RBWords

     When one has 613 rules to live by, it is natural to try and do some triage to see if any of them are more important than others.  The Mosiac Law contained 613  precepts and folks like the scribes and Pharisees debated often and vigorously about the relative importance of various ones.  In today's gospel, an incident is reported in which a scribe comes to Jesus to ask which of the commandments is "first of all."  When Jesus replies with the two commandments that require love of God and love of neighbor, the scribe agrees, which demonstrated "understanding" of the importance of love in interpreting all the rest of the commandments.  Even more, the scribe says that these two commandments are "worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." 

     The scribe's response could be seen in the context of the destruction of the temple, which left the Jews without a place to offer sacrifice.  How could they continue to worship God?  What they had left was the Torah, the law of Moses.  How could this be used in their new context as a way of worship?  Jesus offered a way that the scribe seems to have found on his own, and this is why Jesus tells him, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God."  To cover the remaining distance would require the scribe to accept Jesus as the Messiah.  We do not know if he did or not.

     I think there is an important lesson here.  It is love that will attract a person to Christ and to faith.  There are many people who "are not far from the Kingdom of God," and who could come to recognize Jesus through the love that we show for God, for them and for one another.  I have met any number of people like that scribe who were looking for that love.  I hope that we can all help them come closer.  AMEN