The outline of this section of the Gospel looks like this. And I note some chiastic elements: The triumphal entry and subsequent temple cleansing over against the tribulation and the entry of the polluting abomination into the temple. The fig tree is cursed over against its appearance as an object lesson after Jesus's apocalyptic sermon. And even the bewilderment of Herod and all Jerusalem at the triumphant entry over against Jesus's statement that no one will know the day or the hour of his coming, linking the first and second advents of Jesus to Jerusalem. These chiastic sections bookend the challenge-response material that make up the king's cross-examination. He is come to his vineyard and is interrogating the wicked tenants.
A few more words about the challenge-response section of the Jerusalem section of Mark's Gospel: That Jesus responds to the chief priests and the temple hierarchy with a parable does not bode well. Parables are judgment speech meant to sift the hearer, obscuring or revealing as one has ears to hear. One would expect the most senior religious class to not require parabolic sifting. And yet, Jesus does so. The sifting begins. Each response Jesus provides is made on the challenger's home turf: Caesar's coin, the Torah, exegesis of the Psalms. Each response exposes the true nature the challenger is attempting to hide underneath a pious facade. That the scribes get a double retort on two different bases--exegetical and ethical--is surprising, and I cannot yet explain it. Perhaps, because the interlocutors begin at the top of the class pyramid and end at the bottom, Jesus expects more from the scribes. I do not know. Also, I included the widow's mite as part of Jesus's denunciation of the scribes (see also Exodus 22.22-24).
- A The triumphal entry, 11:1-11
- B The cursing of the fig tree, 11:12-14
- C Jesus cleanses the temple, 11:15-19
- D The lesson from the withered fig tree, 11:20-26
- CHALLENGE: Temple hierarchy questions Jesus’ authority, 11:27-33
- RESPONSE: The parable of the wicked tenants, 12:1-12
- CHALLENGE: Pharisees and Herodians question Jesus about paying taxes to Caesar, 12:13-16
- RESPONSE: Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, 12:17
- CHALLENGE: Sadducees question Jesus about the resurrection, 12:18-23
- RESPONSE: Jesus backs the resurrection, 12:24-27
- CHALLENGE: Scribes question Jesus about the greatest commandment, 12:28-34
- EXEGETICAL RESPONSE: Jesus asks how the messiah can be David’s son, 12:35-37
- ETHICAL RESPONSE: Jesus denounces the scribes, 12:38-44 (widow's mite, vv. 41-44)
- D1 The destruction of the temple and signs before the end, 13:1-8
- C1 Tribulation foretold, 13:9-13
- The abomination of desolation, 13:14-23
- The coming of the Son of Man, 13:24-27
- B1 The lesson from the fig tree about the end time, 13:28-31
- A1 No one knows the day and hour, 13:32-37
This working outline gives context to my original work with the widow's mite. One can easily see that it fits in to a larger argument going on in the Gospel. A meaningful investigation of Jesus's pronouncement "this poor widow gave more" (12:44) must take this argument into account. As I said above, the widow sits at the bottom of this great descent through the religious classes of Jerusalem. Her act of selfless giving and Jesus's opinion of it become the linchpin of the king's sitting pronouncement. What began at the gate ends at the court of the women. The last become first when the Kingdom comes in power. And one cannot forget that the king's role is to take up the case of the orphan and the widow (see Ps 94).
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Thoughts on the Structure of 12:28-44
The section in question begins in 12.28 ( Καὶ προσελθὼν εἷς τῶν γραμματέων; and one of the scribes came near). The previous section was about the Sadducees. Thus, the entrance of a scribe makes this a new section. The confrontation with the scribes continues until v 44, the end of the pericope commonly called the widow's mite. We confirm it does because directly after, Jesus and the disciples leave Jerusalem entirely. So, then: how to divide up this loaf of sixteen verses? Here is the way they are structured as a four-part schema:
12.28 -- as we saw above -- Καὶ προσελθὼν εἷς τῶν γραμματέων; and one of the scribes came near [what is the greatest commandment?]
12.35 -- Καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς ; and Jesus answered [how is the Messiah David's son?]
12.38 -- Καὶ ἐν τῇ διδαχῇ αὐτοῦ; and as he taught [Jesus calls down the scribes for being prideful and for eating widow's homes]
12.41 -- Καὶ καθίσας κατέναντι τοῦ γαζοφυλακίου; he sat down opposite the treasury [Jesus calls attention to just such a widow]
Each of our parts here begins with the conjunction. Mark gives us no other overt clue how to juxtapose them. But at least we know, right? At least we are now making the hard calls.
I see the fourth part--the widow's mite--connected as an object lesson to Jesus's condemnation of the scribes in the third part. So, at the very least, I see three parts, not four. The fourth και section supports the third. But, at the same time, you could argue that there is a progression of speaking. In the first, a scribe opens the debate. In the second and third, Jesus is speaking. And, in the fourth, Jesus sits down. I guess this is kind of where I am going. Not to three parts, but to two. The scribe's opener and Jesus's retort, first verbally and then in court's evidence of the suffering of the righteous widow.
Actually, no. I see that fourth part with the widow as the culmination of an entire series of condemnations moving from political, to priestly, and finally to the scribal/teaching class. It all begins with the triumphal entry (the first mention of the temple, btw, in 11.15) & the cleansing of the temple, and ends with Jesus sitting down and condemning the whole thing on the basis of the evidence of the abused poor. In the very next pericope, Jesus says the temple is going to be cast down, which is the real cleansing of the temple. (A search on "temple" in Mark yields interesting results: eleven results clustered in chapters eleven through fifteen.)
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