Not Far From The Kingdom

Introduction

In the sports world there is a constant debate that revolves around greatness. For decade after decade the debate has raged, who is the greatest? Is there one athlete that stands above all the rest? Can that even be known and determined? If not, who then is the greatest within their own field of competition?

Is it Pele in the world of soccer? Roger Federer in the world of tennis? How about Michael Phelps, Carl Lewis, Tom Brady, Walter Payton, Serena Williams, Babe Ruth, Jack Nicklaus, or Michael Jordan?

Those obsessed with sports are typically also obsessed with arguing about who they believe is the greatest, who stands above the rest leaving everyone else in their shadow?

Now, for many who aren’t sports obsessed, the thought might be, “Who really cares? Can we please stop having this debate!” But the debate rages because in a world filled with athletes playing at the top of their game, identifying who is the best of the best helps create a standard for greatness. Almost a way to measure it and then compare everyone else to it.

For some, it might be so they can study and focus on whoever lands at the top so as to better understand the game itself.

Context

In the text before us this morning we see one of the Scribes asking Jesus about greatness. Specifically, which one of the commands from God was the greatest. Which one rises to the top that should really have our focus. We see this question in verse 28.

Mark 12:28

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”

Now, it’s not surprising that a Scribe would ask that question. A Scribe was someone well-versed in Jewish law. He was expert in it and a teacher of it. A Scribe knew the law backwards and forwards.

And so, a Scribe knew, because they had worked through the law of God in the Scriptures and, along with the Pharisees had classified all the different commands, they knew that there were roughly 613 different commands given by God. 613! A lot of times our minds go to the 10 commandments in Exodus 20 and even when we go through those 10 that can be a lot to handle. But overall, throughout the Old Testament Scriptures there were 613 different laws given by which the people of God were to live.

This was the world in which the Scribe lived. And the Jewish mind believed that in order to get God’s love, acceptance, and blessing they needed to be obedient to the law. But there’s 613 laws to obey. Do you feel the sense of weightiness that he was feeling? The law, which he was an expert in was crushing him and so, he comes to Jesus looking for guidance. “Help me here Jesus, there’s 613 different laws. I know them all, but surely, there’s one that is most important. Surely, there’s one that rises to the top. One law that I can really center my life around so that I gain God’s acceptance and blessing. What is it?”

It begins to make more sense now why he would ask this question of Jesus, “Which one is the greatest?”

In reality, you know what he’s asking? He’s trying to figure out what the minimum requirement is for getting into heaven. “Jesus, help me whittle this Mount Everest of laws that I can’t climb down to a little hill that I can actually climb.”

Main Aim

In the end, the question this Scribe asks is a question all human beings ask. “What do I need to do to achieve salvation?” Even the person who doesn’t believe in God still asks similar questions. “What do I need to do for my life to matter?” Have you ever thought that? “How much do I need to give to charity or how I can I serve my community or love my family enough for my life to mean something?”

You see, human beings are going to wrestle with this same question? “When we boil everything down, what remains and what do I really need to do to matter?”

Even for the believer we’re tempted to believe that our acceptance from God is somehow gained by our acts of self-righteousness.

So, we know we should “go to church.” But how many Sundays a month is enough? 3 out of the 4? What if I miss a few, what then? “How many ministries should I serve in?” “What if I can’t join a community group or go on a mission trip?” “What if I don’t get through my Bible reading plan this year? How do I make that up?”

Do you see how even we can be drawn into the thinking that our acceptance with God is based upon our performance? And then, with so many good things before us that we could do, what are we supposed to do?

Now, this isn’t an excuse to be lazy or idle in our pursuit of holiness and we’ll get to that in a bit, but what the Scribe is misunderstanding and what we are often misunderstanding is the nature and purpose of the law. The law was meant to reveal our need for Jesus, a need for a Savior, but also to be lived out of love and delight, not duty. Not, “Ugh, I have to do all of this?!” Which then turns to, “What’s the minimum I have to do?”

Body

In order for us to shift from duty to delight, which is what the law is really about then we need to dig into Jesus’ response to this Scribe. Jesus is really going to do two things, and I love how Tim Keller defines it so I’m using his terminology here. He’s going to redefine the content of law-keeping and he’s going to redefine the motive for law-keeping.

So, let’s first look at,

Redefining the content of law-keeping.

Meaning, what is the law really after in us? Keep in mind, Jesus is speaking here in a highly moral context. He’s speaking to a group of people who highly value the law and highly value their sense of morality as a way which justifies them before God.

