Faith

A’scribe’-ing to Jesus  – Sunday, 31st Week in ordinary time –Mk 12:28-34

The fourth round of attacks on Jesus was led by the Sadducees who, as we are told  have been shut down and shut up. Now that the big guns have been silenced, it seems there is no one left to question Jesus; but there was!

The man in question was a scribe; a copyist and an interpreter of the law. The scribes were professionals at spelling out the letter of the Law while often ignoring the spirit behind it, bringing them in sharp conflict with Jesus. But they studied and interpreted the books with unwavering devotion. This is why the Jews and Semitic religions are often referred to as ‘people of the book’.

The scribe in our pericope seems to be one with a mind of his own. He has been hovering in the temple, listening to the Jesus haters who came in attack formation, wave after wave.  He stands in admiration of Jesus for His ability to ‘answer them well’.

His admiration could have stemmed from the fact that he was part of the Pharisee party and if that was so, Jesus has just shut up the scribe’s rivals, the Sadducees, with a brilliant answer.   Perhaps his admiration may have been intellectual; he himself being a man of letter, found in this simple carpenter intelligence par excellence.

Whatever be his motivation, there is no doubt that a curiosity to get to know Jesus had crept in. He directs his question not to trap Jesus but to get to know what he stands for. In asking Jesus ‘which is the greatest commandment’, he was throwing Jesus a question that was often asked to all Jewish religious leaders.

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Faith

Entrapment 4.0  – Wednesday, 9th week in ordinary time- Mk 12:18-27

By now Jesus had just about ticked off most of the Jewish groups in the temple. He has effectively become enemy number one and after three failed attempts to trap Him, a fourth attempt is made.  The big guns are brought out to tackle him and the Sadducees were a force to reckon with.

Politically, the Sadducees were aligned with Roman rule in a ‘while they reign, let us gain’ alliance. In doing so, their position as authorities in the Jewish ruling council (the Sanhedrin), were secure. They formed the upper social and economic echelon of Judean society.

But it is their rejection of the oral law that saw them caught up in constant inter-Jewish disputes between the Pharisees, who unlike them, accepted the belief in the resurrection, the immortality of the soul and the existence of angels. For the Sadducees, the ‘go to book’ was the Torah or as we know, the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. They did not accept the historical books or the prophets. The Sadducees based their rejection of the resurrection on the silence of the Pentateuch which they strictly followed.

So when entrapment in all its forms fails, the Sadducees were sent in with a different strategy. Jesus is not asked a political question that could land Him in trouble, if answered wrongly. This time it’s a religious doctrinal question entwined in a hypothetical situation with a clear attempt to reduce the doctrine of the resurrection to absurdity.

Any question on the resurrection would have the ears of the Pharisee puckered up, to say nothing of the consequences of the hold Jesus had on the people, should he answer wrongly. This question was a hot potato that few would want to touch, but was now tossed into Jesus’ lap.

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Faith

 

Show me the money- Tuesday, 9th week in ordinary time- Mk 12:13-17

 Lather and shave, that’s what the late Fr Larry Pereira, my former parish priest, often called the method employed by some to obscure the knives drawn out before the kill. Disarm the victim with flummery and when the unsuspecting victim finds comfort in the barber’s chair, pull out the razor.

Flummery, the Jewish authorities did apply, albeit futilely with Jesus. If Jesus did not fall for the wily ways of satan’s tempting offers, He most certainly would not fall for the puffery of the Pharisees and Herodians. So when they approached Him, heaping ‘certificates of character’ like ‘you are a sincere man’ ‘you show no deference to any one’ ‘you teach the way of God in accordance with truth’, it has no effect on the Lord.

Jesus confronts their hypocrisy. “Why” he asks them, “are you putting me to the test?” They thought they had an ingenious plan; butter Him up like a croissant before posing a seemingly unanswerable query. But they tried their luck and failed.

Politics makes strange bed fellows. The Herodians could barely stand the Pharisees. The former were politicians aligned to King Herod and by extension to the hated Romans; the latter were religious lawmakers. Independently, they had knives drawn at each other’s throats. Together they struck a deal to lock Jesus in the horns of a dilemma. Should Jesus consent to paying the hated Poll tax?

Three taxes were imposed by the Romans on Judea. The first was the ground tax, which was 10% of all grain and 20% of all wine and fruit. The second was the income tax, which amounted to 1% of a man’s income. The third was the poll tax, paid by men aged 12 to 65 and women 14 to 65. This was one denarius a year, about a day’s wage for a labourer.

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Faith

fresh crime scene at night

Blood in the vineyard- Monday, 9th Week in ordinary time – Mk 12:1-12

This parable most certainly would get the attention of a censor board with a blazing disclaimer, ‘the following parable contains some images unsuitable for children, reader discretion advised’; for violence and murder fill sacred space.

The reading of today falls between the triumphant entry into Jerusalem in Chapter 11 and the last supper in Chapter 14. Jesus is in the temple taking on the Jewish authorities. These chapters are called the ‘interrogation passages’ as they begin with an interrogatory question from the Jewish authorities to Jesus.

The passage of today also has a historical background. The gospel of Matthew was written somewhere between 60 and 70 AD. This was the time when the Romans broke the Jewish siege, entered Jerusalem and destroyed the temple; a prediction that Jesus makes in the following Chapter.  For St Mark, the temple had become a symbol of corruption led by the Jewish authorities and that is why in Chapter 11 Jesus cleanses the temple on entering Jerusalem and in Chapter 13 predicts its destruction.

The hatred of the authorities against Jesus was palpable. They question His authority in the preceding verses only to have Jesus expose their own lack of authority. Then, using a parable with clear allegorical overtones, Jesus rips into the Jewish leaders. The parable of the wicked tenants, which borrows motifs familiar to storytellers of that time, rakes up the Jewish nation’s rap sheet of infidelity with God.

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Art/ Heritage

  ‘The Disputation of the Holy Sacrament’ by Raphael (1509 – 1510) PART 1

As Catholics all around the world queue and walk up the aisle to receive Holy Communion at times doubt, delusion or absolute indifference with regards to the Sacred Host plagues one’s mind. Is it indeed the Body of Christ? Is it the actual flesh of a man who lived 2000 years ago? Or is it symbolic of Christ? What does our Church profess? And what do I believe in?

The disputation buried in our heads is mirrored by the disputation encountered in the painting. However, it is important to note that the word ‘disputation’ does not necessarily mean ‘disagreement’ Far from negativity and division, it signifies an animated discussion to discover and enhance our understanding of the truth. In a way it can be considered a medium of prayer and praise.

The painting is executed by the Renaissance artist Raphael between 1509 and 1510 in today what is called the Stanze di Raffaello or the Raphael Rooms. However in the 15th century, this room in the Vatican Palace was called the Stanza della Segnatura. It was to serve as the library of Pope Julius II (1443 – 1513) who commissioned the painting.

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