Don Friesen
I used to enjoy the Frank and Ernest cartoons, though I haven't seen them in the daily paper for years. I know nothing about the cartoonist, but it intrigued me how often the Ten Commandments featured in the strip. Perhaps the figure of Moses with stone tablets in hand lends itself to caricature, but in an increasingly biblically illiterate culture it is less and less understood. In one of the Frank and Ernest strips featuring the Ten Commandments Moses is hurrying off with the tablets, shouting back, "As soon as they have these down pat, I'll come back for the next ten." In another strip Frank and Ernest are standing in front of row after row of bookshelves, filled with weighty tomes, above which is a sign reading, "Law Library". Frank is saying to Ernest: "It's frightening when you think that we started out with just Ten Commandments."
There is something about rules, regulations and laws that is inherently accumulative. Rules, regulations and laws collect, like dust. It's ironic that something designed to clarify things and to avoid disorder and chaos results in more and more clarifications, until clarity itself is buried in a mountain of clarifications! It is estimated that in the United States alone there are 35 million laws on the books, and some people like to amuse themselves by collecting "stupid" laws, statutes which may have been enacted for good purpose at some time or another but which sound ridiculous in our current context. I don't know how many laws there are on the books in Canada, but we too have some strange laws. I have read, for example, that in Nova Scotia it is illegal to water one's lawn while it's raining. In British Colombia, it's illegal to kill a Sasquatch, provided you can find one, of course. In Wetaskiwin, Alberta, it was once illegal to tie a male horse next to a female horse. And in Saskatchewan, the spiritual home of good and common sense, I'm sorry to tell you that it is illegal for a teenager to walk down the main street of Fort Qu'Appelle with their shoelaces untied. In Toronto, you can't drag a dead horse down Yonge Street on a Sunday. And in Ottawa, it's illegal to eat ice cream on Bank Street on a Sunday. Remember that the next time you stop at the Bank Street Dairy Queen on your way home from church!
Christ Gets Caught in a Nest of Scribes
The accumulation of rules, regulations and laws, some more necessary than others, is not a new problem. It's a human problem, one that emerges whenever a society attempts to design a way in which to live together in some fair and equitable manner. The community into which Jesus was born had a well-developed legal tradition and the custodians of that tradition were the scribes. Scribes were trained in understanding and interpreting all the fine points of law, specifically the Mosaic Law, and they spent hours discussing and debating the intricate complexities of the Law.
It wasn't always like that. The scribes began as copyists. They were an ancient version of copy machines, sort of like Xerox, Version 0.0001! Scribes were the ones who made copies of the Old Testament, dutifully scribbling the words of the Old Testament in their scribblers, maintaining the manuscripts for generation after generation, and trying to do this without making mistakes.
It was during the Exile that scribes emerged as "doctors of the law" (Luke 5:17), a professional class dedicated to gathering together Israel's sacred literature as we well as interpreting it. The law became the centre of Jewish life during the Exile, and the exiles occupied themselves in its study, in part to avoid assimilation into a foreign culture. At their best the early scribes were not simply jurists, they were the wise ones on whom you could depend for sound judgments. The Old Testament scribe, Ezra, who had a great influence on Jewish life and thought, is described as one "skilled in the law of Moses" (Ezra 7:6)
If the Exile gave prominence to the scribes, they solidified their influence by forming a political party that became known as the Pharisees. And while that party had non-scribal members, the scribes, by virtue of their professional expertise, were the weightier members of the party. As they grew in influence and power some of them became obnoxious nit-pickers. The scribes thought themselves the guardians of the tradition, and if they didn't do their job thoroughly the tradition might just collapse! And so any threat to the tradition and to their role was inspected with meticulous and suspicious attention to detail.
The scribes didn't take well to Jesus. He was a problem. He came at things a little differently than them, and there are over a dozen occasions in the Gospel of Mark when the scribes oppose Jesus. Initially, the scribes got uneasy when they saw Jesus "eating with sinners and tax collectors" (Mark 2:16), a blatant transgression of the law. And when they drew it to his attention, Jesus' reply was not at all circumspect. (2:17) Then during a time of fasting, the failure of Jesus' disciples to join the fast upset the scribes. Then there was that incident with Jesus' disciples picking heads of wheat on the Sabbath! (2:23-24) And each time these things happened Jesus put a spin on the incident that not only lacked deference to the scribes, it posed an underlying challenge to their authority!
A clash was inevitable, and in Mark, chapters 11 and 12, it erupts in full force. The scribal assault upon Jesus begins in earnest on the question of authority. "By what authority are you doing these things?" they asked Jesus. "Who gave you this authority...?" (11:28) Jesus answers their question with a counter-question (11:29-30), only upping the ante, of course, but it's enough to get the scribes arguing among themselves. The first in a series of attempts to dishonour Jesus failed miserably.
