50:15

Resource: Map of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Jesus, scribe, people, commandments, God, Pharisees, question, Sanhedrin, verse, yard line, called, Judaism, Sadducees, temple grounds, quoting, morning, love, teaching, sacrifices, kingdom

Table of Contents

Introduction.. - 1 -

1. The Examination.. - 2 -
2. The Explanation.. - 5 -
3. The Reaction.. - 8 -
4. The Commendation.. - 10 -
5. The Retraction.. - 12 -

 

Introduction

You can see the title of this sermon here this morning is "So Close yet So Far." In 2015, the Seattle Seahawks played the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 49. In the fourth quarter, the Seahawks were losing 28 to 24. And they drove the ball all the way down to the one-yard line. Was 2nd and goal with 26 seconds to go in the game. From the one-yard line. The Seahawks decided that they were going to pass... from the one-yard line. Russell Wilson, their quarterback, on 2nd down, drops back... from the one-yard line. And he takes the snap, drops back and throws the ball over the middle of the field, right into the hands of a Patriots defensive player. He threw an interception. The Seahawks were three feet away from winning their second straight Super Bowl. But they lost that night because of an interception. On the one-yard line. The Seahawks were so close to taking home the Super Bowl trophy that night...but being on the one-yard line was not enough. It wasn't enough.

 

In our passage this morning, we're going to see a man, a scribe, a Pharisee, who hears the words of Jesus, you are not far from the kingdom of God. But as we will see, being close is not enough.

 

Open your Bibles if you haven't already to Mark chapter 12. And follow along as I read our passage here for us, Mark chapter 12, beginning in verse 28,

 

 28 One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ 31 The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that HE IS ONE, AND THERE IS NO ONE ELSE BESIDES HIM; 33 AND TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL THE HEART AND WITH ALL THE UNDERSTANDING AND WITH ALL THE STRENGTH, AND TO LOVE ONE’S NEIGHBOR AS HIMSELF, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions. (Mark 12:28-34)

 

Now, in our passage here this morning, this is still Wednesday. It's Wednesday of the Passion Week, of Passover week. It's the middle of the week, Jesus is going to die 2 days later, as He's led to the cross. Jesus is here on this Wednesday on the temple grounds. And He's got a crowd all around Him as He's been teaching the people there on the temple grounds in Jerusalem.

 

But as we've been studying here the last couple of weeks, as He's teaching all of these people, this crowd that's there on the temple grounds, He's interrupted by the Sanhedrin, (the Sanhedrin is seventy religious leaders on this council that are ruling over Judaism in that day), and Jesus was a threat to them. And so, they begin their plot to try and destroy Jesus. And what was their plot? Well, their plot was to get Rome, to see that Jesus was starting a revolt against Rome, that He was a threat to their system so that Rome could come in, and take care of Jesus...take Him out. Then they wanted to get the people to turn against Jesus by trying to convince them that He was not a prophet because the people saw Jesus as a prophet.

 

Well, they tried their political game. The Sanhedrin did (with the Pharisees and Herodians, who gathered together) -- teamed up with one another, to see how Jesus would turn on Rome. But that didn't work. That plan didn't work.

 

Then they try and try to try to challenge Jesus theologically.  As the Sadducees come and they ask Jesus about the resurrection. But that didn't work either. But they're not done trying. The Sanhedrin aren't finished. They're going to give it one more shot. One more shot with the Pharisees asking Jesus a theological question. The last time the Pharisees came, they were asking Him a political question. They were asking Him about politics. But now they come, and they say, "let's try and get Him with our theology". And that’s what we see here in our passage this morning.

 

We're going to break this down into five points to help us understand what's going on. We'll look at our first point here, and we'll call this the examination.

 

1.     The Examination

 

The examination, look at what it says there in verse 28,

 

One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?”

