In today’s Gospel we discover that Jesus had sharp hearing but to understand how we know this we must understand where he was standing.  

Jesus is in the temple area. It was a series of courtyards. The first and largest was the courtyard of the gentiles. This did not mean that only gentiles could use it but that everyone including gentiles could. The next was the court of the women which again was not just for women but for all Jews. The spaces narrowed further with a court for just Jewish men, then priests and finally the Holy of Holys which only the High Preist could enter once a year at Yom Kippur. The temple was huge and tremendously expensive to maintain. One revenue source was donations from visitors. The temple authorities were very shrewd. First, as they used coins, they made the collection boxes from metal. More and larger coins made more noise and caused more attention to be paid to the donor. They were in fact called the trumpets. Also, there were twelve of them, each one for a different purpose, from care of the gold of the temple to doweries for the daughters of poor priestly families. A person could donate to several of them, and everyone would hear their generosity.  Truly getting a bang for their buck. And most importantly they were placed in the court of the women so women could donate as well. 

This is where Jesus has placed himself. He sees the rich come forward and hears the conspicuous noise they made putting their large coins perhaps in several trumpets. They were aware of who they were and expected everyone to notice and admire. 

There are several stories I have used for decades, and now find that they have revealed more about me than I would have thought or wanted. One of these I found years ago in a book about Zen Buddhism.   

There was a young man who sought enlightenment. He travelled many miles across many countries to sit at the feet of a great master. When he saw him, he ran to him, cast himself at his feet and told him that he wished to be Enlighted. The master asked him how much he wanted to be Enlighted and he responded more than anything in the world. The master slapped him across the face and told him to come back when he was serious. The young man said had crossed deserts and mountains to see him wasn’t that proof enough. The Master slapped him again, only harder. The young man went away, got a job in the town and studied harder. The next year he returned to the Master, said the same thing, this time the Master smiled but said nothing to him. He returned to his job, waited another year but this time did not visit him in public but found  him while he was bathing in a river. He waded out to him and again told him he wished enlightenment, the master asked again how much, and he answered more than anything in the world. The Master took him by hair and with surprising strength pushed him under the water. The young man struggled but could not break free, finally when he was about to drown he master released him. When he came out of the water, gasping for air, the Master calmly asked him “What did you think about under the water. He answered: “Air”. The Master told him to come back when he would think only of enlightenment.