More questions of entrapment (Mark 12:13) followed. A question about taxes, no less. The scribes asked Jesus, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?" (12:14) This was an explosive issue in first-century Palestine. The Zealots, revolutionaries and enemies of Rome, refused payment. The Sadducees, who collaborated with Rome, paid their taxes. The Pharisees also paid Roman taxes, but with great anguish. Jesus asked them for a coin, and then answered, again, with a counter-question that is difficult for us to interpret but which, according to the Gospel of Mark, left the scribes with their mouths hanging open! (12:17)
Then the Sadducees joined in on this frenzy of entrapment, bringing out a real brain-teaser! Attempting to reduce the Pharisees' and Jesus' belief in the resurrection to the level of the ludicrous by asking a question about seven brothers who do their brotherly duty by marrying one woman, each in turn, only to find themselves all in heaven without a clue as to which one of them was her real husband! (12:18-23) This time Jesus didn't answer with a question of his own; he just told them they were wrong! (12:27)
Jesus was on the hot seat, and one has to admire his ability to spar with his opponents. I would have caved in at the very first question! I would have looked for a way to please everyone, like the pastor who was told by some in the congregation to preach "the old-fashioned gospel," and by others to be more broad-minded. Unable to deal with the pressure, the pastor got up in the pulpit one day, and preached, "Unless you repent, in a measure, and are saved, so to speak, you are, I am sorry to say, in danger of hellfire and damnation, to a certain extent."
The Usual Question from an Unusual Scribe
Next in line to question Jesus was another scribe, with another stumper of a question. One of the functions of scribes was to codify the hundreds of accumulated laws into categories and rate them by importance. They had reduced the Old Testament Law to 613 commandments, but had been arguing for centuries over which one of these 613 commandments was the greatest commandment. It strikes me that such an endeavour is a little like those thorny math riddles that mathematicians play with for hours on end. You may have seen the funny-looking three-necked guitar in the Ottawa Citizen this week that is in part a result of two math professors working on a new number system that might help solve a mathematical problem that has puzzled mathematicians for a few centuries! ("Stones get a new Canadian sound," Ottawa Citizen, October 28, 2003)
Similarly, in choosing the commandment that tops all other commandments, some of the scribes believed it should have something to do with sacrifices, since so many of the Old Testament commandments concern sacrifices. Other scribes had other opinions on the subject, and so the next scribe in line thought this would be a fun one to lob at Jesus. Mark tells us that the scribe in question had been watching the intellectual jousting and observing that Jesus "answered them well." (Mark 12:28) And so he asked Jesus, "Which commandment is the first of all?" (12:28)
It wasn't the first time the question had been asked. In the Babylonian Talmud, which came out in paperback just before Jesus was born, there is a story of a Gentile who approached Hillel the Elder, a great teacher, and challenged him to teach him the entirety of the Torah while the Gentile stood on one foot. It was a way of ridiculing the Jewish faith and pointing out how complicated and legalistic it had become. But Hillel answered the man, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour. That is the whole Torah, while the rest is commentary thereof. Go and learn it." Good answer!
Jesus' answer was equally direct. He said, "The first (commandment) is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; (and) you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.'" (Mark 12:29-30) Jesus' answer was the Shema, which we heard in our reading from the book of Deuteronomy. (6:4-9) Twice a day devout Jews recited the Shema in remembrance of God's preeminence in their lives. The scribe could hardly object to Jesus' answer, for this commandment provides the motivation for keeping all of the other commandments.
A Predictable Answer Plus
Jesus' answer to the scribe's question was direct, and somewhat predictable from a person well-schooled in the Law, but again Jesus put his own spin on the question. He recited the Shema, calling it the first commandment, then added, "The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:31)
Jesus held up the Shema as the greatest commandment ever given but he raised to the same level of importance a rather obscure law from Leviticus. (Leviticus 19:18) In the fusion of these two commandments Jesus capsulized the entire tradition of Moses and the Prophets. In other words, Jesus was saying that the fundamental nature of the relationship of a person to God, one of devoted love, is also to be the nature of the relationship of one person to another. A person's commitment to another person is as profound and as deep as that person's relationship to God. Though the specific commandment to love one's neighbour may be obscure, it carries the weight of much Old Testament tradition, for there are repeated injunctions to care for the poor, and for the aliens, widows and orphans--our neighbours in need.
Jesus astounded his hearers when he said that to love your neighbour as yourself was just as important a commandment as loving God, two commandments the scribes had never imagined being equal. There's some fancy footwork going on here, for in combining the two commands Jesus was using a recognized rabbinic methodology (G'zerah Shevah), making it difficult for the scribe to challenge him on procedure.
And this is where the typical question and counter-question period takes a unusual turn. In response to Jesus' answer the scribe said, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other'; and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,' and ‘to love one's neighbour as oneself,'--this is much more important than all ...burnt offerings and sacrifices." (Mark 12:32-33)
I don't know if this scribe came to Jesus with an open mind, or if he had a gestalt experience while talking to Jesus, but in the context of scribes lining up six-deep to assail Jesus with tricky questions, this encounter is a delightful change. This scribe is obviously not in the camp of those who consider commandments about sacrifices to be the most important; he knows there are loftier principles at stake.
