And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly ( νουνεχῶς), he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. It would appear from this answer that our Lord regarded him as one who approached him with the sincere desire to know the truth, and so he encouraged him.
This shows how powerful an influence our Lord's teaching had already exercised amongst all classes of the Jews. This scribe, notwithstanding the prejudices of his class, had reached the border-land of the kingdom.
He had learnt that the true way to the kingdom was by the love of God and of our neighbor. He was not far from the kingdom—not far from "the Church militant here on earth," by which is the way to the Church triumphant in heaven.
He was not far from the kingdom, but still he wanted that which in the true pathway to the kingdom—faith in Christ as the Savior of the world. And no man after that durst ask him any question. St. Matthew (Matthew 22:46) places these words after the next occurrence.
But there is no inconsistency in the two narratives, because in this next incident our Lord puts the question to them; and this silenced both their questioning and their answering. All felt that there was such a vast reach of wisdom and knowledge in all that he said, that it was in vain to contend with him.