Scripture for June 5,2008

Scripture: II Timothy 2:8-15. Psalm 25:4-5,8-9, 10, 14. Mark 12:28-34. Lectionary # 356: Discipleship is a golden thread throughout the Gospel of Mark and today's reading points out how a scribe is very close to being a disciple of Jesus because of his question and response to Jesus' answer. The good scribe knows what it is to be a righteous person and a disciple of God's Torah. We too can learn from this scribe about our own following of God through our discipleship as Christians who follow Jesus. Jesus is asked about the greatest of the commandments by this Pharisee and he answers it by reciting the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4. To give God all of our love each day and to prioritize doing the will of God is entailed in this commandment and the second is similar to it, namely, the love of God is seen through our love for our neighbor. This is expressed in Leviticus 19:8 which Jesus cites. The scribe is overwhelmed and compliments Jesus on his answer. Jesus then tells him that he is not far from the kingdom of God thus attesting to his discipleship. Would it not be great for us to hear those words of Jesus? We need to not only know the answer but to do those commandments in order for Jesus to say to us, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." It is no small endeavor to live out these commandments of the Torah for it means giving totally of ourselves. Deuteronomy 6:4 offers us the call to become disicples of God and Jesus: "Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is God alone! Therefore you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength." Then we hear the second, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." If we need more details on how to interpret these commandments, we have seen that Jesus does so in his Sermon on the Mount in chapters 5-7 in Matthew. So be it! Amen.