Mark 12:13-34
“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.
Have you ever had a teacher make a point so profoundly that it has stuck with you? I love those moments of learning. Whether a point of clarification or giving words to a concept I’ve been struggling with, the moment is almost electric for me.
I remember the day I first heard Reggie Joiner speak at children’s ministry conference, 20+ years ago. He said all the things I had been thinking about how we help families raise Jesus followers. It confirmed what was in my heart, and it has been the foundation for my vision of ministry all these years.
As the exchange in our passage today happens, Jesus has been having confrontations with the religious officials. The tensions in Jerusalem and especially the Temple have been mounting. I can only imagine what Jesus expected when this man spoke up to ask a question. “What is the most important commandment?” From any other official, this would have been a set-up, a change to catch Jesus in their definition of blasphemy. But not this time.
When Jesus responds with the 2 verses that make the Shema, the daily prayer that faithful Jews still pray: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord your God is one. Love the Lord with all you heart, and all your soul, and all your mind, and all your strength.” And then He added, “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
This young man replied with understanding and agreement. Jesus responds with encouragement (and likely joyful surprise), by telling him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God”.
Do we live as if we are “not far from the Kingdom of God”? Do we understand the fullness and difficulty to truly uphold these greatest commandments? John Wesley provided a wonderful description of how one might obey these great commandments: ‘Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can’.
Good advice, no? Go and love your God and your neighbour today!
Joyfully Yours 