 

Now you'll notice there that it says one of the scribes came to Jesus. And so we should ask ourselves this question, what is the scribe? Who are the scribes? Well, the scribes are a part of the Pharisees. Remember, we talked about the Sanhedrin. And they were basically made up of two different sects. You have the Pharisees, and you had the Sadducees. And the scribes were a part of the Pharisees, although not every Pharisee was a scribe, but every scribe was a Pharisee. And these scribes were recognized by the entire Sanhedrin as the experts in the law. They were experts in the law, and they were experts in the traditional rabbinical teachings that had been passed down from generation to generation. These guys were they were the experts.

 

They were the ones who gave the Pharisees their theological framework. And they were very revered by the people. They looked up to them. In our modern day, we would say that these were the guys who had the PhD in theology. That's who these guys were these scribes. They don't only know the law, but they also interpret the law. So they would read it, they would memorize it, they would know it, and then they would interpret the law, and therefore they were the ones who were responsible for the works-righteousness that the Jews had come to believe. They were responsible for this.

 

Now they were different from the Sadducees. How? Well, remember, the Sadducees only believed in the law of Moses, that is the Pentateuch, that is the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. That's all that they held to as the inspired Word of God. But the scribes believed in all of the books of the Old Testament, along with the rabbinical teachings that had been passed down in Judaism. And so while they had major disagreements, the one thing that they did agree on, was that the law of Moses, the first five books of the Bible, were inspired by God.

 

And the scribes were listening to Jesus' last encounter with the Sadducees. They were there. What we talked about last week, that encounter that Jesus has with the Sadducees, these scribes are there, and they're listening to this argument take place. Which is why Mark says in hearing them arguing and recognizing that He had answered them well, that is Jesus answered the Sadducees well. Matthew tells us that it wasn't just one scribe, but there were multiple scribes there. There were multiple Pharisees that were there was a group of the Pharisees who were there, but Mark just points out this one scribe, because he is the one who questions Jesus. He is essentially the spokesman now for the scribes. He's going to ask Jesus this question.

 

Now, how did Jesus answer the Sadducees well?  Well, to the Pharisees, they would have heard Jesus affirms the resurrection. Remember, we talked about that last week, Jesus affirms the resurrection. And He also affirms the doctrine of angels as He's teaching the Sadducees there, as He's confronted by the Sadducees, and He gives His answer to them, He confirms the resurrection.

 

And the Pharisees believed in the resurrection. So, the Pharisees are excited. That's right. He's teaching exactly what we believe they would have affirmed, Jesus is teaching the truth when He talks about the resurrection, and angels. And so, they could see at least in some part that Jesus had aligned with their theology. He aligned in some way with their theology, and they were impressed by that. But it didn't impress them enough to say that Jesus was a true teacher.

 

In fact, the plan is still to try and trap Jesus with their questions, so that the people will turn against Jesus. Remember, there's a crowd that's there, and that's what they're trying to do... is turn them against Jesus. So the scribe comes up to Jesus, and he asks Him a question. Now this scribe did not ask Jesus this question, because he wanted to learn something from Jesus. In fact Matthew tells us in his account of what happens here on the temple grounds, Matthew tells us that the scribe asked the question, because he wants to test Jesus. That's what the scribe is doing here. He's putting Jesus to the test. He wanted to trap Him with a theological question to show that Jesus was against Judaism, and the law of God. That's what he's after.

 

What did he ask Jesus?  End of verse 28, it says, What commandment is the foremost of all? (Mark 12:28)

 

Now, he is not asking what the first commandment is. Many of you have probably taught your children the 10 commandments, or you teach them in Sunday school, or you learn them in Sunday school. One, you shall have no other gods before me. That's not what they're asking Jesus, give us the 10 commandments. That's not what they're asking by saying which one is the foremost? Which one is the first? Can you name the 10 commandments for us, Jesus? It's not what they're asking here. And it's obvious because Jesus doesn't answer with you shall have no other gods before me, right? That's not how He answers this question.

