Close, but no cigar.

July 12

Read: Mark 12:28-34

Close, but no cigar

“There is no other commandment greater than these.” (v.31)

In the midst of Jesus’ being grilled by a by a bunch of religious leaders in an effort to “trick him”, discredit him, and challenge his authority there is a scribe who comes to Jesus inspired by Jesus’ “answering questions well”. (v.28) This man hear’s the ways that Jesus is navigating, dodging, and responding to these attacks - and he is inspired or drawn in… he wants to ask his own question. How do we frame this man? Is he a “nay-sayer” like the rest? Is his genuine? Is he a “seeker” who needs to be brought into the fold? This man asks Jesus this question:

“Which commandment is the most important of all?” (v.28)

It is generally accepted that there are 613 “laws” or commandments in the Old Testament / Hebrew Scriptures. This man asks Jesus, what is the most important of them all! Jesus’ response is potentially the most well known or famous of all bible passages:

““The most important is, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”” (v.29)

What a stunningly clear statement … such a precise answer… given by Jesus. Out of 613 different commandments Jesus says “these are the top two, and nothing supersedes them.” The second of them would go on to become known as “the golden rule”. But I want us to consider for a moment Jesus’ response and return to the question of this Scribes motives and sincerity. Jesus gives this man no rebuke. He does not say he is wrong. In fact, the man whole-heartedly agrees with Jesus. he affirms what Jesus has said. And look what Jesus says back to this man:

“And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (v. 34)

Jesus tells this man… “you are close”. There is a saying that “close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades”! I am not sure if this response was encouraging or discouraging for this Scribe. You are close to the Kingdom is not the same as being IN THE KINGDOM. Being just outside the doors of the concert venue is not the same as being inside. Being in the parking lot of the restaurant is not the same as dining at the table within with the rest of the party. Being “close” to the Kingdom is simultaneously encouraging and discouraging. This Scribe is so close… and yet so far.

The last thing any of us wants to be is “close” the Kingdom. Lord….bring us IN! Affirming the reality of “Love God and Love Neighbor” is not enough. It is not simply a matter of ascending to the ideas… or agreeing with them. This brings you close, but not IN. We need the Lord to transform our hearts to bring us INTO his Kingdom. We ought to long for “Love God and Love Neighbor” to grow beyond a pair of ideas that seem “wise” or “correct” to us into something even deeper and more real. The truth is, that “loving God and neighbor” will only truly come into ACTION when we have been not only brought “near” but actually brought IN.

It is full possible to “agree” with Jesus and still be on the outside. It is possible to think that Jesus has some good ideas… but live outside of the Kingdom… “close, but no cigar!” Jesus even recognized this man’s “wisdom”. It says that Jesus saw that he “answered him wisely”. What we need goes beyond simply wisdom! We need the Lord to awaken our hearts and welcome us in… into the Kingdom he is building… into his reign and his realm!

After this final exchange, something else happened: “after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.” (v.34) Everyone just “shut up”. They stopped asking… they stopped “grilling”… they stopped trying to trick him or challenge him. The “nay-sayers” were silenced. There comes a time where you simply need to take a break from the questions. If you want to challenge Jesus’ authority sooner or later you will be silenced… shut down… you will run out of questions before Jesus runs out of answers. The opposition to Jesus cannot and will not last forever. I wonder what happened to this man? How did he respond? Did he remain “close to the Kingdom” or did he enter in someday? I do not know. What I care more about is the number of people within the “C/church” who like to agree with Jesus and be close to the Kingdom of God but actually never enter in… they give lip service to the words of Jesus but reject and/or challenge his authority in their heart. I suppose one of the first true tests would be embrace Jesus’ words directly. Do we care about “Loving God and Loving Neighbor”? Or is it simply a “wise” that slogan we can agree on… a “great answer” t a question offered up by Jesus? Are we living live in the Kingdom or are we simply observing it from a distance… just outside… on the perimeter. May Jesus never say to us, “you are close to the Kingdom”; may he say to us “Welcome home! You are IN!” Love you guys. - JDP