Marcos 12

Marcos 12

Vincent says nounechos depicts one “having his mind in possession, having his wits about him.” He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."- Jesus is saving in essence he is not far from being saved, for entrance into the kingdom of God was another way of saying one became a believer in Jesus and was saved. Jesus is not telling the man "you are close, so you need to try harder," for the religious legalists had already mastered that maneuver and utterly failed to enter the Kingdom of God. See Jesus words to another religious Jew named Nicodemus (John 3:3-8+) Jesus first used this phrase in Mark 1:15+ saying “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel.” Will we see him in Heaven? Perhaps. It is a matter of heart devotion not hard duty. -- Daniel Akin Hiebert notes that Jesus' rephy is "a compliment as well as an appeal to the scribe. His realization of the primary importance of love had placed him spiritually near the kingdom of God, the reign of God in the lives of His people (cf. 1:15). He had come a long way for a scribe, but not far from made clear that he must go further and accept that love in the Person of Him who was “the kingdom incarnate.” “Whether or not he ever actually entered it, is written on the yet unread page of its history.” Jones remarks, “ ‘Not far from the Kingdom,’ how aptly it describes the condition of many in our own midst.” (The Gospel of Mark: An Expositional Commentary) Swete - “What the Lord observed in reference to the man was the intelligence displayed by his answer. It was shown not only in accepting the Lord’s judgment as to the two primary commandments, but in detecting and admitting the principle on which the judgment rested, namely, the superiority of moral over ritual obligations … Under the old theocracy those far off are either exiled Jews (Isaiah 57:19), or Gentiles (Eph. 2:13); distance from the new Kingdom is measured neither by miles, nor by ceremonial standards, but by spiritual conditions. The man was to some extent intellectually qualified for admission to the Kingdom; certainly he grasped one of its fundamental principles. It would be interesting to work out a comparison between this scribe and the ruler of 10:17. In both cases something was wanting to convert admiration into discipleship. If wealth was the bar in the one case, pride of intellect may have been fatal in the other. The mental acumen which detects and approves spiritual truth may, in the tragedy of human life, keep its possessor from entering the Kingdom of God.” After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions - The barrage of questions meant to trip Jesus up had finally stalled out so to speak. They realized that their testing questions only came back on them like "spiritual boomerangs!"