 

In fact, the scribes are not even asking about the 10 commandments here. You see, the scribes had 613 commandments, that they had come up with.  613 commandments. Now you might wonder why, where did they get 613? Why not just go to 600 and stop there? Why 613? Well, if you were to take the 10 commandments, the Decalogue is what it's called the 10 commandments, and you were to see it in Hebrew. And you were to count all of the letters of the 10 commandments in Hebrew, there would be 613 Hebrew letters there. So it's where they come up with 613. 613 commandments.

 

And then they broke those commandments down into positive commands and negative commands. The positive commands would be ones that would say, You shall do this ...that's positive, the negative would be those ones that would say, You shall not do this. So, they broke it down further. 613 commandments, broke them down into positive commandments and negative commandments. And they had 248 positive commands. And they had, get this, 365 negative commands. Why 365? How many days are in a year? So, they've got one commandment for every day in the year.

 

These guys are foolish. This is the foolishness of the Pharisees, and what they have done, and how they continue to interpret more and more and more, and they think they are the ones who are the PhDs in theology. We've got it all down. You listen to us, we will interpret the law... Oh, and by the way, in the law there 613 commandments.

 

Imagine the burden of the people.  That's what they did. That's how foolish these guys were. But but they didn't just stop there. You see, the scribes also debated about all of those 613 commandments as to which ones were the weightier commands and which ones were the lighter commands. Really smart, intelligent guys... debated which ones are weighty or which ones are lighter. The weightier ones were the ones that they would say, please God more. And then they had the lighter ones, which didn't matter as much. And so which ones are weightier?  Which ones are lighter?

 

Now they did believe that all of the commandments were important. They did believe that, but they would debate all of the time about which commandment is the greatest, or which commandments summarizes all of the other commands, all 613. And so that's where the scribe is coming from, as he asked this question, which commandment is the greatest? We as Pharisees, that's what we do. We debate all the time, as scribes we are there debating which one is the weightier one? Which one do You think is the weightier one Jesus? Which one is the foremost?

 

2.     The Explanation

 

How does Jesus answer? That leads to point number 2, what we'll call the explanation, the explanation, look at verse 29.

 

Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ 31 The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31)

 

Now notice, he asked which one is the foremost? Which one is the foremost commandment Jesus? But notice Jesus doesn't answer with one commandment. How does He answer? With two.  He gives them two commandments. And Jesus here begins with what is called the Shema. The Shema. In Hebrew, the word for “hear”, as you see there, the foremost is this "Hear, O Israel" that word "hear" in the Hebrew is the word Shema. So that this, this passage, became known as the Shema, "Hear, O Israel", and this passage here is found, this verse is found in Deuteronomy 6:4. Deuteronomy, chapter 6:4 where Moses is reiterating the law to the Israelites. The Israelites who are about to go into the promised land. Because you remember, God called the Israelites out of Egypt, but did that generation get to go into the promised land? They didn't. Why? Because of grumbling, rebellion, disobedience against God, right? So it was the next generation, then that gets to go into the promised land. And Moses writes Deuteronomy in order to prepare those Israelites who are going to go into the promised land. He wants to reiterate the law to them.

 

And so these scribes, would argue about these verses.  But the scribes here wouldn't argue with Jesus about Deuteronomy, chapter 6:4 right? It's found in their law, and who else wouldn't argue with them, with Jesus, about this? The Sadducees wouldn't either, because the Sadducees saw Deuteronomy chapter 6, as being inspired by God, as well. They would hold to the book of Deuteronomy being inspired.

 

So they asked this question, and what does Jesus say is the foremost? He says, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.

 

Now what does this mean? What does this mean here? Well, this is what would be called Israel's creed. This here is the creed of Israel. It's the creed that would set Israel and Judaism apart from all other polytheistic religions of their day. You see, they're living in a Roman Greco world. And the people there, in that Roman world were primarily polytheists, meaning they worshiped multiple gods. But in Judaism, they said no, there is only one God. The Lord our God is One Lord. This is where they get that from Deuteronomy chapter 6 in verse 4, there is only one God.

