Are We There Yet?

Mark 12:28-34
One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?" Jesus answered, "The first is, '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.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Then the scribe said to him, "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 neighbor as oneself,' --this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." After that no one dared to ask him any question.

When I was growing up vacations were a real thrill. This was before the days of mini-vans. When we went on vacation, it was generally four adults and two children in the car. Granted cars seemed bigger back then, but still a five hundred mile trip in such cramped quarters was no piece of cake. Usually, my cousin Jeff went with us. I remember one trip where I lay on the back floor with adult legs over the top of me just to get some room. I also remember that between Jeff and me, there was always the brewing question: “Are we there yet?” or its cousin, “How far do is it?”
   Being a parent, I now have those words come back to haunt me. Although my family does travel in a mini-van with more room than what I remember having, the questions of “Are we there yet?” and “How far is it?” still are heard.
   As I read the passage above, I was struck by Jesus’ final response to the Scribe with whom he was conversing. He said, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” I sort of wondered, what the Scribe might be thinking.
    One thought might have been, “What do you mean I’m not far. I thought I was already there?’ After all he was a learned man and seemed to have all the right responses to Jesus’ queries. Or, then again, perhaps he was thinking, “How far then do I have to go?” Maybe he realized that he wasn’t quite where God wanted him, and Jesus’ words may have reminded him of the little distance he still had to cover spiritually. Possibly he thought, “This man Jesus is wise. He’s given me something I need to think about?”
   Regardless of the thoughts of the Scribe, Jesus’ question and answer session had made the crowd realize that they were not dealing with some half witted carpenter from Nazareth. This man Jesus had a wealth of wisdom about him that could not be ignored! The text concludes, “After that no one dared to ask him any question.” They realized that they had met their spiritual and, perhaps even, intellectual match. The words from his mouth made them stop and think.
   Do they still make us stop and think? Do they still challenge us intellectually and spiritually? How far are we from the Kingdom of God?