I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.  

Today, I am reading and commenting on Mark 12-13

Today’s passage contains accounts of three different approaches people take to those who proclaim the truth.  First the Pharisees attempted to trap Jesus in the conflict between government authority and popular opinion.  Then the Sadducees tried to trap Jesus in what they thought was a logic conflict in His belief system.  Finally an unnamed teacher of the law asked a probing question aimed at discovering the core of Jesus’ teachings.

The Pharisees thought that Jesus’ appeal to the masses came from telling them what they wanted to hear.  The premise of their question was that if Jesus gave the crowds the answer they wanted to hear, they could have the Romans arrest Him for inciting rebellion.  On the other hand, they thought that if Jesus gave an answer on taxation which did not support it the crowds would turn on Him.  The Pharisees did not ask this question in order to learn Jesus’ answer.  They thought they had come up with a question where they could use whatever answer Jesus gave against Him.   There are many nuances to Jesus’ answer.  However, Jesus makes the central point that only those involved in trade with the Romans were significantly impacted by the Roman taxes.  

The Sadduccess thought that resurrection from the dead was illogical.  Their question was intended to highlight the logical inconsistencies of what Jesus taught.  Again, they were not seeking to understand what Jesus’ taught.  They sought an answer they could use against Him.  Jesus showed that their question only seems like it presents a quandary because they lacked faith in God’s power over the Universe.

Finally, the unnamed teacher of the law asked a question which actually explored what Jesus taught.  This last question truly got at whether or not Jesus was a teacher to whom we should listen.  This man asked Jesus a question to which he genuinely wanted to know the answer.  Unlike the Pharisees who thought they would be able to use Jesus’ answer against Him, no matter how He answered and unlike the Sadduccess who thought their question had no answer.  This unnamed teacher genuinely wanted to know what Jesus thought.  He wanted to see if Jesus’ answer added up.  When people question us about our faith, they will fall into one of these categories.  Some people will be seeking an answer that they can use against us or our faith.  Others will be seeking to show that only foolish people would actually believe what we say we believe.  But a few people will ask questions because they genuinely seek to learn the truth.