Saturday in the Ninth Week of Ordinary Time, June 5, 2021

Mark 12:38-44

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, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets. They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation.” He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”

“Beware of the scribes.”  At this time, in the Gospel of St. Mark, the Lord Jesus has entered Jerusalem and is spending the last few days of his earthly life teaching in the Temple courtyards.  Just before the warning which comes at the head of the Gospel reading for today’s Mass, the Lord has engaged in a discussion with a scribe, which ended agreeably, and then the Lord asked a question of his followers about how the scribes interpreted Psalm 110, which all agreed pertained to the Messiah.  Here, he speaks with disapproval of the scribes in general.  

In order to appreciate what the Lord is saying, we ought to know a little about them.  Now, the scribes were an educated class of men who could both read and write.  At a time when writing was done with quills or sharpened sticks and the ink might be made from berries and augmented with the dust of certain crushed stones, and the writing was done on parchment or, more commonly, papyrus scrolls, a great deal of technique and patience was involved.  Many people had need of those possessed of these highly specialized skills to conduct their daily affairs.  The jobs scribes performed varied widely, from those of secretaries, notaries, lawyers, government ministers, to court officials.  A particularly significant job the Jewish scribes performed was the copying of the Torah and the writings of the Prophets.  To the common folk of ancient times, the scribe had powers equivalent to magic, for by simply making a number of marks in the sand, a pot, or a piece of papyrus, he could record for generations some record that another scribe, perhaps centuries later, could read and understand.  And at a time when a verbal message carried over a distance might be garbled or misconstrued, a written message would contain an accurate record of what the message sender wanted to convey.  St. Mark seems to have acted as St. Peter’s scribe, and to him we owe gratitude for having Peter’s record of the life and words of Christ.

However, in the days of the Lord Jesus, very many scribes had taken to exhibiting themselves as a type of prince, and they went about with “long robes”, as Mark notes for us here, and with broad phylacteries and enlarged fringes, as we read in Matthew 23, 5.  These fancy clothes were intended to show off the wealth of their wearers.  The scribes seeking greetings in marketplaces strikes us today as needy, but they had a strong desire for the validation of their skills, a fault common among those of the intellectual classes of every age.  We see here an example of people who have come not to serve, but to be served and applauded.  If we consider this, the Lord’s words to his followers, “Beware of the scribes”, makes more sense.  Now, “Beware of the scribes.”  The Lord was not indicating that the scribes posed an imminent and obvious threat to him or to his followers.  Indeed, the Lord indicates with his reference to their clothing, that they are morally flawed, but not a physical danger.  He does not seem to actually state openly what it is his followers are to beware of.  But by pointing out their behavior, the Lord is telling his disciples that they are not to adopt it.  They are to keep wide of it.  They, the followers of the Christ, are not to assume an air of superiority and to dress like royalty.  The disciples do possess their own dignity as those who carry the Gospel from town to town, but they are to remember who they are: “Do not possess gold, nor silver, nor money in your purses, nor scrip for your journey, nor two coats, nor shoes, nor a staff; for the workman is worthy of his meat. And into whatsoever city or town you shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and there abide till you go thence” (Matthew 10, 9-11).  

We, likewise, keep in mind that whatever calling we have received from God, no matter how esteemed by others, we are workmen hired by God.