Mark 12:24-37

24Jesus said to the Sadducees, ‘You are very wrong. This is because you do not know the Bible. And you do not know how powerful God is.

25All people who have died will become alive again one day. But then men and women will not marry. They will not have husbands or wives. Instead, they will be like the angels in heaven.

26But God does make dead people alive again! You have read what Moses wrote about the bush in the wilderness. There, God said to Moses, “I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. And I am the God of Jacob.”

27God is not the God of people who are dead. He is the God of people who are alive. So you see, you are very wrong.’

28One of the teachers of God's Law came near to the group of people. He heard Jesus speaking with the leaders. The teacher knew that Jesus had answered them well. So then the teacher asked Jesus, ‘Which rule is the most important among God's Laws?’

29Jesus replied, ‘This rule is the most important rule: “Listen, Israel's people! The Lord alone is our God. There is no other Lord.

30Love the Lord, your God completely. Love him with all your mind and with all your strength. Love him in everything that you think and you do.”

31The second most important rule is this: “You should love other people as much as you love yourself.” No other rules are as important as these two.’

32The teacher of God's Law said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, you have answered well. You are right to say that the Lord is the only God. And there is no other God except him.

33We must love him completely, with all our mind and with all our strength. We must also love other people as much as we love ourselves. This is more important than all the gifts or animals that we could offer to God.’

34Jesus heard that the man had answered well. So Jesus said to him, ‘You are almost ready for God to rule in your life.’ After that, everybody was afraid to ask Jesus any more questions.

35Jesus was teaching people in the yard at the temple. He said, ‘The teachers of God's Law say that the Messiah is King David's son. What do you think about that?

36The Holy Spirit helped David himself to say: “The Lord God said to my Lord: Sit at my right side until I win against your enemies. The you will be able to put your feet on them.”

37In these words, David himself calls the Messiah his Lord. So can you really say that the Messiah is David's son?’ The large crowd liked to listen to the things that Jesus was saying. It made them happy.