Word to the Wise
Sunday, November 4, 2018 - 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time - B
[Deut 6:2-6; Heb 7:23-28; Mark 12:28b-34]The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, 'He is One and there is no other than he.' And 'to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself' is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." [Mark]
Given the open hostility usually displayed by the scribes toward Jesus in the Gospel According to Mark, the one positive instance in the gospel scripture for today is notable. Jesus and the scribe are, in today's parlance, "on the same page." I think we would all like to hear the Lord say, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."
The agreement is about the central command of the Mosaic Law and the central command of Jesus' teaching. We must love God and neighbor. We can't have one without the other. Jesus' own life mirrored the unity of those two commandments. The ability of the scribe to distill the 613 precepts of the Mosaic Law down to the prayer of faith and the dual commandment of love of God and neighbor put him on the right path.
The First Letter of John puts it bluntly: If anyone says, "I love God," but hates his brother or sister, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he had not seen. This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother or sister." 1 John 4:20-21
If we take this as our starting point in many of the divisive political debates taking place at dinner tables and offices and election campaigns, I think a whole new attitude could develop. AMEN