Mark 12:33
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. 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.
The words are the scribe's agreement with Jesus' teaching that the first of all the commandments is to love the Lord God with all heart and soul and mind and strength and the second is to love one's neighbor as oneself, with no other commandment greater than these. They belong to Jesus' answers to questions put by the Pharisees and Herodians and Sadducees, and His plain, intelligent answers brought precious light to the listening crowd and sowed seeds of truth. The meaning is that loving the one God with the whole heart and understanding and soul and strength, and loving one's neighbor as oneself, is worth more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
Love is the heart of the commandments and ceremonial offerings cannot take its place, for love and obedience are more than ceremonial worship or merely acknowledging the truth and express the wholehearted service God requires. True religion is not outward ceremonies and vain display but humble obedience and love to God and unselfish regard and care for others, and deeds of righteousness and principles of love and true goodness of heart are more acceptable and of more value in the sight of God than rites. Mere ceremonies and offerings have no value when separated from inward piety and love and obedience and goodness of heart, and continual offerings for sin and the continual flowing of blood in expiation of sin are unworthy while their object is foreign to the mind.
The verse gives a deeper and broader view of the principles underlying the sacred precepts, showing that God's law contains something deeper than mere authoritative commands and that the moral law contains the gospel in principle. The law expresses the same principle as the gospel and reveals human duty and guilt, but it cannot fulfill its purpose unless understood in relation to Christ, through whom people receive pardon and power to obey, for all religious service is of no value whatever unless connected with living faith in Christ Jesus, who is the substance of which that service was the shadow. The scribe's affirmation of this truth showed moral courage in speaking it despite the Pharisees' disapproval, and Jesus saw that he answered discreetly and said he was not far from the kingdom of God. Confessing this truth still leaves a person needing the touch of divine enlightenment to feel need of repentance for sin and faith in the Saviour and to acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, for no one can be saved through the law but through repentance and faith toward Christ, the sinner's Advocate with the Father.