“You are not far from the kingdom of God” (Mk 12:34).
The scribe in the Gospel was searching for the simple way to understand religion and practice it. He was trying to make sense of Judaism, which had become a collection of complex rules and regulations. Jesus commended the wise response of the scribe and told him that his heart was very close to God.
Did he really understand what Jesus was trying to explain? Do we get it? Maybe intellectually we understand something, but to live what Jesus was telling is very hard.
In today’s Gospel, we see Jesus in Jerusalem. That means He is at the end of His mission. Everything that Jesus is doing and every word that He is speaking, has direct connection to what is going to happen on the cross. Mark is educating people to understand the mystery of the Cross and our salvation.
‘Love God’ with the entirety of one’s being and ‘love neighbour’ with the same energy, was the life of Jesus. He offered His whole life for the love of God. That means Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice for others. Only those who experience God’s love can offer themselves totally for the wellbeing of others. Without the love of God, all our expressions of love to our fellow humans are expressions of our own self-centeredness.
The love of God, for Jesus, meant that He would obey God and relinquish His equality with God to become a human being (Phil 2:6). It meant Jesus would accept and endure all human limitations and sufferings. He was rejected by His own people and was abandoned to die on the cross. He was flogged, crowned with thorns, made to carry His own death instrument and was finally crucified. He hung on the cross naked and humiliated. His only possession was His robe and that was taken over by casting lots. He did all this because He loved His neighbour – all humanity.
Mark is putting a face to love. The face of love is Jesus.
In a way, when Jesus was explaining the meaning of true religion, He was asking all to imitate Him in His devotion and love for God, which is expressed in caring for each other.
– Fr. Ranjan D’Sa, OCD