Mark 12:29
One God,
Three Manifestations

Mark 12:28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’ 29 ‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

So when we look at all the commandments that God gave and we want to know what the most important one is, we need to look no further. We have to love God with all that we’ve got, and we have to put him first in everything. Jesus is quoting his answer from Moses, Deuteronomy 6:4-5.

The imperative verb in Mark 12:29 however is ‘Hear’. Moses and Jesus tells us to hear, to listen carefully and to not ignore what they are about to say. So let’s listen carefully to what they are saying. Before giving the command to love God, they tell us something about God. They are saying that God is one. 

This is a major point of disagreement between Jews and Christians. Judaism sais that there is one God, whereas Christianity teaches that the one God has three distinct manifestations: Father, Son, and Spirit. Jesus is not teaching that there are three Gods. He clearly states here that the Lord our God is one. The Greek word for one (heis) is the primary number one. Many other religions have a plurality of Gods, but not Judaism/Christianity. There is only one God.

But then why do Christians worship Jesus as ‘the only begotten Son of God’ (John 3:16)? Why does Jesus say “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30)? Why does Jesus call the Holy Spirit ‘another helper’ (John 14:16)? And why does Jesus give the command to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19)? Is Jesus confused? Does His teaching contradict the Old Testament?

The Old Testament also teaches different manifations of God. It teaches that the Spirit of God sometimes came upon people (1 Sam 11:6). It also talks about how God manifests Himself in different ways (burning bush, thunderclouds, column of fire, and even sometimes as a human being).

And that is how we have to see the trinity, the concept of one God manifesting Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. A useful analogy is water. Water consists of one type of molecule, H2O. It is thus one material. But it can be manifested in three different shapes, as a solid, as a liquid, and as a gas. Ice, water, and steam. But still one material. Father, Son, and Spirit, but still one God.

Hear what the one God says. Godspeed!