When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, 'You are not far from the kingdom of God.' This commendation comes to a scribe who answers correctly about the greatest commandment—love God, love neighbor.
Notice: he's not far from the kingdom. Not in it. But close. And the proximity seems to be based on clarity of thought and understanding of priority. I'm sitting with this because it complicates the salvation story. It's not just faith versus works, or belief versus unbelief. It's also about the trajectory you're moving in. Are you oriented toward the kingdom? Are you capable of seeing what matters? Are you thoughtful about what God values? This scribe is moving toward the kingdom even if he hasn't fully entered it yet. I think there are a lot of people in that posture—not quite disciples, but oriented toward truth, moving in the right direction. Jesus honors that. He doesn't condemn it as insufficient. He says 'you're close.'
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