This week's gospel text is one of many Markan "sandwiches" (or "intercalations") that occur throughout his gospel. Mark's unique method of presenting two separate stories by slipping one complete unit in the midst of another unit, which is subsequently sliced in half, has kept scholars guessing. In fact, scholars from varied disciplines often find Markan sandwiches useful for satisfying their own particular appetites.

What all these views have in common, at base, is the conviction that Mark's sandwiching technique takes seriously the attitudes and events presented in both story components. Neither unit loses its individual sense of importance as a result of having been written up in this interwoven fashion.

Both units presented in today's gospel lesson push "hot buttons" for the reader. As…