8

Mark 12:28-34

Not far from the kingdom of God

I. Nine Words

9 words

9 words that changed life forever. Simple words, not astonishingly brilliant or profound. Just 9 simple words that meant the difference between life and death to Charles Wesley.

Do you know Charles Wesley? Born in 1703, the fifteenth child of a pastor and his wife. He was a brilliant professor of both Greek and Logic at age 23, ordained as a priest in the Church of England at age 25. He met with men at Oxford in what people called the Holy Club for prayer and study of Greek and Devotions. He spent an hour a day in private prayer and reflection, took the Lords Supper every week, and was devoted to conquering every sin. He fasted twice a week, visited prison and assisted the poor and the sick.

He was a super-Christian even then, but . . .

he didn’t know Jesus.

He even became a missionary to the American Indians in GA and failed miserably. Aboard the ship home he met some Moravians who made a great impression on him.

He was convinced that he was an unbeliever and did not have the faith that saved.

Of that encounter, he wrote in his journal “I went to America to convert the Indians; but, oh, who shall convert me?”

But it wasn’t until May 24th, 1738 that those 9 words appeared to him. He haphazardly opened his Bible and began reading from Mark 12:34, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

Not far from the kingdom of God.

These words gave him some assurance, not of his salvation, but that he soon would embrace Jesus for real. And the day did not end before he was overwhelmed by the Spirit and joined the true church of God.

My question to you this morning is “How close are you to the kingdom of God? My guess is that the vast majority have entered this glorious kingdom. I pray that is true. But there are some here, I am quite sure and convinced who think they are in because they spent their whole life serving in the church. You did your devotions and you were baptized and you served and you were a missionary and you raised your hands or closed your eyes during a song. How could you do all that and not be a Christian. What a phenomenal waste of time. And the answer is that you thought you were a Christian. You deceived even yourself. I am sure this is the testimony of more than one here, but I know Sarah Broady has this exact story. Did all the right things all her life and didn’t know Jesus until just a few years ago. Do you think that is possible? Remember Jesus’ words to those who cast out demons and did many miracles in his name. His response: “Depart from me, I never knew you.”

Do you know Jesus? I am not talking about casual acquaintance? I am not talking about all the actions that go along with being a Christian. I am talking about a true knowledge. An intimate understanding of your God. A trust that is never failing.

The story in Mark 12 fits very closely with that of Charles Wesley. Jesus will speak with a spiritual leader who knows the law and has done the right thing all of his life. But he has not yet seen fully the kingdom of God.

Look with me at this story.

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.'

31 The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

32 "Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him.

33 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."

34 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.

Pray

II.  What is Jesus’ context here?

Let’s remember where we are. Jesus has been raising quite a stir. The crowds are amazed at him; the teachers of the law are trying to figure out how they can get rid of him.

Everyone knows this man Jesus has authority. He casts out demons and raises the dead and quiets the storms and runs wild in the temple claiming that the temple’s significance is at an end. The temple pointed to something and there is no longer a reason for signs when the thing signified has arrived.

When you arrive, signs become irrelevant

I mean, this makes sense doesn’t it. As you are heading to Orlando, you will see 3 bazillion signs saying that Disney world is so many miles away. But when you get there, there is no reason for the signs anymore. You know you are there. The castle is right there in front of you and Goofy is shaking your hand. The signs are completely irrelevant to you. You have the reality.

Well, the reality sits in their midst and they don’t want to see it. He has given them chance after chance and they refuse. He blasted them for killing the prophets and the servants of God and even hinted that they will kill the son. He completely attacked them with that parable of the tenants and they heard it . . . big time. They want him dead.

Just a moment ago he was speaking with the Sadducees. A relatively small faction of Judaism who didn’t believe in the resurrection. He set them straight as well.

Now this lone teacher of the law didn’t agree with the Sadducees on much, but he had spent his whole life in a system that loved the law. Nothing wrong with loving the law by the way. The OT is full of passages that speak of the delight of the law. But even the law was a pointer to something. To delighting in the one who gave the law.

He, like most of Israel, was engrossed in a system of human achievement

And he like most, should have recognized that Jesus was threatening all that. And yet…

He had heard Jesus and the Sadducees debating and was impressed. Now he finds himself, while the others are slinking away, he finds himself coming forward and asking his own question.

III.  Was this an uncommon question?

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?"

A.  How many commands in all?

Now this question wasn’t an uncommon question from a scribe. After all, there were 365 prohibitions and 248 positive commands…613 commandments in all; each of which was on a different level of “heavy” (more consequence) and light (less consequence).

B.  Were some more important than others?

Some laws were simply more important than others. Even Jesus refers to “breaking the least of these” (Matthew 5:19).

C.  Summarizing the law

Basically the religious leaders played scribal mind games which tried to reduce the entire law into a single axiom.

