NOT FAR BUT NOT YET IN
Friday in the 3rd Week of Lent
Mark 12: 28-34
Jesus said to the scribe who questioned Him about the greatest of commandments, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” The scribe received a high score because he agreed with Jesus that the greatest of commandments is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” and to “love your neighbor as yourself.” The scribe, according to Jesus, was not “far from the kingdom of God.”
The scribe got a high score but he could still get a higher mark. Notice, Jesus said of him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” Jesus implied that the scribe, despite his good understanding of the commandments, was not yet in the kingdom of God. He was just near it, but still he was not in it. Perhaps, it was like five or two points away from the perfect score.
Why was the scribe not in the kingdom of God yet and was just not far from it? What else should he do to be in that kingdom? What is that kingdom anyway?
What really matters in life is not what we know but what we understand. We may know a lot of things but we perhaps understand only very little even of the things we know. But it is useless to know something but not understand it, is it not? Understanding without knowing is never possible. But knowing without understanding, while possible, is always very dangerous.
Knowing the law is good. Understanding the law is better. Living by the spirit of the law is best.
Obedience to the law is possible without understanding the law at all. All one needs to obey is to know what the law demands. Such is blind obedience. And blind obedience is always harmful to either body or soul or both.
The essence of obedience to the law is the wisdom of living by the spirit of the law. It is the spirit of the law that orients one’s life to the demands of the law. Obedience then becomes not simply a fulfillment of requirements but a development of a positive lifestyle guided by the spirit of the law. And a positive lifestyle is always good to both body and soul.
The scribe who understood the law was not far from the kingdom. He was, of course, better than one who simply knew the law. But he who lives by the spirit of the law, which this scribe both knew and understood, is best. He gets the highest score.
Jesus teaches us that the spirit of the law is love. The source and summit of all the commandments is in loving. Without love, the faithfulness to the law is enslaving. Without love, obedience to the law is an obsession. Without love, any law is an oppression.
God is love. His kingdom, therefore, is a kingdom of love. When we know love, we know where God is. Ubi caritas, ibi Deus est (“Where there is love, there is God). When we understand love, we are close to God. But when we actually love, we live with God, we are in God and God is in us.
Let us not be happy with just being close to the Kingdom of heaven. Let us strive to actually get in there before the gates close.
Mark 12: 28-34
Jesus said to the scribe who questioned Him about the greatest of commandments, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” The scribe received a high score because he agreed with Jesus that the greatest of commandments is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” and to “love your neighbor as yourself.” The scribe, according to Jesus, was not “far from the kingdom of God.”
The scribe got a high score but he could still get a higher mark. Notice, Jesus said of him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” Jesus implied that the scribe, despite his good understanding of the commandments, was not yet in the kingdom of God. He was just near it, but still he was not in it. Perhaps, it was like five or two points away from the perfect score.
Why was the scribe not in the kingdom of God yet and was just not far from it? What else should he do to be in that kingdom? What is that kingdom anyway?
What really matters in life is not what we know but what we understand. We may know a lot of things but we perhaps understand only very little even of the things we know. But it is useless to know something but not understand it, is it not? Understanding without knowing is never possible. But knowing without understanding, while possible, is always very dangerous.
Knowing the law is good. Understanding the law is better. Living by the spirit of the law is best.
Obedience to the law is possible without understanding the law at all. All one needs to obey is to know what the law demands. Such is blind obedience. And blind obedience is always harmful to either body or soul or both.
The essence of obedience to the law is the wisdom of living by the spirit of the law. It is the spirit of the law that orients one’s life to the demands of the law. Obedience then becomes not simply a fulfillment of requirements but a development of a positive lifestyle guided by the spirit of the law. And a positive lifestyle is always good to both body and soul.
The scribe who understood the law was not far from the kingdom. He was, of course, better than one who simply knew the law. But he who lives by the spirit of the law, which this scribe both knew and understood, is best. He gets the highest score.
Jesus teaches us that the spirit of the law is love. The source and summit of all the commandments is in loving. Without love, the faithfulness to the law is enslaving. Without love, obedience to the law is an obsession. Without love, any law is an oppression.
God is love. His kingdom, therefore, is a kingdom of love. When we know love, we know where God is. Ubi caritas, ibi Deus est (“Where there is love, there is God). When we understand love, we are close to God. But when we actually love, we live with God, we are in God and God is in us.
Let us not be happy with just being close to the Kingdom of heaven. Let us strive to actually get in there before the gates close.
posted by Fr. Bobby @ 4:00 PM
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