• 277 Mark 12:35-44 Jesus warns against the Teachers of the Law

  • Jul 19 2024
  • Duración: 16 m
  • Podcast

277 Mark 12:35-44 Jesus warns against the Teachers of the Law  Por  arte de portada

277 Mark 12:35-44 Jesus warns against the Teachers of the Law

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  • Talk 38 Mark 12:35-44 Jesus warns against the Teachers of the Law Welcome to Talk 38 in our series on Mark’s Gospel. Today we’re looking at Mark 12:35-44. So far in this chapter, Jesus has faced questions from Herodians, Pharisees, and Sadducees, all of whom have been trying to trick him into giving an answer that might give them grounds for taking action against him. But on every occasion Jesus’ answers have silenced his opponents. Now, in today’s passage, Jesus: · asks them all a question which they are unable to answer (35-37) · warns the people to beware of these hypocritical teachers of the law (38-40) · and draws a contrast between their self-seeking behaviour and the generosity of a poor widow (41-44). 35 While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, "How is it that the teachers of the law say that the Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: "'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet."' 37 David himself calls him 'Lord.' How then can he be his son?" The large crowd listened to him with delight. Jesus’ purpose in asking this question is not to catch his opponents out as they had tried to catch him out. His purpose was not retaliation, but to make them and the others listening think. As we shall see, the implications of his question are enormous. They reveal, without a shadow of a doubt, who Jesus really is. The teachers of the law had rightly understood that the Scriptures predicted that the Christ, God’s Anointed One, the Messiah, would be a son (i.e. a descendant) of King David. This view was widely held by the Jews at the time of Jesus, and Jesus is not disputing it. But what he is saying is this: If the Christ really is to be a son of David (which he certainly is), how is it that David refers to him as his Lord? Jesus is referring to Psalm 110:1 which says: The Lord says to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet’. This psalm was widely held to be messianic (i.e. prophesying about the Messiah). But, asks Jesus, if David is speaking of the coming Messiah, how can he call him my Lord if he is one of his descendants? It would be unthinkable to a Jew that a child could be superior to its father, or a descendant superior to an ancestor. Matthew 22:46 makes it clear that the teachers of the law could not find an answer to this riddle, but the early Christians certainly knew it, as this very verse is quoted in Hebrews 1:13 where the writer is demonstrating the deity of Jesus. And this is what Jesus is trying to show them by his question. If the Messiah was to be David’s Lord, he must be more than a physical descendant. He must be none other than God himself. But that was a mystery that the Jewish leaders were completely unable to fathom. Now, in the next section, verses 38-40, Jesus warns the people against the teachers of the law. 38 As he taught, Jesus said, "Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, 39 and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets. 40 They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely." The meaning of these verses is clear. The Jewish religious leaders – the majority, at least – were insincere and wrongly motivated. Note the words like to in verse 38. They enjoyed dressing differently, to show, as they thought, their superiority to others. They felt entitled to have the most important seats in the synagogues and places of honour at banquets. The motivation in all that they did was to be admired by others, and even their prayers were designed to impress others rather than to seek the blessing of God. But Matthew’s account of what Jesus said is more detailed. In Matthew 23:3-7 Jesus makes the following accusations against the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. 1. They do not practise what they preach (v3) 2. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders (v4) 3. Everything they do is done for men to see (v5) 4. They love the place of honour at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues (v6) 5. They love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi’ (v7). And in verses 13-36 we read how Jesus again and again calls them hypocrites, blind guides, blind fools, blind men, and even describes them as you snakes, you brood of vipers! and warns them of the judgment to come as a result. Of course, it’s easy enough for us to identify with Jesus’ condemnation of the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of his day, but I wonder how seriously church leaders today take Jesus’ words of instruction to us as his disciples. Notice what he says in ...
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