“You are not far from the kingdom of God” (Mk 12:34): from the faith of Israel to Christian faith

Abstract

The author of this paper delivers an exegesis of Jesus’ words, “You are not far from the kingdom of God” (Mk 12:34) that has been addressed to one of the scribes who came to Jesus and asked Him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” (12:28). The analysis of this sentence in the context of the Gospel of Mark leads to conclusion that one of the scribes is not far from the kingdom of God because he has not got the faith in Jesus Christ yet. He believes in the God of Israel and therefore he consents to Jesus’ answer: “This is the first: Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is the one, only Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You must love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these”. Through the sentence: “You are not far from the kingdom of God” Jesus invites one of the scribes to reflection about the relation between Him and the one God of Israel. In the light of the Mark’s Gospel the answer to the question about this relation may be only one: Jesus is the Son of God because He is included in the unique identity of the one God. Mark remains monotheist, but his monotheism is Christological.