So, the question is posed to Jesus by the Scribe. “Which commandment is most important of all?” “Of all 613, which one should I really obey so God accepts me?”

Jesus responds in verse 29. What’s he say?

Mark 12:29–31

Jesus answered, “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.”

Notice how Jesus draws them in. He says, “The most important is...” Can you see everyone leaning in? Can you hear the hush come over the crowd? “What’s he going to say?” “Is there really one that’s greatest and that’s all I really need to do?”

Most theologians believe that the people here were expecting him to pick one of the ten commandments. Maybe it’s “Don’t murder” or “Don’t lie.” Perhaps it’s “Honoring your parents.” But he doesn’t do that does he? He doesn’t go to Exodus and say, “This one is really important and don’t really worry about the rest.” “If you can get to them, great, if not, no biggie.”

Can you imagine if he did that? “So, honor your parents is the most important and if you can try not to lie, steal, or murder anyone, that’d be great too, but don’t worry about it. Just make sure to honor your parents.”

What’s he do? He goes to two Mosaic passages. One found in Deuteronomy 6 and the other in Leviticus 19.

Deuteronomy 6:5 says,

Deuteronomy 6:5

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Leviticus 19:18 says,

Leviticus 19:18

You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

Why’s he go there? Remember, Jesus is defining the content of the law (what is the law after?) And what is that based upon what Jesus said? What’s the law after? Love.

Tim Keller says,

“Until we understand that everything in the law is about love and that love is only given definition by the law, you don’t understand what the law is really after.”

It’s not said here in Mark’s gospel but it’s the underlying context and it is recorded in Matthew’s gospel. Matthew records Jesus saying to the Scribe,

Matthew 22:40

On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Meaning, every law, every command of God is about love. Love for God, love for neighbor. How?

Take the command, “Don’t steal.” How is that command about love? Well, it can only truly be fulfilled and lived when we desire to live kindly and generously with our neighbor. By loving our neighbor. How about, “Don’t commit adultery?” The command is after love for one’s spouse.

“Don’t have any other gods before the one true God.” Obviously, that command is after love and delight in our Creator.

We live out and fulfill the law when when we understand that it’s about love for God first which then flows to love for our neighbor who is made in the image of God.

The Scribes, the Pharisees, the religious leaders were only focused on making sure they obeyed the letter of the law. “Okay, don’t murder. I won’t murder anyone, but I do hate a lot of people and would like to see them out of the picture.” “Don’t commit adultery. Okay, I won’t sleep with any other woman, but I will lust after them.”

In their minds, and in our minds that’s as far as we go with the law. That’s what we believe is what it means to fulfill it. But Jesus himself turns that completely upside down and rocks our world.

Turn to the gospel of Matthew, chapter 5. In Jesus’ sermon on the mount he addresses the purpose and content of the law. He shows here what the law is after in us.

Check out Matthew 5:21. Jesus addresses the command to not murder.

Matthew 5:21–22

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

Look at verse 27. The command about adultery.

Matthew 5:27–28

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

What’s the underlying context here when Jesus says, “But I say to you...” He’s saying, you all know the wording of the law, but you don’t know the purpose of the law and what it really means to fulfill it. It’s fulfilled when it’s lived out of a heart of love for God and neighbor.

Here’s what this means and here’s why we should desperately take notice of this. You can be following the letter of the law and still not be fulfilling the law. You might think you have as many “I’s” dotted and “T’s” crossed as you can but if you are a difficult person to be around, if you are an unloving person, a harsh person, a selfish person, a greedy person, a lustful person, you are failing to obey the law and you don’t understand what the law is after in you.

And in that improper mindset, the law will only become more of a crushing weight to you because you’ll continue to see the mounting commands pile up higher and higher until it breaks you. And so, that’s when you’ll become like this Scribe, “Is there just one that I can focus on so that God will accept me?”

So, Jesus shows that ultimately the law is after love but he goes on.

Secondly, we notice that Jesus is,

Redefining the motive of law-keeping.

Basically, what drives us to obey?

The religious leaders motivation for law-keeping was God’s acceptance. Right? They thought God will bless them the more they obey. And when that’s the motivation, you can see why they were looking to whittle this massive mountain of laws down to something they thought would be achievable.

But what’s Jesus say in his teaching? What’s our motivation for law-keeping? It’s love. Love for God. Delight in God. Ever-increasing joy in the person of God.

Look again the text. Jesus says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy 6:4, what’s known as “The Shema.” The most fundamental expression of faith in the Jewish world. Jewish people quote the Shema every morning and every evening.

