega. The beginning and the end. The first and the last. This is the essence of Christ. Christ with me. Christ before me. Christ behind me.
In the place of the temple (which Jesus will soon say will be destroyed – Mark 13:1-2), Jesus is reorienting religious life from ritual obligation to relational love.
God comes to be with us, as one of us. God comes in form of Christ, to be in relationship with us. Choosing to be last of all and servant of all in order to love us fully. Giving the example of how we should love one another. It’s no wonder that the Gospel of John takes this commandment in this direction. Jesus/God subverts God’s authority (as first), placing God second (last) to all our neighbors.
Jesus says, “You are not far from the kingdom.” It’s not about a life to come for Mark. The kingdom of God is breaking into the world through this subversion. It’s not about strict adherence to rituals (temple and divorce), or proper order (of commandments or teachings), or right authority (temple or Rome or religious sect), but about a kingdom where love manifests in the service of one another. This is the kind of kingdom Jesus is proclaiming—a radical, upside-down kingdom where love is at the center.
Preaching Possibilities
All Saints Connection
Jesus is constantly pointing to relational love and caring for one another. And All Saints is a time when as a congregation we can lean into that love more fully. Are we lifting up the names for God’s sake? No, we lift up the names for those in our communities who are continuing to grieve and mourn. It is an opportunity for us to remember that grief together. To wrap those members of our community in love and ensure that they know that they are not alone. The act of loving God this day, of worshiping God this day, is loving one another in this time of grief. Being there for one another and embodying the presence of Christ with each other. Christ with us, before us, behind us, beside us. We embody Christ and love Christ within this action of loving our neighbor.
And the promise is there too. God, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last, is there with those who have gone before and us and is with us here and now but also in the time to come. All Saints is truly that. All Saints. Those before, those now, and those to come. God as the Alpha and Omega who holds past, present, and future together. It is this promise that brings comfort that God’s love binds us to those who have passed and sustains us as we continue on.
Election Connection
In the midst of campaign rhetoric, heated debates, and polarized opinions, this text challenges us to ask: What does it mean to love our neighbors as ourselves in this season? As political tensions rise, it is easy to see neighbors as adversaries and opponents (think of the scribes and Jesus) rather than as children of God. Jesus’ commandment reminds us that our ultimate allegiance is not to a party or platform but to the relational love that reflects the Kingdom of God. Our congregations might find themselves grappling with how to embody this love, even in the face of disagreement. How can we maintain a focus on the dignity of every person, regardless of their political stance, and how can we care for and love those who been the most impacted and harmed by this political season?
Moreover, the scribe’s acknowledgment that loving God and neighbor is greater than sacrifices points us toward a way of engaging in the world that prioritizes service over power. In the context of the election, this serves as a reminder that leadership (whether political or within the church) should be about serving the common good, not merely advancing self-interest or exerting dominance. Jesus’ model of servant leadership challenges the rhetoric of power that often accompanies elections. It prompts us to consider how we might reflect this posture of service in our conversations, our choices, and our witness during this time. As we vote, advocate, and engage in the public sphere, we are called to prioritize policies and practices that uplift the vulnerable, stand for justice, and advocate for peace.
Finally, just as All Saints Day creates space for grief and memory, the time around an election can be one of both hope and sorrow. We may grieve the deep divisions in our nation, or the ways the political process has caused harm to communities. Yet, the promise that God is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, offers a hope that God is still at work in the world, even when the outcomes of elections may not align with our hopes. The church can be a place that holds space for both the grief and the hope of this moment, trusting in God’s presence and promise through it all.
[1] R. Alan Culpepper, Matthew, 431.
[2] Culpepper, 431.
Micah Krey 
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