Mark 12:28-44
One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with
one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which
commandment is the first of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O
Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with
all your strength.” The second is this, “You shall love your neighbour as
yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ Then the scribe
said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that “he is one, and
besides him there is no other”; and “to love him with all the heart, and with
all the understanding, and with all the strength”, and “to love one’s neighbour
as oneself”,—this is much more important than all whole burnt-offerings and
sacrifices.’ When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are
not far from the kingdom of God.’ After that no one dared to ask him any
question.
While Jesus was
teaching in the temple, he said, ‘How can the scribes say that the Messiah is
the son of David? David himself, by the Holy Spirit, declared,
“The Lord said to my Lord,
‘Sit at my right hand,
until I put your
enemies under your feet.’ ”
David himself calls him Lord; so how can he be his son?’ And
the large crowd was listening to him with delight.
As he taught, he
said, ‘Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be
greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have the best seats in the
synagogues and places of honour at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for
the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater
condemnation.’
He sat down opposite
the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich
people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins,
which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, ‘Truly
I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing
to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but
she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.’
*********************
Too often we get this last story without the context of : "they devour widows' houses". I'm not so sure this story of the widow is so much a commendation of her (which is how it was always read to me growing up) as it is a condemnation of the scribes.
*********************
Too often we get this last story without the context of : "they devour widows' houses". I'm not so sure this story of the widow is so much a commendation of her (which is how it was always read to me growing up) as it is a condemnation of the scribes.
Two unusual events here - Jesus gives a hint about what "Kingdom of God" means. (Do we know what, if anything, that phrase meant to people of the time, and was that the same thing Jesus was meaning? Sometimes I get the idea Jesus was using words differently than people were used to using them, NOT explaining that he was using the words differently, and then getting huffy because he was misunderstood.)
ReplyDeleteAlso unusual: Jesus says something nice about someone. Not one of his own followers, but still, Mark's Jesus does have it in him to occasionally say something nice.