aw, and had
supplemented even the minutest subdivision with rules of their own
contriving. Now came the Pharisee asking which of all these requirements
was the greatest.[1122] To love God with all one's heart and soul and
mind is to serve Him and keep all His commandments. To love one's
neighbor as one's self is to be a brother in the broadest and, at the
same time, the most exacting sense of the term. Therefore the
commandment to love God and man is the greatest, on the basis of the
simple and mathematical truth that the whole is greater than any part.
What need of the decalog could there be if mankind would obey this first
and great and all-embracing commandment? The Lord's reply to the
question was convincing even to the learned scribe who had acted as
spokesman for his Pharisaic colleagues. The man was honest enough to
admit the righteousness and wisdom on which the reply was grounded, and
impulsively he voiced acceptance, saying, "Well, Master, thou hast said
the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to
love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with
all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as
himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." Jesus
was no whit less prompt than the well-intending scribe in acknowledging
merit in the words of an opponent; and to the man He gave the
encouraging assurance: "Thou art not far from the kingdom of God." As to
whether the scribe remained firm in purpose and eventually gained
entrance into that blessed abode, the scriptural record is silent.

JESUS TURNS QUESTIONER.[1123]

Sadducees, Herodians, Pharisees, lawyers, and scribes, all had in turn
met discomfiture and defeat in their efforts to entangle Jesus on
questions of doctrine or practise, and had utterly failed to incite Him
to any act or utterance on which they could lawfully charge Him with
offense. Having so effectually silenced all who had ventured to
challenge Him to debate, either covertly or with open intent, that "no
man after that durst ask him any question," Jesus in turn became the
aggressive interrogator. Turning to the Pharisees, who had clustered
together for greater facility in consultation, Jesus began a colloquy
which proceeded as follows:

"What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of
David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord,
saying, The Lord said unto my