Gospel: Mark 12: 28-34
The man answered the question correctly: to love God and neighbor is the way to eternal life. That is the essence of the entire law. But Jesus then says to him: You are not far from the kingdom of God. He is not there yet because there is an infinite gap from knowing the right answer and living the right answer. It is not enough to know that we must love God and neighbor; we must actually do so in concrete actions of love and mercy in the world.
But there is another meaning to Jesus' cryptic words. Recall the context of this encounter. We have made our way from Jericho to Jerusalem where we will witness the week of ultimate love for humankind. Jesus will give himself up freely to die in order to redeem us, to give us an example to follow of love. It is a road we must all experience, a love we too must show for others. Are we able to walk this final journey with the Lord?
The entire Christian life is lived on this road between Jerusalem and Jericho. It is where the Samaritan encounters the man accosted by robbers - the place where we must decide to act as the Samaritan did or to act as the priest and Levite. It is where we must decide whether to go to Jerusalem as Jesus did, to accept the cross and all it contains. It is the road of love.
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