Thursday June 6, 2024

Mark 12:28-34

'You are not far from the kingdom of God'

What if those who walked with Jesus were to tell you that he was the funniest and silliest man they had ever known, would you believe it? This funny human side of the Son of Man has escaped us and everything, well almost everything, has become super serious. When I was in seminary we quickly found out that the sadder you looked the holier the priests thought you were. We became masters of the “serious face.”

Recently I watched an episode of ‘The Chosen’ I have to tell you it was refreshing to see a playful happy Jesus.

A serious question is posed in today’s reading concerning the greatest of commandments. Jesus answers with … love God and love neighbor, everything else is commentary. And for a moment there, the Pharisee agrees, there is nothing greater than this. Then his humor comes out. At least I see his humor “you are not far from the kingdom.” Can I translate this in American? Jesus with a wink says to his greatest critic “You are not as bad as they say.”

Do you get the humor?