Reading:
Mark 12:34
Write:
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.
Reflect:
This is one of my favorite Gospel stories. The reason it is a favorite is because it can be taken in two very different ways, but still have a similar end message. There may be more but I am going to focus on these two.
To begin with, it is the part of Mark’s gospel where the Pharisees and the scribes and the lawyers all were trying to trap Jesus into saying something that would allow them to dismiss him. I think we are seeing in this story one of the last attempts to trick Jesus.
I said I think there are two ways to see this. The first way is that this scribe was out to get Jesus by asking him this kind of question. But Jesus turned the table on him. Jesus surprised him by giving him an answer that he was not expecting, but was exactly what was needed. It changed this scribe’s mind. The scribe was surprised as we hear in his comments. To follow this greatest commandment “is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
The other way to look at this is that this scribe was getting tired of his compatriots’ attempts to trap Jesus. There were some Pharisees and scribes and probably some lawyers who liked what Jesus said and were supportive of him, even though some of their leaders did not like Jesus. As a result, this scribe in the gospel today asked a question that he knew Jesus was going to answer in a specific way. When Jesus did, his response begins with saying “well said, teacher…” Then he summarizes that same commandment using similar words.
This I think was done for two reasons. The first is the simple fact that he understood where Jesus was coming from. The second reason was to silence all of his friends who were continuing to challenge Jesus.
Then we have Jesus’ final response: “‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And no one dared to ask him any more questions.” Personally, I like the second option that I have described here. The reason why I like it better is because it points out that Jesus was getting through to people in his day. Obviously not to everyone, otherwise he would not have been put to death. But he was reaching some people even beyond just his disciples.
Apply:
So how about today? There is a field of study in theology called “apologetics”. This is not about apologizing for the faith, but about being able to talk to others about the faith in a convincing way.
When I was in Costa Rica to study Spanish, there was a Japanese Buddhist who was taking a similar class to mine in the same school. One day there were only the two of us in the class, and he asked me to describe the Trinity to him. The teacher of the class required that I do my explanation in Spanish.
I do not remember exactly what I said this many years after the event, because my Spanish was so rudimentary, and it still is, but by the time I finished trying to describe the Trinity to him, his response was “I understand, but I do not agree.”
Does that mean I failed? No! My point in telling the story is that there are ways to describe everything we believe. But it does take effort to learn the faith enough that we know how to speak to those who need to know.
Sometimes the way we say things encourages someone to grow in their faith. Sometimes the way we say things encourages someone to transform their faith. Sometimes our efforts fall flat.
You may object: “but that it was Jesus who gave us the greatest commandment.” Not so. We heard the origin of that greatest commandment in our first reading this weekend. So Jesus is not presenting anything new, he simply said it at the right time to spur this scribe on to a better faith, and to silence his objectors.
This is why the Holy Spirit was given to the church. We have the same ability as Jesus to speak clearly about who God is, who and what the church is, and why we believe what we believe. That may sound like overconfidence, but this is the promise of Jesus. The Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth – this is the promise Jesus gave us!
The main point I want to get across today is that we all have the ability to speak clearly about the faith. The Holy Spirit has been given to us so that we can be confident in how we speak of the wonders of our faith. I know that there are non-Catholic Christians who have practiced how to distract or even destroy someone’s Catholic faith.
I know it is hard sometimes to face those people. But just as Jesus faced the leaders of the Jewish faith in his day, so we have been given the Holy Spirit to face the objections to the faith that people present in our own day. I urge you not to allow your faith to be based only on what you hear at Mass.
Do more reading. In our day there are many resources that can help you understand the faith more clearly. Become more like Jesus who was able to speak to this scribe who was searching for a correct answer. We have the correct answers in the Catholic Church. That is not a prideful boast, it is the reality of our faith. Learn more about the faith for the sake of those you meet.
You may be the one and only person who will convince someone else of the truth of the faith. If you will permit me, I want to go on just a little bit farther.
This last Wednesday in the religious education classes, I ran across a question from one of the students that is very typical in our society today. The question was, “how can we know Jesus.” He was not satisfied with my talking about the apostles who were willing to die because of what they knew of Jesus. He wanted to see Jesus himself.
No amount of witnessing was going to be sufficient for him. I emphasized the point that no one dies for a lie, but still that was not enough for an answer for him. I talked about the Scriptures, but that was not enough for him. It is not always easy to find a way to reach those who doubt the faith. Our society today makes people question the truthfulness of the gospel, so they dismiss it out of hand rather than listening for the answers that have made sense for so long.
I would love to go on further with this but I am already getting a little long for this weekend. Let me just say that I am sure of the truth of the gospel, and once we are able to overcome the inclination for people to doubt, the faith will begin to win again. Pray for a better understanding of your own faith and how to put into words what you believe. And please do not be upset if you do not win a soul all the time. Jesus did not.
