“A Refreshing Moment”
November 3, 2024
Mark 12:28–34
28 One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ 29Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30you 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.” 31The second is this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ 32Then the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that “he is one, and besides him there is no other”; 33and “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”, — this is much more important than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.’ 34When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ After that no one dared to ask him any question. ***
It seems so easy, doesn’t it? Love God. Love your neighbor. The two greatest commandments encapsulate the core of faith and could — if we really were to trust God — transform the world.
The relationships between Jesus and the religious leaders of his time were tense. Unfortunately, Christian theology has too often villainized Jesus’ opponents in unjust ways. Most of these leaders were people of faith struggling to make sense of God and God’s call in a complicated world.
In this passage, a scribe, an expert at preserving and interpreting theology approached Jesus with an important question. We are not told if the question is honest or a trick of entrapment.
“What is the first commandment?” he asked.
The responses Jesus gave were from Deuteronomy and Leviticus. They tapped into the daily rhythms of the scribe’s prayer life as a faithful Jew. “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 3you 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.’ Jesus’ answer is not some new teaching, but a call to return to the core of faith.
Do you see how this is true today? We do not need a new teaching so much as a reminder of the hinge upon which faith has always turned.
Faith in God is always inextricable from our relationships with one another. It is not enough to love God and neglect our neighbors, for we cannot love God without loving one another. For Jesus, these two commandments are inseparable.
The scribe recognized the wisdom of Jesus’ response and noted that the dual commandments Jesus cited were “much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices” (v. 33).
In a refreshing moment, and contrary to the context in which the Jews often tried to trap Jesus, he perceives the scribe’s sincerity and authentic pursuit of truth and offers affirmation in return saying, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” Jesus suggests that recognizing and embodying these commandments brings one closer to God’s kingdom — moving in the right direction toward the kingdom.
Nothing in the story up to this point prepares us for this moment when Jesus and a scribe agree. Rather than getting caught up in the mob mentality, hooked by emotions, or looking for a wedge issue in which to trap Jesus, this scribe asked the most important question, the question whose answer draws people together in relationships of mutuality, dignity, and peace. And Jesus, in answering, draws upon what he has in common with the scribe as a fellow Jew, namely the central call in scripture to love God and neighbor.
It seems like a simple thing, doesn’t it? The scribe approaches Jesus as a teacher rather than as an adversary, or as a threat. Jesus does not discount the scribe as someone out to get him. There is no sense that Jesus is defensive or assumes the worst as the scribe presents the question. This leads me to imagine that the quality of Jesus’s presence was what made the encounter possible.
What we are given in this story is a moment when affiliation, stereotypes, and distrust do not keep two human beings from having a real conversation. It is a moment when the commitment Jesus and the scribe share — to love God and love neighbor — is modeled in the way they engage. This is refreshing good news! They meet as neighbors, focusing on things that matter most and drawing upon what they share in common.
This may seem simple. It is what we are supposed to do. Except in the story and in our lives that is not the way things often go. The polarization at this time in human history is so extreme, the distrust and anger so pervasive, that having a real conversation with someone holding an opposing view is nearly impossible.
Sadly, some people say they love God but persist in viewing other people through stereotypes, or with hatred or fear. People who profess faith still sling ugly names and hate speech at others while doing nothing to ease the burdens of neighbors who suffer, much less heed the cries of the needy and oppressed.
To genuinely love our neighbor requires being honest about the reality in our world and in our own lives, a reality that is much more complex than the easy dualisms and absolutes so prevalent in our current context. People are always more than whatever label we might place on them, or the group with which we believe they are associated.
In one way or another, all of us are simply trying to find our way; and we often break things as we stumble around in that quest. The whole of the Gospel affirms that God’s way of dealing with a broken world and with broken lives is not to abandon, attack, or destroy, but to draw ever nearer in love, mercy, and grace — even stepping directly into the mess of the world with us. Jesus shows us what it looks like to be truly human, perfectly reflecting the image of God’s love. Jesus never dehumanizes or allows a label, a mistake, or a flaw to define a person.
That is good news for the scribe and for any who might be written off with a stereotype. And it is good news for all of us. Because it affirms that when we, like people from the beginning, misunderstand and get the scriptures twisted, when we are hard of heart and fail to understand the amazing grace of God, when we check out because things are complicated and difficult, when we become threatened and fearful of others and lump them into the category of “enemy,” when we get sucked into habits of stereotyping others and surrender to polarizing energies — even then, God loves us and will call us back to our more human self, our more compassionate, discerning, and loving self.
God will give us grace to remember that love is the center of everything, that love is the deep truth that binds all hearts together. God will help us learn how to remain steady, thoughtful, and present even through our own emotions. God will give us grace to love our neighbors as Jesus loves, with an open mind and heart, and not only with words, but with concrete acts of care, mending, service, sacrifice, and forgiveness. God will help us find our way.
Remember that even when the world did its worst: scapegoating, and gaslighting, betraying, slandering, and beating up Jesus, the worst did not win. Divine love prevailed against the darkness.
Trust the God whose love is stronger than the forces of darkness and death to bring us, our communities, our nation, and world through whatever trials may come and to a place of new life.
****
As the USA enters a week of significant civic importance which has bearing on all the world, I am keeping the ancient prayer of the Western and Eastern churches ahead of my thoughts. “Kyrie Eleison” (“Lord, have mercy.”)
The Prayer “Kyrie Eleison” by Larry Olson
For peace in the world, for the health of the church, for the unity of all, for this holy house, for all who worship and praise
Let us pray to the Lord: Kyrie Eleison on our world and on our way, Kyrie Eleison ev’ry day
That we may live out Your impassioned response to the hungry and the poor,
that we may live out truth and justice and grace,
Let us pray to the Lord: Kyrie Eleison on our world and on our way Kyrie Eleison ev’ry day
For peace in our hearts, for peace in our homes, for friends and family, for life and for love, for our work and our play,
Let us pray to the Lord: Kyrie Eleison on our world and on our way, Kyrie Eleison ev’ry day
For Your Spirit to guide that You center our lives in the water and the Word,
That You nourish our souls with Your body and blood,
Let us pray to the Lord: Kyrie eleison on our world and on our way , Kyrie eleison ev’ry day.
Tune & Lyrics by Larry Olson © 1989 Dakota Road Music