 

And so, while they're trying to test Jesus theologically here, they wouldn't disagree with Jesus when He quotes Deuteronomy, and makes the statement that there is only one God. Jesus continues on to quote the Shema, He says,

 

30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’

 

Now notice here, notice who the object of our love is to be. Who is it? The Lord. You shall love the Lord. Deuteronomy 6:5 the Lord is Yahweh. It's the name of God. It's the One who revealed Himself to Moses, who said, "I am". Remember when Moses says, "God, who do I tell them has sent me?" He says, tell them, I am. That is Yahweh has sent you. It is Yahweh. The Name of God, the one true God, that we are to love. He is to be the object of our love.

 

And how are we to love Him? Jesus says, "with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength." Now a lot of people want to break these up and talk about them as if they are separate. heart, soul, mind and strength. But that's not what Jesus is trying to convey to them. That's not what Jesus is doing here as He's repeating the Shema. It's not even what Moses was talking about in Deuteronomy 6:5. In fact, if you go back there, you'll see that they don't even all line up. You've got four at times, three at times. And so what is being conveyed here?

 

Well, all of these have to be taken together, heart, soul, mind and strength. They should all be taken together. Because it's not like you could love the Lord with all of your heart, and yet, not with your mind. Right? You wouldn't say love the Lord with all of your heart, but don't worry about loving Him with your mind. No one would say that. All of these are tied together. 

 

One commentator calls these ahendaya tetris (sp?). Ahendaya tetris, meaning: one through four or four words to express one idea. And what is the idea that Jesus is conveying here? He's saying that you are to love God, with all that you are, with every part of your being. All that you are, and all that you do, you are to love God. That's the foremost that's the greatest of the commandments. The weightiest we could say, right? Because that's what they're asking about, "which one is the weightiest Jesus?" And He says, love God with all of your being.

 

But Jesus doesn't just stop there with one. He also continues on and He tells them, there's a second one too. Jesus quotes, again, from the Pentateuch, from the first five books of the Bible, only this time, He's quoting from Leviticus. And He's quoting from Leviticus 19:18, which says this,

 

you shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. (Lev 19:18)

 

So, Jesus is quoting here from the Pentateuch, which means that the Pharisees that are there, and the Sadducees, who are standing there in front of Him, would not be able to argue with what Jesus is saying here. Because both of them would realize and recognize, yes, you're right. That is our authority. That is the inspired Word of God.

 

Jesus says, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, which means we are not only to love God, but we are also to love those who are created in the image of God. If you remember, the parable of the Good Samaritan, the question is asked, well, who is my neighbor? Who is my neighbor? Because they didn't want to love everybody, right? So Jesus, who is my neighbor? And what is Jesus answer? All people, everyone. Everyone is your neighbor. Oftentimes we think of our neighbor as someone who is close to us. Someone who knows me well, or someone in whom I would really like to love. But Jesus says, All people are your neighbor. And therefore we are to love all people.

 

Remember in Matthew chapter 5 in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says this,

 

You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (Matt 5:43)

 

Jesus takes it up a notch. Jesus says, Yeah, you hear from your religious leaders that are telling you, you love your neighbor, but you hate your enemies. They're against us. Jesus says, No, that's not what you do. You love your neighbor, and you love your enemy. You love those who persecute you. That's what we are called to do, to love our enemies.

 

And notice that Jesus gives this in the Sermon on the Mount, right? Which was a lot earlier in His ministry. And so when Jesus teaches this, on the Temple Mount, to the scribes, was this the first time that He's teaching this. It's not. It's been a part of His ministry the whole time. But Jesus takes it up a notch. While these guys are there, on the temple grounds, and in the synagogue, saying, You love your neighbor, you love your neighbor, but you despise those enemies. Jesus is walking around in His ministry saying, You love your neighbor, you love your neighbor, and you love your enemies. You love them.

 

So, Jesus has been teaching this all along, to love God, and to love your neighbor. It's not new. Love God, and love your neighbor.

