St. Mark 12:13-44: "13 Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words. 14 When they had come, they said to Him, 'Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? 15 Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?' But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, 'Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it.' 16 So they brought it. And He said to them, 'Whose image and inscription is this?' They said to Him, 'Caesar's.' 17 And Jesus answered and said to them, 'Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.' And they marveled at Him. 18 Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying: 19 'Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring. 21 And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring. And the third likewise. 22 So the seven had her and left no offspring. Last of all the woman died also. 23 Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife.' 24 Jesus answered and said to them, 'Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?" 27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.' 28 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, 'Which is the first commandment of all?' 29 Jesus answered him, 'The first of all the commandments is: "Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. 30 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." There is no other commandment greater than these.' 32 So the scribe said to Him, 'Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. 33 And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.' 34 Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, 'You are not far from the kingdom of God.' But after that no one dared question Him. 35 Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, 'How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David? 36 For David himself said by the Holy Spirit: "The LORD said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.'" 37 Therefore David himself calls Him "Lord;" how is He then his Son?' And the common people heard Him gladly. 38 Then He said to them in His teaching, 'Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, 39 the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, 40 who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.' 41 Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. 42 Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. 43 So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; 44 for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.'"
Today's reading is the last reading from the Evangelist St. Mark until the week of Judica, when we will pick up again with the Passion of our Lord. Starting tomorrow we will begin reading through the Gospel of St. Luke skipping over the Christmas narratives, which we read during that season. So today, we have the final debates between our Lord Jesus, and the religious leaders of His day. We hear from the Pharisees and Herodians, who were Jews who were loyal to the Roman power, from the Sadducees, and from a scribe, the only one in the bunch who is "not far from the kingdom of God." Therefore, all the groups who will seek for His death are represented.
In the first group, the Pharisees and Herodians, we learn from chapter 11:27, that the "they sent" refers to the chief priests, elders and scribes. Having already been silenced by our Lord, they send the Pharisees and Herodians. The interesting thing about these two groups, is that they were at odds with each other, for the Pharisees, were concerned with achieving freedom from Roman power. They wanted the Jews to be free from the Roman rule, so that they could rule and govern themselves. Therefore, the subcurrent of this narrative about taxes to Caesar is that if our Lord Jesus were to say pay Caesar the Pharisees would jump on Him for being a disloyalist. And if He said, do not pay Caesar, the Herodians would jump all over Him for not being loyal to the Roman government. Therefore, in their minds, they have set the perfect trap. A no win question for our Lord Jesus.
However, our Lord sees right through this ruse, and answers their question with a question as He is wont to do. And after ascertaining that the coin bore the image of Caesar, and therefore, belonged to him, our Lord tells them to give back the coin to whom it belongs.
The second group coming to Him is are the Sadducees. The Sadducees differed from the Pharisees and Herodians, not only in doctrine, but in their intent. For the Pharisees and Herodians, and the chief priests, elders, and scribes who sent them, hated our Lord Jesus, because of Who He is, that is He is the Messiah, and all the people see it. These people have therefore stopped listening to them, and have gone after Him. In short, they were driven by jealousy, and attacked His person, trying to get the people to see He was a liar and not worthy of being listened too. The Sadducees, on the other hand, hated our Lord Jesus, because of His doctrine. They did not like what He taught, for He taught about the resurrection, that there are such a thing as angels and demons, and other doctrines which they did not believe. For they only read the Pentateuch, that is, the five books of Moses, sometimes called the Torah. And only the doctrines contained in those books they would uphold. They were the Marcionites of our Lord Jesus' time. Those who cut out certain parts of Scripture because it didn't agree with their teachings.
Their question centers around the Resurrection. Here again, the Sadducees, like the Pharisees and Herodians, try to trick our Lord Jesus, by offering an elaborate example of the Law of Moses regarding the producing of offspring. First of all, the question ignores the purpose of this Law, it was to keep the Jewish line going, this was especially important in the line of David, for his offspring would be the Messiah. Second, it shows their lack of understanding of the holy Scriptures. For all those who cut out parts of holy Scripture, or say that some parts are God's Word and other parts are not, or that some parts are only to be understood as being culturally relevant to the time when they were written in the Bible, lack true understanding of holy Scripture. This also obviously applies to those who say that the Bible is not the Word of God, or only contains the Word of God, and other such nonsense.
For the Sadducees, because they have left out, or don't read, or don't believe in certain parts of holy Scripture, their understanding of the resurrection is flawed. For these Sadducees didn't believe in the resurrection of the body, for they thought that the body was raised in the same form it died, and therefore, if the body is completely destroyed it could not be raised from the dead. And, as we learn fromt the Blessed Apostle, St. Paul, a Pharisee who had full knowledge of all the holy Scriptures, in his epistle to the Church at Corinth, that the body is raised as a "glorious" body. Much like when we witness our Lord Jesus being transfigured on the mountain.
Our Lord refutes this lack of knowledge by going back to the Words of holy Scripture to which they would actually read and believe; to the passage on the burning bush which appeared to Moses. The Lord God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were at the time of Moses (and the time of Jesus) not alive on the Earth, but alive in Heaven. For even those these patriarchs appeared to be dead, they were alive, hence, our Lord God is not a God of the dead, but the living.
The Pharisees and Sadducees are contrasted with a scribe, a lone scribe, who understands and believes our Lord Jesus. He is the model of faith among the clergy. For although it is said in the Gospel of St. Matthew, that this man asked the question to test Him, it need not be understood to be with evil intent, but to ask a question, about which He pondered. The most striking thing about this whole discourse is the final realization of the scribe, that the commandments of our Lord God were greater than all the sacrifices. This is also why our Lord Jesus says that he is not far from the kingdom of God, and not that he is within the kingdom of God. For this man places the Law above sacrifices. Which is better than what the Pharisees and Sadducees believed, but it is not fully informed. This man is like the people today who desire to good work their way into heaven.
All this man really needs to hear is the Gospel, that our Lord Jesus suffered and died for his salvation, so that in His love for His Father, and for His Father's creation, all the sacrifices and burnt offerings are no longer necessary, for our Lord has completed them all by His once and for all sacrifice of atonement for us on the cross, so that we might have forgiveness, life, and salvation. Therefore, this man is close to the kingdom of God, but not there yet. We can almost gather from this narrative by the Evangelist St. Mark, that he is referring to a specific individual that would have been known to the first hearers of this Gospel. We don't know, but we do know that this man's enlightenment from the Word of our Lord Jesus, give an example of the enlightenment that takes place in all those who hear the Gospel.
God be with you!
Deacon Dulas
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