Jesus is saying here, God, the one true God is our delight, our joy, our treasure, our true love. And we are to love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our min, and all our strength.

I’ve spent the last year in my seminary studies going through the Greek language, studying it and learning it and so I did a deep dive on the word “all” in the Greek. It’s the word “holos.” And after all my study of this word in the original language, here’s what “all” means. It means, “all.”

Jesus is saying we are to love God with our whole being. Our heart, which represents a person’s inner thoughts and emotions. Our soul speaks here to the spirit, our psyche, the self-conscious life, who we are. The mind speaks to our intelligence and our reason. And strength speaks to our physical ability even the will.

Every part of us is to be madly devoted and in love with our great God. And only when love for and delight in God is the motivating factor for our obedience will the law become sweet to us because no longer are we living in such a way to get something from God, such as blessing and acceptance, or to get something from others, such as respect and love but rather we live to give. Which is what love is, it’s giving of ourselves.

Attempting to keep the law so that God will accept you will only turn the law into a destructive force in your life. It will destroy you because you are unable to obey and follow the law perfectly. When obedience to the law is motivated by what you can get in return it will only nurture further pride, selfishness, fear, and evil within you because all that you do, is not for the good and glory of God and the joy of others, it’s about you and what you can get in return.

What Jesus is doing here with the Scribe is saying, “You’re asking the wrong question.”

It’s not about whittling the commands down to something achievable. Even if there was only one command to obey, you still wouldn’t be able to do that and would end up looking for ways around it.

He’s saying, you’re motivation and understanding of the purpose of the law is incorrect from the very beginning. Let me show you what it’s about and only then will you find freedom.

So, what happens next in this interaction. It’s pretty remarkable.

Look at verse 32.

Mark 12:32–33

And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

My last little point here, I just titled.

Getting there.

You can hear the wheels beginning to turn is his mind. He’s beginning to see and understand.

He’s saying, Jesus, what you’re saying is right, it makes sense. Remember, his world has all been about strict adherence to the law and even with that he knows he falls short. He knows there needs to be something more. He can tell he’s missing something and so a lightbulb turns on here and he makes this remarkable statement in verse 33. He says love for God and for neighbor exceeds any sacrifice I can give.

He’s seeing that what the law requires of him is more than any sacrifice he could make. The law requires perfection and is about love. He’s coming face to face with the reality that he is not perfectly loving, he’s not as generous as he ought to be, self-centered and so I can’t sacrifice enough at the temple to atone for my depravity and sinfulness.

He wanted Jesus to whittle down the mountain of commands and ended up seeing that he was misunderstanding the nature and motivation for the law this whole time.

And so, you hear in his words that he’s starting to see, starting to understand. He’s getting there.

Which is why Jesus says in verse 34, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

The beginning of a fruitful and healthy relationship with God begins with love and delight for him. It begins with the acknowledgement that he is holy, and glorious, and majestic, and beautiful and lovely.

Which then results in seeing you for who you truly are. Unholy, rebellious, treasonous, broken, and sinful. Unable to perform in any way which would merit God’s approval and acceptance of you. Which then leads us to the cross of Christ. Repentance then springs up in our hearts. If we want to be accepted by God then we need to deny ourselves and cling to Jesus as Savior.

And the more then we rest in the gospel of Jesus Christ; that we are loved, accepted, adopted, saved not through any work of our own, not through law-keeping but through the perfect, sinless life of Jesus who obeyed the law flawlessly, who loved God perfectly, who did what we cannot do and gives to us, through simple faith alone in him freedom, salvation, and acceptance, only then will love for God be stirred within us because no one has loved us the way God has loved us.

This Scribe was getting there. Now, whether or not he believed, Scripture doesn’t tell us.

Conclusion

But the question for you this morning is, “Where are you in the journey?”

Are you a follower of Jesus but still struggling with thinking that your obedience is what maintains God’s love and acceptance of you? If so, repent and rest in God’s love which then frees you to obey. Let love for God be what motivates your obedience to love and serve one another.

Are you near the kingdom of God, like Jesus said? Meaning, you’re not quite there but maybe are starting to better understand the message of the gospel, the person of Jesus. You’re acceptance by God, your salvation is by grace, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Take yourself out of the picture. Stop inserting yourself into what only God can do. Only God can save, only Christ can make the perfect sacrifice which completely atones for all your sin, both past, present, and future. Turn to him in faith and believe. Follow him and love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

He is beautiful and worthy of our affection. In this new year church, look for ways to continually stir your affections for Him.