 

Now, just quickly, there are people who say that this verse means that we need to love ourselves. Love ourselves, I mean, doesn't Jesus say that we're to love your neighbor as yourself. Is Jesus conveying here that you must love yourself? I saw a coffee mug the other day at the store that said, "more self-love." I can't imagine having coffee every morning reading that. That's just terrible. Going to have a terrible day now because it's on my coffee mug. But that's what people are told. Love yourself, love yourself, love yourself more. That's not what the Bible teaches. You don't need to love yourself more. You already love yourself too much. Every one of us we love ourselves too much. That's what sin is all about. Right?

 

I love using the illustration when I teach kids about sin. Let's spell it out. What's the middle letter of sin? "I", because sin is all about who? I, me. You see that? That’s sin. It's all about loving me. It's all about fulfilling my desires and doing what makes me feel good instead of loving God and obeying Him. And in obeying Him. He says that I am to love other people. Which means every other person, I am called to love them.

 

Listen to what Paul says in Philippians chapter 2:3, he says,

 

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit. But with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. (Phil 2:3)

 

That is what love looks like. We must be a humble people. We must humble ourselves and in humility, love one another. That's what we are called to do. Love means we humble ourselves and we consider other people more important than ourselves. Do you look at other people and consider them as more important than you are? We must do that, because that's what love looks like to love one another, to die to ourselves and live for Christ.

 

Look, we don't need more self-love. We don't need self-esteem or self-anything. We need to die to self. We all have too much self in us, and we need to die to ourselves and live for Christ.

 

So, Christ teaches you must love God, above all, and you must love your neighbor as yourself. You must love all other people. Jesus here is just reiterating what scripture already says, right? He's quoting from the Old Testament; God has already said this to us. This is not anything new. scribes. It's not new for you guys, you should know this. Jesus gives them the two greatest commandments. Love God, and second, love others. That's it all summed up right there.

 

Paul tells us in Romans 13, that if you want to fulfill the law, you know what you must do? Love. Love. The whole law is fulfilled in love... to love God and love other people.

 

3.     The Reaction

 

Well, how does the scribe respond to Jesus answer. Point number three, we'll see the reaction. The reaction, look at verse 32,

 

The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that HE IS ONE, AND THERE IS NO ONE ELSE BESIDES HIM; 33 AND TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL THE HEART AND WITH ALL THE UNDERSTANDING AND WITH ALL THE STRENGTH, AND TO LOVE ONE’S NEIGHBOR AS HIMSELF, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” (Mark 12:32-33)

 

Something happens to the scribe in this moment. There's something that happens to him, remember, how did he come to Jesus? How did he approach Jesus? He came to Jesus to test Him. He wants to put Him on trial. He wants to test Him in front of all these people, because he wants Him to fall. And he wants to get the people then to turn against Jesus and say, "No, look, he's not a prophet. He's not one of us. He's not a prophet of, of Judaism. Get rid of that guy." That's what he wants to do. And he comes to test Him and get Him in a theological trap. Get Jesus to have some kind of theological error that goes against their whole system. But he recognizes something here. This scribe recognizes that what Jesus has said, is actually true. And how could he argue with it? Jesus is just quoting the Old Testament, which is exactly what the scribes would be teaching.

 

So, he says to Jesus, right, teacher, you're right. Notice he calls Him teacher here. Now, as we talked about before, when the Pharisees and the Herodians came, and then when the Sadducees came, what did they call Jesus?

 

Teacher, they call Him teacher. But why did they do it? They came to Jesus, and they called Him teacher because they wanted to set Him up high. They wanted to set Him up on a pedestal and say, we honor You as teacher, and then they're going to try and trap Him so that His fall is great. That's what they're doing by calling Him teacher. But notice this guy, this scribe uses it here because he recognizes that what Jesus has said is actually true. You are right, teacher. That's true. What you have just said. And this scribe shows something else that shows what is in his heart. And that there is something that is going on in the heart of this man. Look at... he says that to love God and others is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. Right there at the end of verse 33.

