"And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question." (Mark 12: 34)
Who was this scribe, and why did He ask Jesus a question?
Let us look over a broader context from this account in Mark's Gospel:
"And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? 29And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. 32And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: 33And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. 34And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question." (Mark 12: 28-34)
This one scribe was looking for answers. He was not interested in shaming Jesus or promoting himself.
He wanted to know the truth. After he heard the Truth speak the truth, the scribe's answer was wiser, and more humbling:
33And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
In a sense, the scribe is right, but he leaves out an important part of the verse he references:
"For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." (Hosea 6: 6)
God is all about chesed, or grace. A scribe focused on the law will not understand that. But this scribe at least understood that the greatest law is love:
"Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." (Romans 13: 10)
and
"For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." (Galatians 5: 14)
The scribe in Mark 12 understood that love is the most important commandment, and thus he was not far from the Kingdom.
What would bring the scribe, and brings us all into the Kingdom, is the Holy Spirit, through whom we receive righteousness, peace, and joy (Romans 14:17).
This gift we receive because of Jesus' love for us:
"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4: 10)
Now we understand where our love comes from: "We love because He first loved us." (1 John 4: 19)
John reports the account of Jesus giving us new commandments in the New Covenant:
"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." (John 13: 34)
Notice that this command follows from His love for us.
We go from being close to entering the Kingdom when we understand how much God loves us!
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