"YOU ARE NOT FAR FROM THE KINGDOM' (MARK 12:28-34)

After hearing some insights on this passage in a recent sermon, I decided to expand on some of the preacher's ideas a little.

This narrative relates the story of the scribe who came to Jesus and asked him a question regarding the most important commandment. At the end of the dialogue, Jesus tells him that he is not far from the Kingdom of God. Of course, that is another way of saying, “Your are not in the Kingdom of God.” There are two similar stories that come to mind here. One is that of the young ruler who came to Jesus and impressed Him so much that it is said Jesus loved him. However, that man went away grieving since he refused to part with his riches and give them to the poor. (see Mark 10:17-22)

Then there is the story of Paul and Festus told in Acts 26:24-29 in which Paul is preaching the Gospel to this Roman official. The King James Version has the well known reply where Festus says, “You have almost persuaded me to become a Christian.” This is the basis of the old invitation hymn titled “Almost Persuaded” which has the dismal last line, “Almost, but lost.” The problem is that more modern translations make it clear that Festus was in fact nowhere near being persuaded at that point. Thus, NRSV renders his words, “Are you so quickly persuading [or 'trying to persuade'] me to become a Christian?”

So when we come back to the scribe in Mark 12, the question becomes, “What was his problem causing him to stop half-way toward acceptance of Jesus?” We are never told in so many words, but there are hints embedded in the text that give us some idea.

Context

The first thing to consider is how this story fits in with the immediate surrounding of Chapter 12. It is actually the last of three encounters Jesus has with questioners among the Jewish leaders. And they form a series beginning with clearly hostile opponents of Jesus who are trying to trap him, proceeding to a group trying to get support from Him for their preconceived notions, and finally to the apparently sincere scribe in Mark 12:28-34. And they represent all the various factions present in Judaism at the time: first the Pharisees and Herodians (Mark 12:13-17), then the Sadducees (Mark 12:18-27), and finally the scribes.

In each of the three cases, Jesus responds to a question they propose and he passes some sort of judgment on them. The Pharisees and Herodians are branded as hypocrites who are only trying to trap Him; the Sadducees are told twice (vv. 24 and 27) that their theology is “wrong;” and the scribe's comments afterward prompt Him to make the statement regarding his nearness to the Kingdom. So Jesus moves from condemning the first group for their evil hypocrisy to not so gently correcting the beliefs of the Sadducees to mildly approving of the scribe.

But there are a couple of problems with the way the conversation goes with that last party which go a long way to explaining why he still has even further to go before he reaches the truth:

Christ's Identity

One telling point is the address the three groups use in approaching Jesus. To butter up Jesus, the Pharisees and Herodians call Him a teacher who is sincere. The Sadducees get right to the point and call Jesus “teacher.” And lastly, in v. 32, the scribe calls Jesus “teacher” also, but only after Jesus has answered his question first. In other words, there is no real progression in insight as to Jesus' identity. All three groups merely consider him one of the many teachers floating around at the time. The scribe certainly needs to progress beyond that point of understanding before he can truly be part of the Kingdom of God.

Christ's Authority

Another somewhat subtle point can be seen in comparison of these related encounters. The Pharisees and Herodians may have said to Jesus that He was a sincere teacher, but they were obviously only asking Him a question in order to trap him into saying something they could use against Him. The Sadducees were not quite as bad since they just wanted Jesus' backing for their particular viewpoints. One of those was obviously their negative views regarding the possibility of the afterlife. But Horsley brings up another possibility: “While their question took the form of academic casuistry, their focus on levitical marriage (Deut 23.5) hinted at their real agenda: the protecting of property rights and power through patriarchal marriage that perpetuated the male lineages.”

That brings us to the third encounter in which the scribe's motive is slightly harder to read. It does not appear that he falls into either of the previous two examples and seems sincere regarding his question as to the most important commandment. However, note what he says after Jesus answers. Basically, he congratulates Jesus on getting the correct answer, one which he already knew.

Not to compare myself with Jesus in any way, but I have encountered something like this in the past when I was filling in for a regular Sunday school teacher in another class where none of the attendees knew me very well. As I proceeded with the lesson for the day, I noticed that one gentleman in the small class began giving me a rather confused and skeptical look as I taught. At last, he interrupted my presentation and began quizzing me on a series of Bible questions totally unrelated to the subject at hand. I tried to patiently answer each one, after which the man would give a grudging approval to my answer.

He was waiting for a chance to catch me in an error, but not necessarily to trap me, as did the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus. And I do not think he had any hidden agenda he needed additional approval from me as did the Sadducees. I believe he was more like the scribe who would only accept Jesus as a authentic teacher once he passed a test. It is actually not a bad idea to be slightly skeptical regarding the biblical teachings of anyone, including pastors. But such a critical attitude can also be a grave danger and lead us to be closed to any valid insights that are new to us, especially when it is applied to the teachings of the Old and New Testament.

Failure to Apply Biblical Teachings

If you carefully read the dialogue between the scribe and Jesus regarding the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4), it is possible to pick up on another lack in the scribe's application of Scripture. In the first place, note that he only asked Jesus about the one great commandment while leaving out the necessity of loving your fellow man as well. And in a related omission, the scribe pointedly leaves out the key word “soul” (which can be defined as applying to one's intellect, emotions and will) in his repetition of Jesus words. Several commentators have noted that both these points indicate some sort of disconnect between the scribe knowing the law and actually applying it in his own life.

For example, Horsley says, “The scribe admits that love of God and love of neighbor are more important tan the elaborate sacrifices at the Temple from which he draws his living...The scribe does not 'resign' his position, and Jesus does not invite him into the movement.”

In a similar manner, the pastor I heard preach last week directed our attention to the previous occasion in Mark where scribes were mentioned. It occurs in Mark 11:18 right after Jesus has thrown out the money-changers from the temple. The text says that the chief priests and the scribes heard about it and began looking for a way to kill Jesus.

Of course, we have no way of knowing whether the scribe of Mark 12 was part of the group that felt that way, but in any case, as Horsley points out, the whole temple system had grown out of hand to the point where Gentiles could not even worship in the Court of the Gentiles for all the noisy commerce going on. Thus, the priests and scribes were condoning a practice which in no way showed their love for their fellow man, as the Old Testament law required.

So knowing full well what the law said but continuing to support the system that flaunted that command showed that the scribe had not recognized and repented of his sinful actions. And until he did so, he would unfortunately remain away from the Kingdom of God.