We can only speculate as to what was in the mind of this unusual scribe. Perhaps he was a brash young scribe, eager to learn from a teacher who had a knack for putting the know-it-all religious leaders in their places. Perhaps he was a seeker long before he came to Jesus. Perhaps he had become disillusioned with legalistic manuals of conduct. Perhaps he had seen too many other scribes skilled at their jobs forget the reason for their jobs. Perhaps he'd seen those who espoused great love of God flounder when it came to loving their neighbours and friends. Perhaps this scribe had been studying the law all his life, codifying, dissecting and analysing it, when suddenly it came to him--that what God really wants from us in not meticulous obedience to a bunch of rules so much as lives shaped by love. Perhaps what started as a routine quiz suddenly turned into something more, a moment when the scribe looked up from his paperwork and saw the face of God!
How Far Is ‘not Far'?
It was a surprising turn of events. While Jesus did well in these intellectual contests, I imagine it must have exhausted him. A little earlier, after a few run-ins with the scribes, we witness Jesus cursing a fig-tree (Mark 10:13-16); I like to think it was out of frustration, but then I don't like figs.
I imagine that after several tense conflicts with the scribes Jesus was alert for hidden intellectual traps, and so I find his reply to the scribe surprising! After the scribe expressed his appreciation for Jesus' answer, Jesus said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." (Mark 12:34) A slightly ambiguous but interesting answer. Hoping to chip away at some of the ambiguity I checked about eight other translations, but they all render it the same: "You are not far from the kingdom of God."
Well, how far is "not far"? I find it fascinating that most people who preach or comment on this passage interpret the phrase negatively. In other words, they interpret Jesus as saying, Close, but no cigar! Close is not close enough! People of this persuasion seem impressed that the scribe didn't make it, comparing it, for example, to a stunt man who jumped off an 80-foot cliff and missed his air bag by two feet! A rather macabre example, but some Christians seem entranced with the possibility that some people don't make it! The scribe may have been less than an embrace away from the kingdom of God, but sorry--you didn't make it! Too bad! This scribe was so close. He had all of the basics within his grasp. He knew all of the precepts of God but he just missed it. In the words of a Susan Werner song, "You showed up just in time to miss the boat." ("Born a Little Late--The Baby Boomer Song")
Jesus' reply to the scribe, however, is sufficiently ambiguous that it also could be interpreted positively! Maybe it was intended as a compliment! It could very well be, for scribes, often in opposition to Jesus, are generally portrayed negatively in the gospels, and in that context this sounds like an encouraging compliment. It is possible to hear in the comment, "You are not far from the kingdom of God," a word of encouragement, like You're on the right track!
It's little like coming home after a long trip and the feeling you get when you're almost home. Last Sunday Dorothy and I left Toronto at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, hoping to get home in time for a church meeting I had arranged, only by 6 o'clock we had only reached Ajax--typically less than an hour out of Toronto! We left the 401 for the #7, only to encounter fog all the way to Ottawa, which was bad enough in itself, but it slowed down #7's normally slow drivers even more! Eight hours after leaving Toronto we arrived at the turn-off to the Queensway, much relieved to be so close to home, only I was so busy passing the slow drivers that I missed the turn-off! And found myself heading for Arnprior! I suggested Dorothy call Willy and Ilona to see if they could put us up for the night, but eventually we found a place we could turn around and once again close in on our destination.
Taking Inventory of our own Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength
If it feels good to close in on our destination when travelling, it also feels good to close in on our spiritual destination. We are on a spiritual journey, and the realization that we are "not far from the kingdom" means that we are closing in on a destination, working to reach a goal, which is the challenge to love God and neighbour with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.
I don't believe that God delights in us missing the boat! The challenge to love God and neighbour with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength is a call to deepen our commitment. You shall love God and neighbour with the totality of your being, said Jesus; anything less is like asking to audit a church class on the theme of "Total Commitment".
I read Jesus' comment as an encouragement to grow in our love of God and neighbour. If there is a gap between our profession of love and our behaviour, it is an invitation to close the gap. If there is a gap between our love of God and how we treat our neighbours, it is invitation to close the gap, for loving God and hating our neighbour is like the dis-connection in a person who says he believes in the Bible, but never reads it; or the person who thinks well of the church of which she is a member, but which she never attends; or the person who doesn't consider himself materialistic, but who would never consider giving a tenth of his wealth away.
Jesus also invited us to think of neighbours in the broadest way. To another scribe who was trying to narrow the definition of neighbour, Jesus responded with the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), a story designed to stretch the scribe's love of neighbour. Kathleen Norris, in her book, Amazing Grace, quotes the wonderful words of Gerard Manley Hopkins:
Norris says that this great image only works for her if it includes the whole world--as in an astronaut's view of it--and not just her small portion. ("Neighbour," Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith, page 358)
May God's Spirit encourage us to grow in loving God and neighbour with all of our heart, with all of our soul, with all of our mind, and with all of our strength.