Mark 12:28-34 “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

“You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (Mark 12:34)

This sounds like a good thing, especially since some people in Jesus’ day, especially religious leaders, seemed to be so far from the kingdom of God. Much better to be “not far” than “far distant.” But is it really?

A scribe, who is himself a religious leader, comes to Jesus. We assume that he asks the question about the “foremost commandment” sincerely, though if he did, he would be unusual. He sees that Jesus has insight. Perhaps it takes a person with a little insight to recognize that another person has insight. 

Jesus responds directly to his question, which is a little bit unusual as well. He gives a clear answer, uniting the two love commands, the abbreviated form being “Love God; love neighbor.” It may be a helpful abbreviation, yet it doesn’t help us evaluate the statement, “not far from the kingdom.”

It is very easy to assume that most all of us do what the abbreviated commandments require. Do you love God? Most people would say yes. Do you love your neighbor? Most people would again say yes. But if you were to ask them the whole commandment, I think the replies, if honest would be quite different. Do you “LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH”? Now some people might still say yes, but I think it is a much more difficult answer, almost impossible. Who really knows if they have loved so completely, with no exceptions, to the depths, with no restriction? And secondly, the other commandment reads, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” “Loving neighbor,” and “loving neighbor as yourself” seem to be two different things; of two different orders. We often love our neighbors with the leftovers, after we have taken care of ourselves. 

And so the problem that arises is this: how do we get that kind of love into our hearts? Because the capability to love so deeply and sacrificially is not natural to us. A certain level of selfishness is much more natural. And the scribe understood something of this. He admitted that it is much easier to fulfill religious observances: “LOVE … is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mark 12:33), than it is to love deeply and sacrificially. He gets is, but that is not yet the Gospel. He sees the problem, but has he yet found the solution?

Jesus says, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” We all have heard that “close” only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. To be “not far” from the kingdom does not mean that one has “entered” the kingdom. 

Jesus enacts and inaugurates a new covenant, which is to operate from the inside out, not like the old covenant, which operated from the outside in. Ezekiel 36, where the new covenant is promised says it like this: ²⁶ “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”

That is, by faith in Jesus, who alone is able to introduce us into a right relationship with God, we are equipped to do what we could never do in and of ourselves with our own resources. He does not leave us at the doorstep of the kingdom. He welcomes us into it.