Not Far From The Kingdom

Not Far From The Kingdom - Mark 12:28-34

Friday, January 20, 2017

2:44 AM

Mark 12:28-34 (KJV)

28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?

29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:

30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:

33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.

34 And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, (wisely) he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.

We are breaking into a series of Jesus' Parables and teaching presented by Mark. Jesus has spoken in

verses 1 - 12 The Parable of the Wicked Tenants. He teaches a tremendous lesson on paying our taxes in verses 13 - 17. There is a section that deals with the errors of the religious leaders. 18-27 he is speaking to the Sadducees, and Pharisees on marriage. I like his response to their question in verse 24 where he tells them their main problem - They don't know the scriptures, and they don't understand the power of God. I think so many suffer from that today as well.

We then get to our passage where a scribe asks Jesus about the first commandment.

The Question - What is the first commandment of all?

The rabbis and religious leaders in that day devoted themselves to nitpicking and legalistic renderings of the commandments of God. They were always arguing as to whether one was a great commandment or a small commandment.

One commentator said, "Among the Jews two contrary tendencies were at work. One was to analyze the law, dividing it into ever so many hairsplitting ramifications. …The other tendency was the very opposite, namely, to synthesize, that is, to express the summary of the law in one brief sentence."[1] We would say to make it T-shirt-able or tweetable.

They no doubt spent hours trying to figure out "which of the 613 commandments, 248 of them positive, 365 negative (according to their count) is the greatest."[2]" Now this scribe is arguing in a more rabbinical or theological way, trying to get at the text of the Pentateuch or the Books of Moses. [3] The question is simple, but is extremely volatile given the audience and the sly way the religious leaders are trying to trap Jesus up in his words. It is interesting, amusing, and downright frustrating to sit through a cross examination. Lawyers can ask the most seemingly dumb questions while getting to a point. Here are a few of my favorites;

o Lawyer: "Now, Mrs. Johnson, how was your first marriage terminated?"

o Witness: "By death."

o Lawyer: "And by whose death was it terminated?"

________________________________________

o Accused, Defending His Own Case: "Did you get a good look at my face when I took your purse?"

The defendant was found guilty and sentenced to ten years in jail.

________________________________________

o Lawyer: "What is your date of birth?"

o Witness: "July 15th."

o Lawyer: "What year?"

o Witness: "Every year."

________________________________________

o Lawyer: "Can you tell us what was stolen from your house?"

o Witness: "There was a rifle that belonged to my father that was stolen from the hall closet."

o Lawyer: "Can you identify the rifle?"

o Witness: "Yes. There was something written on the side of it."

o Lawyer: "And what did the writing say?"

o Witness: "'Winchester'!"

________________________________________

o Lawyer: "Could you see him from where you were standing?"

o Witness: "I could see his head."

o Lawyer: "And where was his head?"

o Witness: "Just above his shoulders."[4]

What is the first commandment? The term "first" does not mean chronologically, but rather which is the most important.

The question was seriously asked and Jesus seriously answered it. I love his answer. He answers with the first paragraph of what the Jews referred to as the SHEMA (She- Ma) The Jewish statement of faith [5] and now the most important prayer of a Jewish individual. It is said, twice a day, when they first wake up, and before they go to sleep. It is the first prayer a child learns. [9]Taken directly from Deuteronomy 6:4 the fifth book of Moses. "Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One."

in Hebrew it sounds like: "Sh'ma Yis-ra-eil, A-do-nai E-lo-hei-nu, A-do-nai E-chad."[10] Learn how to say this in Hebrew - The Sum - Man's Responsibility to God - To Love God - WITH ALL THE;Heart - "the hub of the wheel of man's existence - the mainspring of all his thoughts words, and deeds. "Soul - "The seat of man's emotional activity"Mind - "The seat of intellect, dispositions and attitudes."Strength - Power, abilities [6] Our Responsibility to ourselves - To love ourselves - We are born with this. We love ourselves by taking care of us, making sure our needs are met, survival. We should use this love for ourselves as a standard of how we love others. Our Responsibilities to others - To Love our Neighbors - we should to the same for others. D.A. Carson writes, "If we try to put love of neighbour first or, worse still, leave out the love for God altogether, we shall make shipwreck of our lives and fail even to love our neighbour as we should. On the other hand, if we say that we love God, and do not love our neighbour, we are hypocrites (1 Jn. 4:20)."[7] Simply put - Our whole responsibility as a Christian can be summed up in one word, "LOVE"Jesus said this is the greatest commandment. "There is none other commandment greater than these."Why are these the greatest commandment? First, faith and hope take, love gives. Faith appropriates the salvation that is in Christ. Hope accepts the promise of the future inheritance. Love, however, means self-giving, self-impartation.Secondly, all other virtues are included in love. See I Cor. 13. According to that chapter active, intelligent, voluntary love implies patience, kindness, and humility (verse 4), unselfishness (verse 5), faith and hope (vase 7).Thirdly, human love, in its noblest expression, is patterned after God, for “God is love.” The all-surpassing character of love is clearly taught in Scripture (Col. 3:14; I Peter 4:8; I John 3:14; 4:8).[8] The Scribe was pleased with Jesus' answer - so pleased that he added to it - without doing any harm, to love as he should, the scribe says, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices" Jesus is pleased - he sees the scribe's answer as wise or correct, and Jesus makes a powerful statement - "Thou art not far from the Kingdom of God" - This is where I was wanting to get to this morning. A few things I want us to see in that phrase. There is obviously a process or varying steps toward the kingdom - We are commanded in James 4:8 (KJV) 8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Psalm 73:28 But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy worksHebrews 7:10 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.

