Silly Points of Note

Jesus, Moneychangers and Scribes

Why did the Jews (scribes) ask Jesus to show them a sign immediately after He drove out the moneychangers and traders from the temple?

“Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?” John 2: 18 (also see Mark 11: 15-18)

They took his action to be a slap on their faces. They knew the law better than most and thrived on this fact. So they knew that what was going on in the temple went against the spirit of the law, if not the letter of the law itself. But not a single one of them had bothered to lift a finger and do something about it and this had been going on for ages.

Is it not interesting how someone will easily turn on you for pointing out something wrong or correcting something that is obviously wrong and has been going on for ages, especially if you were the new guy? Jesus was the new guy and pointed out something that was obviously very wrong, which no one did anything to correct before he came around.

But they asked him to show a sign, as if what he was doing was not a sign. The real issue was that they wanted to put a dent on what he had just done. He had displayed a zeal that none of them had done, which could be translated to be a sign in itself. They wanted to erase this from the minds of onlookers by asking him pointedly to show a sign rather than another sign.

They were fighting for their position. It was a defensive move to ensure that the hierarchy of authority was still in their favor. They wanted to be the ones to still hold the aces and call the shots as it were. This plays out in workplaces, homes and everywhere humans interact. There will always be someone that wants to make sure they are still the ones at the top of the pecking order and they are more likely to react in the same manner.  All you have to do is point out something or take an action to deal with something that has always been there and ignored by the rest even when it is clear that it should not be allowed to be there.

We can borrow wisdom from the events that occurred here because it is not every time that God will expect you to make a whip and clear out the place. Of course, it comes with real benefits any time you do such but the real application of wisdom is in the how and the when.

The scribes that “attacked” Jesus did it as a group. There will always be clicks like that around. People who are there to make sure the status quo remains. If there were any change, they would want to be the only ones to make it. Anybody else that tries to make such a change or succeeds in making it will have to face them. Wisdom demands that you get to know whose ox would be gored and weigh the best way to approach this because you must need further you won cause. And this is for the person that has the luxury of doing so because there could be times when you just have to act, even f it is perceived as being to rash.

Jesus was fulfilling scripture. He had been bitten by the zeal of God’s house. The people who felt threatened by his actions were quick to react and the only way they chose to react was to try to diffuse or water down his rising profile.

Yet and in another place, another scribe took a different approach. Jesus was asked which was the greatest commandment. They were not asking Him because they wanted to learn. Like in most of their interactions with Him, it was to find a way to ensnare (i.e. have something they could use against) him. However, one of them conceded to what Jesus said and went a step ahead to expound on it. He conceded and expounded on it and this added to his profile in a positive way. Do not “attack” someone that points to the obvious, no matter how silly the point of note. Rather, concede by agreeing and add to your profile in a positive way (to the eyes of the person and those around) by expounding on what the person said. Let us leave it as a quote as we move on to the next Silly Point of Note.

“And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.  And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question” Mark 12: 32-34