How Far are You from the Kingdom of God?

I want to ask you, “How far are you from the kingdom of God?”

 

 

1. The Examination of a Scribe, Mark 12:28

28 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?” 

 

In verse 28, we see a scribe and Jesus examining Jesus’ ethics.  Jesus remained in constant dialogue with the Jewish religious leaders of the day.  The Pharisees came to Him in 12:14. The Sadducees came to Him in 12:18, and here in 12:28, a scribe came to Him. 

 

A scribe was an expert in the Old Testament law.  Some commentators even describe them as the equivalent of today’s lawyers.  A few weeks ago, I compared them to the legislative branch in our governments of today.

 

This particular scribe didn’t appear to come maliciously or with evil intent.  He simply came to Jesus and asked or examined His understanding of the law.  He asked, “Which is the first commandment of all?” 

 

Remember, in this day and time, we are told that the OT included 613 laws.  Of that 613, 365 were prohibitive or negative (don’t), and 248 were prescriptive or positive (do).  This scribe asking an honest question wanted to know which one was the foremost of all or the most important. 

 

 

1. The Explanation from the Savior, Mark 12:29-33

29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”  32 So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. 33 And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 

 

In verses 29 and following, Jesus answered the question in two parts.  First, He said the foremost was to love God, and He quoted from the OT Law in Deuteronomy 6:4-5. 

 

This is the Shema or literally Hear O Israel.  The Shema declares that Jehovah is one, and His followers are to love Him with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength. 

 

Even though we could discuss for hours what each of the parts means, I believe what Jesus was saying is the foremost command from the OT is to love God with your totality.  We are to love Him with all that we are and all that we have. 

 

We are prone to compartmentalize our life.  Some of you here today love God with your marriage, but you don’t love Him with your job.  Some of you love God with you parenting, but you don’t love Him with your finances.  Some of you love God with your service, but you don’t love Him with your health.  Some of you love God with your Sundays, but you don’t love God with your rest of the week.

 

The foremost and greatest commandment in all of the law is to love God with everything you have.  Love God with your totality.

 

Jesus then added a second to the first.  In verse 31, He said the second is to love your neighbor as yourself.  He then quoted from Leviticus 19:18. We are to love God with our totality and love people with our humility.  Loving others means thinking of them before you think and consider yourself. 

 

According to Jesus, all of the OT law could be summarized in loving God and loving people.  By the way, the mission statement that I have been using since I’ve been at EBC is that we exist to love God, love people, and make disciples. 

 

In verse 32, we see that this scribe understood exactly what Jesus had said.  He even repeated back to Jesus what Jesus had answered to him. 

 

He then added his own correct commentary.  He said that loving God and loving others was much more than burnt offerings and sacrifice.  In other words, it is better to obey than sacrifice.  This man got it.  He understood.  The light bulb was shining brightly, but what do you make of Jesus’ response in verse 34?

 

 

• The Extrapolation about Salvation, Mark 12:34

34 Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” 

 

To extrapolate is to infer or conclude.  Jesus concluded about this scribe’s salvation in verse 34. He had answered intelligently and correctly.  Jesus then said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”  He said you are not far, but not far doesn’t mean in.

 

There was a difference between being close to the kingdom of God and being in the kingdom of God.  That difference is still true today.  Are you close to the kingdom of God or are you in the kingdom of God?  How far are you from the kingdom of God?

 

 

Conclusion

Here is the point or points that Jesus is trying to make.  First, we demonstrate our love for God by loving others.  The two are inseparable.  You can’t do one without the other. 

Jesus taught this explicitly in Matthew 25:31-46.

 

31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’  37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’  41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’  44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

 

Second, it is good to know the truth.  It is better and best to do the truth.  See James 2:19-26.

 

19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.  25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?  26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

 

This scribe had enough knowledge to get him close to the kingdom of God, but had not practiced his faith into the kingdom of God.

 

Some of you are here today, and you are excellent hearers.  You come and hear good preaching every Sunday…well at least you come and hear preaching, but you aren’t doing anything about it.  You know how to honor God in your marriage, but you aren’t honoring God in your marriage.  You know that you should read your Bible, but you aren’t reading your Bible. You know you should tithe, but you aren’t tithing.  You know should tell that coworker about your relationship with Christ, but you haven’t told that coworker about your relationship with Christ.  WE must be doers of the word and not merely hearers only. 

 

There are others of you here this morning, and you know the gospel.  You know that Jesus died on the cross in your place and for your sins. You know that He was resurrected from the grave.  You know that He is the only way to heaven, and you’re not far from the kingdom of God. 

 

However, this morning, will you believe?  Will you trust Jesus as Lord and Savior and cross that invisible line into the kingdom of God?  You know you should be baptized, but will you decide to be baptized today?  You know God is calling you to join this church, but will you decide to join this church today?