Stroll through Scripture for March 10, 2024

Based on Mark 12:28–44

If last week’s reading moved us into the stage of conflict in the Temple, this week’s reading amplifies the conflict and what it’s really about. Last week it was the Pharisees and the Herodians trying to trap Jesus. Jesus saw through it all and in the process embarrassed them. This week, the conflict becomes sharper and Jesus exposes why his detractors are so very far from being just.

It’s important to note that we are missing verses 18–27 in Chapter 12 in our weekly readings. In that section, it is the Sadducees who confront Jesus with a theological debate about resurrection. And if you remember from last Sunday’s reading in the beginning of Ch. 12, it was the Pharisees and the Herodians who are asking a question about paying taxes.

The scribes, the Pharisees, the Herodians, and the Sadducees are all in opposition to Jesus at this point. They represent different political and religious interests and power of their day. It’s like a giant religious-political soap opera. All of these groups are more interested in the power dynamics for themselves and their group rather than what Jesus is going to talk about starting in today’s section of Mark.

We are told that one of the scribes hears the disputes that have been doing on in the Temple grounds and comes over to where Jesus is and asks Jesus a key question — “Which commandment is the first of all?” The scribe wasn’t part of the disputes. Maybe he was just tired of the squabbling. Maybe he…