Not far meant he was close. Its good to be close to the kingdom

This man was not close enough. He was almost in the kingdom. That word "almost" is a dangerous word. A survey by Progressive Insurance in 2001 found that 52% of reported crashes occurred five miles or less from home. That means over half of the crashes of that year happened when people were almost home. [11] Since the 1940s, the Ad Council has been the leading producer of public service announcements. Of the thousands of commercials they have produced, their work for the "Don't Almost Give" campaign has been particularly powerful. One ad shows a man with crutches struggling to go up a flight of concrete stairs. The narrator says, "This is a man who almost learned to walk at a rehab center that almost got built by people who almost gave money." After a brief pause, the announcer continues: "Almost gave. How good is almost giving? About as good as almost walking." Another ad shows a homeless man curled up in a ball on a pile of rags. One ratty bed sheet shields him from the cold. The narrator says, "This is Jack Thomas. Today someone almost brought Jack something to eat. Someone almost brought him to a shelter. And someone else almost brought him a warm blanket." After a brief pause, the narrator continues: "And Jack Thomas? Well, he almost made it through the night." Another ad shows an older woman sitting alone in a room, staring out a window. The narrator says, "This is Sarah Watkins. A lot of people almost helped her. One almost cooked for her. Another almost drove her to the doctor. Still another almost stopped by to say hello. They almost helped. They almost gave of themselves. But almost giving is the same as not giving at all." Each ad ends with a simple, direct message: "Don't almost give. Give."

No Further Questions - No one dared ask him any more questions. His word had settled it.

I wander this morning, how are we doing on this commandment. This first commandment - How is our LOVE? Our love to God, Our self, our Neighbor?

Almost won't get us through - But I'm glad it doesn't have to end with almost, or just outside, or close, but Peter says we can settle it -

2 Peter 1:10-11 (KJV)

10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence (MAKE EVERY EFFORT) to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

----------------------------------

[M] Hendriksen, William ; Kistemaker, Simon J.: New Testament Commentary : Exposition of the Gospel According to Mark. Grand Rapids : Baker Book House, 1953-2001 (New Testament Commentary 10), S. 492[M] lbid[M] Mays, James Luther ; Harper & Row, Publishers ; Society of Biblical Literature: Harper's Bible Commentary. San Francisco : Harper & Row, 1996, c1988, S. Mk 12:13[M] http://wwwcrossx.blogspot.com/2013/10/lawyers-dumb-questions.html[M] MacDonald, William ; Farstad, Arthur: Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1995, S. Mk 12:28[M] Hendriksen, William ; Kistemaker, Simon J.: New Testament Commentary : Exposition of the Gospel According to Mark. Grand Rapids : Baker Book House, 1953-2001 (New Testament Commentary 10), S. 493[M] Carson, D. A.: New Bible Commentary : 21st Century Edition. 4th ed. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill., USA : Inter-Varsity Press, 1994, S. Mk 12:28[M] Hendriksen, William ; Kistemaker, Simon J.: New Testament Commentary : Exposition of the Gospel According to Mark. Grand Rapids : Baker Book House, 1953-2001 (New Testament Commentary 10), S. 494[M] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKQFMy9-6IE[M] http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/282822/jewish/Transliteration.htm[M] https://www.progressive.com/newsroom/article/2002/may/fivemiles/

maybe next time add some of

At A More Convenient Time

Reference: Acts 24:24

Description: But Felix said "when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee."

Topic(s): Spiritual Growth

From <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.partner=sbc&.rand=7c0t9mrk17t51#mail>

2/6/2017 9:34 PM