As the educated class of religious leaders the scribes were regarded as the "professionals" of their time. As such they expected to sit in a reserved place in the temple. In addition to doing nothing for the oppressed, much of their wealth was derived from the poor and the oppressed. This was part of an ongoing much larger criticism that Jesus levies against the temple-based authority that began with the clearing of the Temple earlier. Note, the money referenced is used to fund the Temple’s treasury; it makes no mention of its use to comfort or feed the needy.
Jesus
denounces the scribes for their hypocrisy, as they are seen in all their
pompous finery and feigned reverence, and the way in which they amass
their wealth.. While the scribes are acknowledged
for what they contribute to the treasury from their abundance, the poor
widow is blessed for what she contributes from her own need.
Do
we need to ask whose contribution is greater?
I wonder how this message relates to us today. Over the centuries many
explanations have been proposed to explain Jesus’ anger with the merchants in
the temple and in this reading, the hypocrisy of the scribes. And what about
today? I wonder what Jesus would have to say about the church-governing bodies,
the high priests, church councils and vestries whose public piety often runs counter to the sharing God’s love. Their focus on the adherence of rituals of
worship often serve as distractions for what Jesus wanted for his "church."
Jesus
was a radical whose focus was preaching the love of God and not about the
man-made rules associated with misguiding the faithful in the name of God.
Jesus sought to overturn “the tables” and rid the temples of all the false
piety, the purity codes and social rules created in the name of God for the
sole purpose of control and power.
The Church does play an important role in our lives primarily because it provides
for a communal gathering in which we can proclaim the Gospel and share God’s
grace through the sacraments. But the real "church" exists in
the "pots and pans" of our lives. It is a dynamic amorphous entity
that has no fixed walls and whose very existence is based on doing. In this church
we are sent out to look for God in those who need our love and support, as we
partner with him to feed the needy and comfort those who are oppressed. Isn’t
that the image we should hold for Church?
Jesus’
anger in this Gospel Mark12:38-44 is directed toward those who use the love of power to control their
congregations rather than the power of love to create an environment that sets
the stage for the sharing of God’s love. Do we have the courage to overturn the
tables as Jesus did and tear down the walls that exclude, and become the Word as
the Word become flesh in us?
