Reading through the Gospel, we are not used to seeing Jesus commend the scribes and Pharisees. However, today we hear Jesus say to a Scribe that he is not far from the kingdom of God.
The scribes and Pharisees debated much as to which is the most important of the commandments. It is but human to know what is first and what is second — to be able to put things in order. We are often attracted to the promise made by this or that teacher about the one secret that will make us happy, healthy, or successful in business. So, human curiosity is attracted to know what the first commandment is, and what we must do above all. And so, Jesus lays out, plain and simple, how we must live our lives: by loving God with everything we are and loving our neighbor as ourselves. So simple and yet so difficult to do.
Love Needed
The scribe comments that these laws are greater than any burnt offering or sacrifice. He realizes that a sacrifice or burnt offering without love is empty. It is love for God and neighbor that gives all of our sacrifices, trials, problems and good works their value. Love is not a feeling; it is a decision. Feelings are volatile, they come and go too easily. Love is a choice we make even when the feelings disappear. Love, simply put, is a sacrifice. It is at the heart of our perfection, and when we are keeping this greatest of the laws — to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength — then all of the lesser things in life will fall into place.
Intimate Knowledge of Love
No wonder that Jesus congratulates the scribe for his understanding and tells him that he is not far from the Kingdom of God. This scribe’s knowledge was not merely book knowledge, for it is not in simply knowing a certain number of truths necessary to be admitted to the Kingdom of God. Rather, it was an intimate knowledge of love — knowing in a practical way how to give one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength to God and to one’s fellow man. One of the enemies of this law of love is our tendency to hide behind some rules to avoid reaching out in love.
Lord, help me to keep in mind Your commandment of love and to live it with all my strength. I do not want to live my faith with a mere intellectual knowledge of Your commandments; I want to live it with a deep knowledge that bears fruits of true holiness. Amen.
Dear Fr, I like your reflection so much, especially, the aspect of the intimate knowledge of love. Unfortunately, I couldn’t read it before submitting my reflection for this month as I would have referred to this where I explained how love enables us to keep God’s commandments and rules beyond the view of sin as acts of omission or commission. Love indeed is the heart of all the commandments and the reason we obey these commandments in the first place. Remain abundantly blessed.