Bible Reading:
Mark Ch 12 vs 13-34

Not Far From The Kingdom

The Lord Jesus was frequently under attack. Our reading was about an occasion where crowds of very clever and knowledgeable people came to try and trick Him and contradict His teachings.

The first attack, in the account in Mark Chapter 12 verses 13 to 34, came from the Pharisees. This was a group of men who thought they knew the Bible and lived according to Gods law. They had developed all sorts of extra rules, some of which actually went against Gods law. Amongst the Pharisees were many Scribes. The Scribes were lawyers; they all had a deep knowledge of all the detail of Old Testament laws. They had the duty of writing out, by hand, copies of the law and of teaching it to others.

The Pharisees came to The Lord Jesus wanting either to be able to accuse Him of supporting the Romans against the people or of a crime against the Romans who had taken power in their country. They asked "Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? Shall we give, or shall we not give?" If the Lord Jesus said they should pay Caesar what the Romans said they should then they'd have accused Him of supporting the Romans. They'd have spread this amongst the people to discredit Him. If He'd said they shouldn't pay the tax then they'd have rushed Him to the Romans and accused Him of encouraging people to rebe against paying tax to the Romans. They thought that whichever way He answered they had Him!

The Lord Jesus is infinitely wise and knowledgeable. He never made even a hint of a mistake in anything He has ever said. The Lord Jesus knew what they were up to. "Why tempt ye me? Bring me a penny, that I may see it." They brought Him a penny. He asked them, "Whose is this image and superscription?"
"Caesar's." they replied.
Jesus answered their question, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they marvelled at him. They were lost for words. How they must have rubbed their hands together and grinned as they came up with their question, their question that would cause so much trouble for The Lord Jesus. How flat it fell as He wisely responded and they couldn't counter Him.

Next came the Sadducees. The Sadducees were another sect. They denied the doctrine of the resurrection and the existence of angels. They were deists. Deism rejects most conventional forms of religion, accepting reason as the only guide to truth. It embraces the concept of God, however, in the limited sense of a creator, or first cause, of the physical and moral laws of the universe. Deists compare God's act of creation to that of a watchmaker who builds a watch, sets it in motion, and then refuses to intervene in its actions. The Sadducees were the enemies of the Pharisees. They were also the enemies of The Lord Jesus. They came to catch Him out rather than to get a chance to have Him killed. They didn't like the things He was teaching rather than Him as a person. They wanted to make Him look foolish for teaching the things that He taught.

In the Old Testament Law, if a man died without a son to carry on the family name then the mans brother should take his widow as a wife and they should raise a family together. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, in life after death. They made up a story to test the Lord Jesus. They put forward the situation where a man who had six brothers died leaving no son to inherit. According to the law his brother then had to marry his widow to raise children in his name. The brother died leaving no children and the same happened with the rest of the brothers. They all married the widow but no children were born. Finally the widow died. "Who would be her husband at the resurrection?" they asked, thinking they'd shown the foolishness of the idea of there being any life after death.
The Lord Jesus replied in Mark 12 verses 24-27. The Sadducees were dealt with in the same way. They couldn't argue.

Then came someone who had really listened to The Lord Jesus. He was a scribe, a lawyer too. He knew the law but he had some understanding of what The Lord Jesus was saying. Mark 12 verse 28 - a question. He had the beginning of a respect for The Lord Jesus. Mark 12 verses 29-31. - The Lord Jesus' reply. He quotes the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 6 vs 4-5. How better to talk about Gods law than to use words from the book of Gods law? The Scribe would have known this passage. Mark 12 verses 32-33 is the Scribes' response. The Scribe agrees with The Lord Jesus then goes on to show his understanding. In front of all there he supports The Lord Jesus in what he said about God not only that there is One God but " none other but He." He agrees what the law is about then adds more. He said that keeping the law was about loving God and our neighbour AND that doing this, "is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."

The Scribes and Pharisees thought much of the ceremonial law. They had lots of things they did outwardly that they thought made them acceptable to God. They made all the offerings and sacrifices they were supposed to in the law and a lot of extra ones too. Most of them thought that what went on in their hearts and souls was much less important to God than what they were seen to do outwardly. Many, when they prayed, they prayed so that people would see them praying - not so that they could talk to God. Their hearts were full of hate on the inside.

This scribe saw that God looked for people to love God and everyone around on the inside, in their hearts and souls. He saw that the true way was heart religion, a heart that loves God and serves Him from deep inside not just by doing outward things so people could see. Mark 12 verse 34 is The Lord Jesus' reply. The Lord Jesus encouraged the man to continue in the direction he was going. "Thou art not far from the kingdom of God." The mans' thinking was in tune with how things really are. He was close to an understanding of the way to heaven. He was taking notice of what The Lord Jesus was saying and he was agreeing with Him. He knew that there had to be a right relationship with God in a persons heart and soul if the law was to be kept rather than just a lot of outward deeds. He saw Gods' law was about how we are in our hearts and souls and in our minds and our thoughts. He understood what it means to keep Gods law and he was listening to what The Lord Jesus was teaching. The Lord Jesus said he was "not far from the kingdom of heaven." The scribe had not yet trusted in The Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of his sin.

Do you understand what is involved in keeping Gods law? Do you see that it is absolute perfection in thought, word and deed that is required? Do you understand some of the things that The Lord Jesus teaches through His word? If you do then you are not far from the kingdom of heaven where God rules for His glory and the good of His people.

There is a warning in this account. Something that should make us think carefully. The scribe was told, by The Lord Jesus that he was not far from the kingdom of God. He was not in the kingdom but he was not far from it. We are not told he ever got into the kingdom. He might have reached a point not far away but then gone back the way he came and never finished his journey to the kingdom of heaven. If there is anyone here who is not far from the kingdom do not turn back. Trust The Lord Jesus; ask Him to forgive you all the times you break Gods perfect law.

After this, nobody asked any more questions. How terrible that they had someone there who could teach Gods truth but they did not want to find out more.