 

Something's going on in the heart of this scribe. Your right teacher, you have said it right. And let me tell you, to love God and to love other people is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. This man here is beginning to realize that love of God and love of people is more important than his religious rituals and ceremonies. You see that? That's what's going on here. In fact, this scribe here would know the Old Testament, he would know the entire Old Testament, and therefore he would know 1st Samuel chapter 15, in verse 22, which says this...

 

“Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices

As in obeying the voice of the LORD?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,

And to heed than the fat of rams. (1 Sam 15:22)

 

He knows that verse. He's memorized that verse. This scribe understands, and something is going on in the mind of this scribe, where he says, Yes, you're right. We must love God and other people. And loving God is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices, love for God. And obedience to Him is greater than any ritual, or any ceremony that anyone could perform. But there are many people today who don't do this. Because their religion is all about their rituals and their ceremonies. There are many people who think that loving God means I must do this and do that. But there's no heart for God. And it becomes all about their do's and their don'ts.

 

But God says that we are to love Him, and to love other people. And then we show that love that we have for God through our obedience to Him. And this scribe is beginning to understand this. Jesus knows this. Because Jesus knows the heart of all men, right? He knows exactly what is going on in the heart of this scribe.

 

4.     The Commendation

 

Which leads to our fourth point, point number four, what we'll call the commendation. The commendation, look at what it says in verse 34,

 

When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (Mark 12:34)

 

You see this scribe here, this man is starting to get it. And Jesus is impressed with the discernment of this man. This man answered Jesus intelligently. Notice that. This means he was using his mind to think through all of the implications of this. You're right teacher, to love God is to love Him, above all, and to love other people, and not to perform all of these sacrifices in all of these ceremonies. You're right. And it's beginning to make sense to this man. We could say that this man was moving in the right direction. Or we could say what many say today, that this man was a seeker? He's a seeker of God.

 

And think about where this man is when he gives this answer. Who's standing there with him? All of his Pharisee buddies. They're all standing there listening to him give this answer in agreement with what Jesus has just taught. And you got to think they they're probably looking at this man going, you're agreeing with Him? Well, yeah, we should all agree with Him too. Right? He just quoted to us the Old Testament, which is what we say we believe. Think about the boldness of this man. To stand in front of his Pharisee buddies and agree with Jesus. This is Jesus whom they're trying to trap. A scribe, buddy, do you remember we're after this guy? We're trying to trap Him. We're losing the battle here. And in front of all of them, this guy answers in agreement with Jesus. And it seems like at this point, this man has arrived. He's arrived. He's in.  I mean, doesn't he agree with Jesus? He does. But how does Jesus respond to this man? Notice what He says. You are not far from the kingdom of God.

 

Many see this as a commendation, which I believe it is a commendation. But I believe there's also something else going on here as well. This is also a warning. It's a warning to this man. It's a warning to this man.

• And although he is understanding the truths of God and His word, his understanding has not gotten him into the kingdom of God.

 

• Just acknowledging that there is a God or that Jesus exists, and that Jesus died on a cross is not enough.

 

• Acknowledging that the Bible is true, and that the things that are written in it are good life principles to live by, is not enough.

 

• Going to church every Sunday, and joining the membership of the church, which is a good thing to do, serving the church, which is a good thing to do. Attending Wednesday night Bible studies, is not enough.

 

The only way that you and I get into the kingdom of God is through repentance of our sin, and faith in Jesus Christ alone. That's how we get in. You must place your faith in Jesus alone to be saved, and enter into the kingdom of God. Think about all of the religious things that this man has done up to his life up to this point in his life. Think about all of the ceremonies that he's gone through all the sacrifices that this man has been a part of. Think about all of the time that this man has spent in the Scriptures, the inspired Word of God, he has been reading and interpreting, reading and interpreting. And anytime somebody has a question, who did they go to? This man. Tell us, what does it say? Interpret it for us. All of the hours, days, months, years that this man spent in his Bible, and yet Jesus says, You are not far from the kingdom of God.

