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Gospel: Mark 12: 28-34
One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
“Which is the first of all the commandments?”
Jesus replied, “The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.”
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.”
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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There’s an old saying, “Less is more.”
Sometimes there’s a need to simplify large or complex issues in order for people to better understand them.
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In the Old Testament, Jews followed more than 600 different laws, all of which was an attempt to satisfy God.
But in Jesus’ day, some devout Jews not only found this tedious and costly, but also exhausting. So, a scribe, who’s role it was to interpret the Law, approaches Jesus with the philosophy, “Less is more.”
“Teacher, which is the first of all the commandments?” he asks.
The Lord embraces the idea of simplicity, with a twist. Jesus gives one commandment with two parts. Love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength…. and your neighbor as yourself.
These rules were not new. What was novel about Christ’s response was the fact that he links the two of them together. You cannot have one without the other.
As Saint John later writes, “If anyone says he loves God, but hates his neighbor, he is a liar; for whoever does not love the neighbor whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.”
Even the scribe was satisfied.
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Then looking into his heart, Jesus says to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
We might lump this scholar of the Law into the same category as the rich young man, who we encountered two chapters earlier. Both were law-abiding men.
But remember what Jesus said to the rich young man, “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, give to the poor, then come, follow me.”
However, he walked away “sad, for he had many possessions.” It was not a matter of how much wealth the rich young man possessed; rather, how much it possessed him; that was his god. He had a greater love for himself than he did for God.
Unlike the rich young man, if the pious scribe in today’s Gospel is going to fulfill the Law, then he must love God first, and serve him in his neighbor.
Can he do it? Does he follow Jesus on the way?
Mark doesn’t tell us, leaving the lingering questions, “Who did follow Jesus? And what did it look like for a person to love God with all of their heart and their neighbor as themself?”
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One person who undoubtedly satisfied the Law of Christ was Saint Paul.
He was the greatest missionary of his age, who not only sailed the open seas, preaching the Gospel in foreign lands, he also traveled more than 10,000 miles on foot! Over the course of his journey, he was repeatedly beaten, shipwrecked, rejected, imprisoned, and left for dead.
Yet he never gave up.
In his final pastoral letter, he writes to his “spiritual son,” Timothy, saying, “As for me, the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith.”
Paul uses vivid, athletic language, leaving the impression that he’s exhausted himself after years of toil.
This particular word, “departure,” means, “to remove the yoke from an ox,” giving the impression that Paul feels the weight of his ministry being lifted from his shoulders.
He’s done what was his to do.
After pouring himself out in ministry, he’s at peace with offering his physical life for Christ. Shortly thereafter, he’s martyred, just footsteps from where he penned this last letter.
He ended that letter – and ultimately his life – exhorting Timothy, and each of us, to do the same.
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How do we know if we’ve satisfied the Law of Christ as Paul did?
One standard I try holding myself accountable to is looking at a crucifix at the end of each night. If I can say that I’m tired, having spent my energy doing good things in this world out of love, then I believe I’ve done what God has asked of me.
While some are called to serve as priests in parishes, others are lay ministers, parents, spouses, civil servants, Christians in this world. God’s will looks different for each of us.
But we can all look at Jesus at the end of the night and ask ourselves, “How well have I loved him? How well have I loved others?”
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Less is more.
This is certainly true with religion.
Love is all that matters.
It’s the only thing.
Yet, it’s everything.
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Image credits: (1) Watchman International (2) Adobe Stock (3) Bible Inspire