We all know those people who are “always on.” No matter the situation or the circumstance their personalities are such that they manage to have control of the room or the situation. Some people seem to always command respect, even from strangers. There is something about them.
We imagine that Jesus was such a person. No matter what he was doing – even if just stopping by the roadside inn for a drink of water and a bite to eat – he commanded attention.
Certainly no one, not even the Scribes and the Pharisees, are ever accounted as an “equal” to Jesus. That is until Jesus encounters a particular unnamed Scribe and engages in the brief exchange we hear in this week’s Gospel.
The Scribe asks Jesus a theological question, not so much to trap him as do some of the others, but to garner a sense of Jesus’ perspective on the Law. This is a man who sees Jesus not as an enemy, but as a contemporary. The Scribe asks: “What is the Greatest Commandment?” When Jesus responds by citing the “shemah” from Deuteronomy, and then does on to add the Second Commandment “you shall love your neighbor as yourself,” the Scribe is deeply satisfied. He understood Jesus at a depth that most of the crowds, and even the disciples, did not. He recognized in Jesus a legitimate “teacher of the Law.” Note the subtle shift in the conversation. The Scribe asked Jesus the question without addressing him personally. After Jesus answers the Scribe responds: “Well said, teacher…” the Scribe recognizes Jesus as a teacher.
The Scribe expanded on Jesus’ answer in his reflection on the Second Commandment: “and ‘to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself’ is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
The Scribe identified in Jesus’ response the primacy of love – love of God, self, and neighbor over all things, including the other demands – especially the ritual demands – of the Law.
At this point Jesus recognized in this Scribe a person whose understanding of the Law surpassed their contemporaries. There the conversation ends. Presumably they parted company, yet while seeing in each other, a man of great faith, and knowledge of the Law.
Sadly, we do not know what happens to this Scribe. That he is unnamed suggests that he did not become a follower of Jesus, and is unlikely unknown to the disciples and the evangelist.
Jesus tells him: “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” This statement from Jesus tells us that there is yet more – more than just knowing and loving God and neighbor.
Carefully reading and reflecting on the Gospels lets us see what this Scribe – insightful as he is – still does not know. One has to wonder what this Scribe thought when he learned that Jesus was crucified. Had he remained with Jesus and continued to listen to his teaching this Scribe would have heard Jesus reflect on his coming Passion and Death. He would have been drawn more deeply into the singular demand Jesus places upon his disciples: to take up their Cross daily and to follow Jesus.
The Scribe saw the primacy of love over sacrifice – but did he hang around Jesus long enough to understand the power of self-sacrifice as the supreme act of love?
The challenge for each of us is to go beyond love. True discipleship with Jesus has to go beyond loving God and neighbor, as essential as they both are. Jesus calls us to respond to this love through taking up our crosses and laying down our lives.
The Scribe, like the rich man a few weeks ago, walks away too soon. They teach us that we need to hang in there, for there is yet much more to learn from Jesus than we can get from one conversation.
Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.