There are a host of answers recorded in Jewish literature for this exact question

Even before Jesus, Rabbi Hillel had summarized the Law with something similar to the golden rule.

“What you would not want done to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the entire Torah, everything else is interpretation.”

Rabbi Akiba, 100 years after Jesus reduced the Law to Leviticus 19:8

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

A century after that it was reduced to Proverbs 3:6

“In all your ways, acknowledge God and he will make your paths straight”

In 260 AD, Rabbi Simal said that Hab 2:4 summarized it perfectly

“The righteous shall live by faith”

But it’s more than that really. It’s not asking just which is the most important; it is asking which law supersedes “all” others or even includes all others. This word “all” in verse 28 isn’t modifying the word commandments. (“Commandments” is feminine while the word “all” is either masculine or neuter.) So which law supersedes all other laws and even is incumbent on the Gentiles. This is significant because the entire context of Mark has been in conjunction with the relationship between Jesus and the Gentiles. The temple is for Gentiles to pray in. The vineyard will be given to others. I think the religious leaders are starting to understand that he is not simply claiming to be the Messiah of the Jews. He comes for all.

IV.  What is Jesus’ answer?

His answer is simple

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.'

This comes from perhaps the most famous verse in the Torah. It was known as the Shema because it begins with the word Shema (Hear). It was repeated every morning and evening by Jews.

Hear, Oh Israel is a famous text in the OT called the Shema

The Hebrew just has heart, soul and strength. It may be that Jesus is thinking about the LXX version which renders heart as mind. Or perhaps he is adding the word mind (understanding). If he was adding, then he is once again showing off his exousia. Remember this constant barrage of attacks on Jesus were attacks on his authority. While this particular leader didn’t seem in attack mode, the 7 little pericopes together show Jesus being “questioned” by the scribes in conjunction with them wanting to kill him.

So, summary of the law which is compelling to everyone, Jew and Gentile: Love God totally.

But he adds another…

31 The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

This comes from Leviticus 19:18. But interestingly the context of Leviticus is surely speaking of fellow Jews. After all, your neighbor is someone like you. But Jesus is saying so much more. Being a neighbor applied to everyone, regardless of your background. Just remember the Good Samaritan that Luke records (10:25-29)

What a brilliant summary and brilliant fusing together of two ideas. These commands can’t even be divided really. One who loves God automatically loves his brother. There cannot be anything else. Just see I John for proof of that (4:21 esp). This is a radicalized call to human love—even to outsiders.

V.  How does the rabbi respond?

The rabbi responds:

32 "Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 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."

Should we agree with Jesus’ summation or not? Duh!

Man agrees with Christ’s answer. There is some good application there if I may. When assessing Jesus’ exposition of Torah, always come down on Jesus side. Said easier: “Good move man, agreeing with Jesus is always a good move. But this is more than a good move

34 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.

Here are those 9 words which had such great impact on Charles Wesley. But hear these 9 words in the context. The scribe and Jesus are having a discussion on the summation and interpretation of Torah (law). This is not a question about the Kingdom of God and here Jesus is responding with a statement about the kingdom of God.

How is the kingdom of God linked to commandments?

But these are intricately linked. God is king over Israel and as King gave them a covenant on the top of Mt. Sinai that acknowledged both his kingly rule and their submission as his people. In fact, in the Sifra, Kedoshim it even says that To ignore or defy God’s law is “throwing off the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven” (Sifra, Kedoshim; Moore 2:372). They can’t be detached from each other. But it had gotten so bad that legalism came to dominate. What this man is realizing is that law keeping, defined by loving God and neighbor completely is what the kingdom of God is.

VI.  The presence of Jesus and the kingdom of God

Let me show this to you more concretely. Jesus is not just preaching a future kingdom of God. He is preaching a present, concrete kingdom. When he says you aren’t far from the kingdom of God, there well might be a double meaning going on here. The kingdom of God is present. It is here, it is in the man Jesus. He preaches peace, and good and salvation, but unlike any other preacher of these things. He preaches them as the culmination of them. The kingdom of God is embodied in him. This man is so close, physically to the kingdom of God. And he is so close figuratively—he grasps that the law isn’t the end in itself. Doing isn’t Christianity. Loving, based on the covenant is Christianity. Jesus is the one who loved God perfectly and loves his neighbor as himself. He is the one who came to die for his people the Jews and his people the Gentiles.

That is perhaps the most significant take home from this passage. Jesus’ presence is the beginning of the kingdom of God. This is so important. If you are waiting for the kingdom to come, you are missing one of the biggest points of the New Testament. It came in the body of Christ. They killed it and it came back again—crowned king forever and ever. We do not simply look forward to the reign of God and the Kingdom of heaven. It is present. Already here.