Big Idea: Jesus provides a Christian form of the Jewish Shema (Deut. 6:4–9), labeled by some the “Jesus Creed,”1 which sums up the Ten Commandments: the relationship of the Christian with God (the vertical aspect of life) and with others (the horizontal aspect).
Understanding the Text
The four sections in 12:27–44 form a conclusion to Jesus’s public interaction with the leaders. The next time he sees them will be at his arrest in the garden (14:43–52). The first two sections are part of the controversies of 11:27–12:37, with (1) verses 28–34 ending on a note of victory and clarification of Jesus as the ultimate rabbi/teacher of Torah, and (2) verses 35–37, which may originally have been a controversy narrative2and clarify Jesus even more as the royal Messiah and cosmic Lord.
Interpretiv…