Mark for Lent 30
For this reading Jesus talks about life in the future world and the most important commandment which is “more important than all the sacrifices and offerings that we could possibly make”. He goes on to talk about the son of David and condemn the pharisees and the teachers of the law of Moses.
Life in the Future World (Matthew 22.23-33; Luke 20.27-40)
18The Sadducees did not believe that people would rise to life after death. So some of them came to Jesus and said:
19Teacher, Moses wrote that if a married man dies and has no children, his brother should marry the widow. Their first son would then be thought of as the son of the dead brother. 20There were once seven brothers. The first one married, but died without having any children. 21The second brother married his brother’s widow, and he also died without having children. The same thing happened to the third brother, 22and finally to all seven brothers. At last the woman died. 23When God raises people from death, whose wife will this woman be? After all, she had been married to all seven brothers.24Jesus answered:
You are completely wrong! You don’t know what the Scriptures teach. And you don’t know anything about the power of God. 25When God raises people to life, they won’t marry. They will be like the angels in heaven. 26You surely know about people being raised to life. You know that in the story about Moses and the burning bush, God said, “I am the God worshiped by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” [a] 27He isn’t the God of the dead, but of the living. You Sadducees are all wrong.
The Most Important Commandment (Matthew 22.34-40; Luke 10.25-28)
28One of the teachers of the Law of Moses came up while Jesus and the Sadducees were arguing. When he heard Jesus give a good answer, he asked him, “What is the most important commandment?”
29Jesus answered, “The most important one says: `People of Israel, you have only one Lord and God. 30You must love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.’ 31The second most important commandment says: `Love others as much as you love yourself.’ No other commandment is more important than these.”32The man replied, “Teacher, you are certainly right to say there is only one God. 33It is also true that we must love God with all our heart, mind, and strength, and that we must love others as much as we love ourselves. These commandments are more important than all the sacrifices and offerings that we could possibly make.”
34When Jesus saw that the man had given a sensible answer, he told him, “You are not far from God’s kingdom.” After this, no one dared ask Jesus any more questions.
About David’s Son (Matthew 22.41-46; Luke 20.41-44)
35As Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said, “How can the teachers of the Law of Moses say that the Messiah will come from the family of King David? 36The Holy Spirit led David to say,
`The Lord said to my Lord:Sit at my right side [b]
until I make your enemies
into a footstool for you.’
37If David called the Messiah his Lord, how can the Messiah be his son?” [c]
The large crowd enjoyed listening to Jesus teach.
Jesus Condemns the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law of Moses (Matthew 23.1-36; Luke 20.45-47)
38As Jesus was teaching, he said:
Guard against the teachers of the Law of Moses! They love to walk around in long robes and be greeted in the market. 39They like the front seats in the meeting places and the best seats at banquets. 40But they cheat widows out of their homes and pray long prayers just to show off. They will be punished most of all.
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society
April 3rd, 2006 at 8:06 am
“The Sadducees”
Is this like a curtian call where one at a time each of the groups opposed to Jesus step forward to… “You are completely wrong!” … be defeated by his authority one last time?
It may be of minor interest that we say “God IS the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” not “God WAS the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” but ho hum that is hardly Jesus finest teaching moment.
Hhmmm resurrection thats come up a few times now - I wonder where Mark is going with taht theme.
“One of the teachers of the Law of Moses” Yep the roll call continues.
And from a ho hum teaching to one of Jesus’ best - and the words aren’t even his: “People of Israel, you have only one Lord and God. You must love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.’ The second most important commandment says: `Love others as much as you love yourself.’ No other commandment is more important than these.”
After all Jesus has done and run so many rings around the ‘teacher of the Law of Moses’ Jesus shows his argument is not with the ‘Law of Moses’ and shows just how orthodox his view of God’s will for the world is.
I don’t know how this man is going to be received by his fellow ‘teachers of the law of moses’ when he gets home but he can’t argue with Jesus. Anyone who understands loving others is more important “than all the sacrifices and offerings that we could possibly make” surely is “not far from God’s kingdom.”
“After this, no one dared ask Jesus any more questions.”
And so the curtian call of enemies passes and their say is finished. But Jesus hasn’t finished he is just getting warmed up so go on Jesus tell us what you really think:
“They cheat widows out of their homes and pray long prayers just to show off.”
O Jesus, I doubt that. These are pious religious people. They might be a bit judgemental or something, but surely they don’t steel a poor widows home. Come on, do you have any proof?