Mark 12:34
Write:
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.
Reflect:
This is one of my favorite Gospel stories. The reason it is a favorite is because it can be taken in two very different ways, but still have a similar end message. There may be more but I am going to focus on these two.
To begin with, it is the part of Mark’s gospel where the Pharisees and the scribes and the lawyers all were trying to trap Jesus into saying something that would allow them to dismiss him. I think we are seeing in this story one of the last attempts to trick Jesus.
I said I think there are two ways to see this. The first way is that this scribe was out to get Jesus by asking him this kind of question. But Jesus turned the table on him. Jesus surprised him by giving him an answer that he was not expecting, but was exactly what was needed. It changed this scribe’s mind. The scribe was surprised as we hear in his comments. To follow this greatest commandment “is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
The other way to look at this is that this scribe was getting tired of his compatriots’ attempts to trap Jesus. There were some Pharisees and scribes and probably some lawyers who liked what Jesus said and were supportive of him, even though some of their leaders did not like Jesus. As a result, this scribe in the gospel today asked a question that he knew Jesus was going to answer in a specific way. When Jesus did, his response begins with saying “well said, teacher…” Then he summarizes that same commandment using similar words.
This I think was done for two reasons. The first is the simple fact that he understood where Jesus was coming from. The second reason was to silence all of his friends who were continuing to challenge Jesus.
Then we have Jesus’ final response: “‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And no one dared to ask him any more questions.” Personally, I like the second option that I have described here. The reason why I like it better is because it points out that Jesus was getting through to people in his day. Obviously not to everyone, otherwise he would not have been put to death. But he was reaching some people even beyond just his disciples.
Apply:
So how about today? There is a field of study in theology called “apologetics”. This is not about apologizing for the faith, but about being able to talk to others about the faith in a convincing way.
When I was in Costa Rica to study Spanish, there was a Japanese Buddhist who was taking a similar class to mine in the same school. One day there were only the two of us in the class, and he asked me to describe the Trinity to him. The teacher of the class required that I do my explanation in Spanish.
I do not remember exactly what I said this many years after the event, because my Spanish was so rudimentary, and it still is, but by the time I finished trying to describe the Trinity to him, his response was “I understand, but I do not agree.”
Does that mean I failed? No! My point in telling the story is that there are ways to describe everything we believe. But it does take effort to learn the faith enough that we know how to speak to those who need to know.
Sometimes the way we say things encourages someone to grow in their faith. Sometimes the way we say things encourages someone to transform their faith. Sometimes our efforts fall flat.
You may object: “but that it was Jesus who gave us the greatest commandment.” Not so. We heard the origin of that greatest commandment in our first reading this weekend. So Jesus is not presenting anything new, he simply said it at the right time to spur this scribe on to a better faith, and to silence his objectors.
This is why the Holy Spirit was given to the church. We have the same ability as Jesus to speak clearly about who God is, who and what the church is, and why we believe what we believe. That may sound like overconfidence, but this is the promise of Jesus. The Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth – this is the promise Jesus gave us!
The main point I want to get across today is that we all have the ability to speak clearly about the faith. The Holy Spirit has been given to us so that we can be confident in how we speak of the wonders of our faith. I know that there are non-Catholic Christians who have practiced how to distract or even destroy someone’s Catholic faith.
I know it is hard sometimes to face those people. But just as Jesus faced the leaders of the Jewish faith in his day, so we have been given the Holy Spirit to face the objections to the faith that people present in our own day. I urge you not to allow your faith to be based only on what you hear at Mass.
Do more reading. In our day there are many resources that can help you understand the faith more clearly. Become more like Jesus who was able to speak to this scribe who was searching for a correct answer. We have the correct answers in the Catholic Church. That is not a prideful boast, it is the reality of our faith. Learn more about the faith for the sake of those you meet.
You may be the one and only person who will convince someone else of the truth of the faith. If you will permit me, I want to go on just a little bit farther.
This last Wednesday in the religious education classes, I ran across a question from one of the students that is very typical in our society today. The question was, “how can we know Jesus.” He was not satisfied with my talking about the apostles who were willing to die because of what they knew of Jesus. He wanted to see Jesus himself.
No amount of witnessing was going to be sufficient for him. I emphasized the point that no one dies for a lie, but still that was not enough for an answer for him. I talked about the Scriptures, but that was not enough for him. It is not always easy to find a way to reach those who doubt the faith. Our society today makes people question the truthfulness of the gospel, so they dismiss it out of hand rather than listening for the answers that have made sense for so long.
I would love to go on further with this but I am already getting a little long for this weekend. Let me just say that I am sure of the truth of the gospel, and once we are able to overcome the inclination for people to doubt, the faith will begin to win again. Pray for a better understanding of your own faith and how to put into words what you believe. And please do not be upset if you do not win a soul all the time. Jesus did not.
