On February 17, 1971, Johnny Cash
sang “Man in Black” for the first time. I’m reading some of the words from that
song for you now, and their significance will hopefully become apparent in a
little while... [We recommend you find the song lyrics online and read them to
the congregation at this point. 1]
The larger context
According to Mark, after Jesus
entered Jerusalem to the acclaim of the crowd, he went to Bethany, where he
spent the night, and then returned to Jerusalem the next day. He went to the
temple, where he drove out the sellers and the buyers, overturned the tables of
the money changers and would not allow anyone to carry anything through the
temple. Quoting from Jeremiah 7, Jesus said, “You have made [the temple] a den
of robbers.” And Mark tells us, “When the chief priests and the scribes heard
it, they kept looking for a way to kill him ....”2
Throughout the rest of Mark 11 and extending
into chapter 12, Jesus had several run-ins and debates with the religious
leaders. All of this leads up to today’s scripture. Then, right after our
passage, in chapter 13 Jesus goes on to tell about the destruction of the
temple and the “desolating sacrilege”3 and the need for
watchfulness.
Jesus denounces the
scribes
In Mark 12:38 Jesus does not back
down at all in his denunciation of the scribes. “Beware of the scribes ...
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