31ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME B
LAW ENFLESHED
MK 12: 28B-34
MESSAGE
The scribe approached the Lord Jesus with a question about the Law. But it was the scribe, not Jesus who was the enthusiast of the Law, an expert of the Law, and therefore could write documents about the Law. There was nothing in the Law the scribe did not already know. But why did he consult the Lord?
Perhaps he just wanted to confirm what he already knew. Perhaps he wanted to test Jesus’ knowledge too. Or maybe he saw something in Jesus that reminded him of the laws of God. I think it is this precisely. Jesus did not teach people to memorize the law, nor did he admonish them to study the law. But in his own flesh, the Lord gave life to the law. For Jesus exuded a profound love for God that he called his Abba, Father and his will was paramount in his life. At the same time, Jesus showed a deep sense of commiseration with his brothers and sisters, whom he loved to the end, to the very last drop of his blood.
The scribe felt drawn to the Lord because he saw in him, not the letter of the Law, but the spirit of the Law. In Jesus the Law was not a topic for study or a standard for behavior. The Lord Jesus internalized the Law and gave it a human face, making people believe that it was possible to be both in love with God and in love with their neighbor. In this sense, Jesus was the true Lawgiver, higher and nobler than Moses. His Law is above all, love!
REFLECT
Do you know of a person who reminds you of Jesus? Someone who does not speak about love but simply lives it in his daily life, in his ordinary daily tasks, in his own way? Do not only admire such a person. Ask the Lord to make you that kind of a person, too.
