Mk 12:35a ... And having answered, the Jesus was saying (when) teaching in the temple, ...

Verse 35 has 3 phrases containing 9 narrator and 10 dialog words. The 1st and 2nd phrases have these 9 narrator words, ... Kai apokritheis, ho Iēsous elegen didaskōn en tō ierō (And having answered, the Jesus was saying (when) teaching in the temple, ...).

The 9 narrator words are top down. This short story starts with the sign of the temple superimposed over the sign of teaching. The point of this teaching is to discredit the scribes who are supposedly expert interpreters of the Old Testament.