you are not far from the kingdom of God

I get my scribes, Saducees, and Pharisees mixed up, but it seems to me they all had one thing in common; they focused too much on doing the right liturgy and having the law memorized and they missed everything else their faith called them to. So it is so amazing to me that this Saducee in Mark 12 (Proper 26b) seems to get it all right, down to his last words to Jesus, "this is much more important that all whoe burnt offereings and sacrfices."

When asked by this man "Which commandemnt is the first of all" Jesus didn't run to the 10 (or 11 depending) commandments of Exodus. Instead he recalled for those around him the words of Moses on the edge of the Promised Land, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 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." Within this one commandment, this Great Commandment, is a whole set of doctrine that defined for the Israelites, and still us today, what God really wants.

Hear, O Israel - Israel is the name given to Jacob after he wrestled all night with the god-man at the river. Israel came to be the name of Jacob-Israel's tribe, his family, his nation. To be called the People Isreal is to be called a people unafraid to wrestle with God. Although, here they are called to "hear" they are forever expected to come back to God with the hard questions.

The Lord our God - to claim the Lord as "our God" is to understand God's deepest desire; to be in relationship with His creation. The Lord our God is the direct correlation to we, God's people. We are called, each by name, to be in relationship with the Lord so that he might be our God.

the Lord is one - monotheistic religion is a radically new concept at the time of the Exodus. For this group of ragtag people to cast of the majority belief of the rest of the ancient world is, in fact, quite a statement. The Lord is one is the basis of the Nicean concept of Trinity (of one being, begotten not made, proceding from the Father...). To worship one God, to recognize only one God is to make a giant statement about the nature of that God.

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. - this is not a little expectation on the part of God. To love God with all heart, soul, mind, and strength is not an easy endeavor, but to know that God loves you before, in fact whether or not, you love him back makes it all the more easy. Note that this Great Commandment, when uttered by Moses, is after God has saved his people from bondage. It is as they prepare to enter the land promised to them by God. God didn't wait for Israel to love God to save them, but rather saved them, loved them, from before.

These imdedded statements of doctrine are not, by anymeans, the exclusive understanding of our relationship with God. They are however, the beginning of an understanding that right liturgy and memorized law are not the way to meet God. It is rather in the act of naming God and loving God that relationship begins. It is this relationship that Jesus spoke about when he told the Saducee, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."

Of course the other half of the kingdom lies in the second commandment. See my friend Peter's post on loving your neighbor as yourself for some great insights (and some good sarcasm).