The scribe's question in this Sunday's Gospel passage may seem like a simple theological inquiry, but if we consider the larger context of the Gospel narrative, we can see that the scribe was trying to set a trap against Jesus. The passage takes place in Jerusalem, where many Jewish people have gathered for the Passover, the greatest feast of Judaism, celebrating the liberation of the Israelites from captivity in Egypt. However, the celebration is bittersweet, because by the time of Jesus, the Jewish people had been living under foreign occupation for hundreds of years. Just imagine a scenario where the United States has been conquered by a hostile country. What would it be like to celebrate the 4th of July while enemy tanks are patrolling the streets?
The celebration of the Passover was a highly charged time in Jerusalem, with the possibility of an uprising breaking out in order to overthrow the Romans, the current occupiers of the Holy Land. The atmosphere was especially tense at the time of Jesus because the prophecies of The Book of Daniel pointed to what we now call the first century AD as the time when the Messiah would arrive. The assumption was that the Messiah would be a military king who would defeat the Romans with divine help. As the city was preparing for the Passover, the celebration of the liberation of the Israelites, even small disturbances would have been enough for the crowds to rise up against their oppressors.
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