NOTES for Mar 12:35-44

It is hardly accidental that Christ’s teaching about the Son of David and about Christ being the Lord stands beside the account of the poor widow. The widow gave very little to the Temple, a mere trifle, but that trifle was all she possessed. Christ, having humbled Himself, shared the lot of all who suffer and are poor, including people such as this widow. Yet it was precisely in this condition that He offered His whole self as a sacrifice.
It is entirely fitting that, at this point in the Gospel, the conduct of the scribes should be condemned: they devour widows’ households, and it is they who will send the Son of Man to His death.
As the Evangelist noted, many listened to Christ’s words with delight. This might seem to speak in favor of those who listened. Yet “delight” can be of different kinds, and it is easy to begin receiving the words aesthetically, admiring the speaker’s eloquence but not following what one has heard in everyday life. It is then that we become like the scribes just mentioned...