The denunciation of the Scribes

Our Sunday Gospel reading today comes from Mark 12:38-44 where our Lord Jesus Christ denounced the Scribes for their hypocrisy.

“In the course of his teaching [Jesus] said, ‘beware of the Scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, 39 seats of honor in synagogues and places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation.’

41 He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. 43 Calling his disciples to hims, he said to them, ‘Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. 44 For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.’

If you’re thinking whether the Scribes in the times of our Lord Jesus Christ are the bishops and priests of today, that is not really correct. The Old Testament identifies the Scribes as writers, secretaries or record keepers. Later they increased in stature because they were known as lawyers and interpreters of Mosaic Law where they now focused as the experts of Jewish laws and traditions. Later, they because close confidants of the Pharisees, who often asked the Scribes to write down their opinions on Mosaic Law for proper interpretation and recording.

The Scribes took on many assignments for their Roman conquerors, as they are able to read and write, unlike most of the Jews. Hence they were essential to the Romans, who allowed the Scribes to help run their Jewish colony under the Roman Empire. Thus, they had the confidence of Rome and were absolutely indispensable to the Pharisees.

So how did the Pharisees got the ire of our Lord Jesus? The Hebrew root meaning of Pharisee is ‘separated ones’ as the Jewish elders who are sworn to obey God. Perhaps their true meaning was revealed by our Lord because he always chastised the Pharisees for obeying the God’s law to the letter, forgetting the real meaning or the spirit of the law of God, which is love. St. Paul, when he was still called Saul of Tarsus was a Pharisee who searched for the Nazoreans (the name of the followers of Christ before they were called Christians) and punished them. How ironic that the Pharisees became blind to coming of the Messiah, even if they saw him do miracles, healed the sick and lame and spoke God’s truth.

Now that we’ve given you who the Scribes or Pharisees are, you now have a better understanding of why our Lord Jesus warned the Jews about the Scribes. They were really considered traitors to the Jewish people because they have collaborated with their Roman conquerors. In an effort to save their own necks and to keep Judaism alive, the Pharisees also kept the Scribes close to them, thus earning the ire of the Messiah. This sounds very familiar in today’s times.

So in today’s Gospel scene, when our Lord Jesus sat down beside the treasury and observed how the Jewish people gave tribute to the coffers for Augustus Caesar, he was actually watching how the Scribes and the tax collectors took money from their Jewish brethren. This is why our Lord was able to point out that while the rich people gave a surplus of their money, it was the poor widow who gave a few small coins who actually gave more as she was no longer giving any surplus money as she didn’t have any.

Call it uncanny, but you can also see the same thing happening in our churches today. You might see someone give a P500 or even a thousand-peso bill in the kolekta, which in reality is still a surplus for the giver, while you might see an old woman drop a few coins in the basket. Actually, the man who gave a huge amount could have given more if he wanted to; anyway it came from his surplus.

However the old woman who gave up the last of her coins teaches us, that she is in every way, “Poor in Spirit” as she is totally dependent on what God gives to her and her family on a day-to-day basis. As we learned from last Sunday’s gospel in The Beatitudes, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

What about you? Are you giving from your surplus to the church or are you a true disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ, giving all that you’ve got because your faith has taught you that despite giving your all, you know God will always provide for your needs? Indeed the greatest blessing we can get is to have God’s love within our hearts because if God is with us, who can be against us? With God we can have everything. Without him, we are nothing!

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