 

But Jesus didn't say, you are in the kingdom. You're not far. You recognize this, you realize this. But your intelligence is not enough. You must believe in Jesus, you must put your faith in Jesus.

 

Think about this man. He's standing a couple feet away from eternal life. Oh, you're not far. You're not far scribe. What you must do is you must love God above all else, which means you must put your faith in me. That's what Jesus wants for this man. He's so close. And yet he's so far. And this man will be held responsible for everything that he knows about God, and He will be judged according to everything that he knows. And listen, if you're here this morning, and you have not repented of your sin, and put your faith in Jesus, come to Him today. Put your faith in Him.

 

You might know a lot about Jesus. But that knowledge is only going to put you under more judgment. Do you realize that? Because you're held accountable for everything that you know, everything that you have heard. Come to Jesus today. You're not far. But there's one more step. You must trust in the Savior and make him Lord of your life. Come to Jesus today.

 

Listen, there are going to be many church goers in hell. Do you realize that? There are going to be many church goers in hell. There will be many religious people in hell. There will be many theists in hell. Notice I didn't say atheists, I said theists. People who would say yes There is one God, yes, there is a creator of this entire universe. But they never trusted in the Savior. We must trust in Him. It's only through trust in Christ alone as Lord and Savior, that anyone will get in to the kingdom, only those who are born again, will enter into the kingdom of heaven. And yes, here, this is a commendation for this man. But this is also a warning. It's a warning for this man. And it's a warning to you if you are here this morning, and you have never trusted in Christ.

 

Come to him today. Because being close is not good enough.

5.     The Retraction

Point number five. Point number five, we'll call the retraction. Look at the end of verse 34.

 

Mark tells us after that "no one would venture to ask Him any more questions". (Mark 12:34)

 

The questions are done. Now, no more questions. Jesus has passed all of the tests (as if He was ever going to fail.) But He's passed them all. The Sanhedrin are silenced. And they now retreat from asking any more questions. Why did they stop asking Him questions? One commentator has an interesting take on this. He says this. Jesus’ opponents realized that they had come close to losing one of their own. This questioning scribe, and before they lost anyone else, they backed away and stopped asking Him. It's an interesting thought. Maybe it's true. Maybe that was their motivation for stopping. Either way, they knew that they weren't going to be able to trap Him.

 

Because they've tried. And they tried from every angle -- politically and theologically. We're going to try and get Him down. We're going to take Him down and they weren't able to do it with their questions. Jesus is too wise. Jesus is too brilliant, to be trapped by these religious men. Because He's God. Because He's God. And He knows the thoughts of these men, and He knows the hearts of these men who were standing there in front of Him. But here's the thing. Jesus isn't done with these men. He's not done with them. In fact, it's His turn to start asking questions. And we'll look at that next time. Let's pray.

 

Father, thank You that Jesus is Lord of all. Thank You for the greatest commandments that You have given to us to love God and love other people.  Lord, there are times that we fail. Many times that we fail. We're not perfect. And we know that we don't perfectly love You, and we don't perfectly love others. But Father, I pray that we would take this truth that we've heard this morning, and that we would not just put it into our minds, but we would plant it in our hearts. And then it would be our lives lived out in this way that we would love God above all, and that we would love other people. Father, I pray that You would cause us to become humble, that You would humble us that we would be a humble people who would consider others as more important than ourselves, and that we would love each other in that way. Father, I pray for anyone who is here this morning, who has heard the gospel, who is so close, and yet so far, God, I pray that You would open their hearts, that You would cause them to be born again. That You would grant them the gift of repentance and faith this morning, and that they would leave here born-again, a child of You. That You would do Your work in their hearts. God I pray that You would help us to leave this place here this morning. That we will live out these truths in obedience to You out of a heart of love for You and what You have done for us, we pray in Christ's name Amen.