The scene depicted in today's gospel reading opens much as had the previous two question-and-answer dialogues (Mark 11:27f and 12:13f). A scribe approaches Jesus, his intellectual curiosity tweaked by the learned discussions he had overheard.

The text remains unclear about the loyalties of this scribe. Both the more liberal Pharisees and the more conservative Sadducees had their own scribal interpreters of the Law. Indeed, what attracts this scribe's attention is not Jesus' position on the questions thrown at him, but the fact that Jesus "answered them well" (v.28). As a scribe of the first century, this individual was well-educated, well-respected and well-off. His extensive familiarity with Scripture and tradition gave him the confidence to confront such a gifted teacher as Jesus with a …