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Mark 12:28-34 <- Click to read now
Why did no one dare to ask Jesus any more questions after this? Was it because they didn’t like the implications of this truthful answer from Jesus, was it because they no longer thought they could outsmart him or was it some other reason?
This passage is at the end of a string of questions and statements from the religious leaders that led to most of them looking for ways to have Jesus arrested. This encounter was different. This particular teacher saw good coming from Jesus’ statements and decided to take it one more step.
Hearing how Jesus was on point with the greatest commandment brought a response from him, and that response led to Jesus making this statement that he was spot on. God cares more about our love for Him and for others than anything else we can offer.
Maybe no one else dared to ask questions because in this moment, there was consensus between Jesus and this teacher of religious law. To try to trap Jesus would end with trapping themselves instead. Maybe they didn’t ask any more questions because they didn’t want to be found in the wrong by his responses.
In any case, this particular teacher was on the right track, but it does take more than just being close to the Kingdom of God. If he didn’t take that next step of trusting Jesus is Messiah, he may as well have been as far away as the others who were outright rejecting Jesus.
“Lord, sometimes we get so close to experiencing Your grace, but then we back away. Help us to know Jesus more and more, help us to be like him, and may we be a part of pointing others to Jesus as we grow in his likeness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”