Mark 12:41-44 The Widow Gave Everything!

Mark 12:41-44 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts.  But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.  Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.  They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything — all she had to live on.”

As Jesus watches the crowd giving their offerings in the temple, He sees many rich people giving large amounts of money, but He knew they were not giving sacrificially.  Yet the woman who gave two very small copper coins gave everything — all she had to live on.  She did not hold back anything for herself but gave all she possessed to the Lord, believing He would provide for her.  With the faith of Abraham, this widow believed in her God and put her trust in him.  Jesus marked her faith.  When Isaac questioned his father Abraham about the need for a lamb for their sacrifice, Abraham said, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son."  (Genesis 22:8)  Jesus has just finished telling his disciples that the outward show of the teachers of the law does not please God as they choose the best seats in the synagogues and walk around in flowing robes to be greeted in the marketplace.  Now Jesus is saying that it is not the size of an offering that is significant but the faith represented by the offering, the commitment behind the offering.  In the Old Testament, the Lord commanded David to go build an altar to him on the threshing floor of Araunah.  When David went to buy the floor from this man, Araunah wanted to give it to him along with the oxen and everything else needed for the sacrifice.  He told David, "O king, Araunah gives all this to the king.  May the LORD your God accept you.”  But David answered with a contrite heart, “No, I insist on paying you for it.  I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”  (See 2 Samuel 24)  David understood giving to God and offering him a sacrifice meant he had to offer something of himself.  He needed to pay a price when he made an offering to his Lord.  Because he knew God required this allegiance, David had to refuse the generous gift of Araunah.

Another reason we can look closely at the widow's gift today is that she pictures Christ to us as she gave her all to God.  Just as Jesus went all the way for us, this woman was willing to commit fully, trusting God to see her through.  Jesus put his trust in God from the beginning of his earthly ministry to the end.  When He went out into the desert and was tempted by the devil, He did not resist the enemy in his own strength but through the power of the Word.  Each time Satan came to him, Jesus answered back with the sword of the Word.  When Jesus was hungry, the devil said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”  But Jesus answered back, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”  (Matthew 4:3-4)  Each time the enemy came against him, Jesus used the power of God's words to resist him, showing us the power we have in the written word of the Father, showing us that power is sufficient to see us through every temptation of the devil.  Jesus came to fulfill God's plan and to obey his Father: For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.  (John 6:38)  This pathway led him to face abuse, rejection, and finally a cruel death upon the cross at the hands of men who did not accept who He was.  Yet nothing that happened to Jesus deterred him from giving everything for the sake of the Father and the love of the people He came to serve and to save.  He was God's offering.  As John the Baptist said when he saw Jesus, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"  

There was only one road to accomplishing the perfect will of God, only one way to healing God's creation.  To take away the sins of mankind, Jesus had to die as the perfect sacrifice for sin.  He told the people, I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.  I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  (John 10:10-11)  Life for every man and woman on Earth meant death for our Lord.  He paid the price that we might live.  He is the Good Shepherd, the one who loves the sheep.  Just as the widow gave everything, Jesus gave his all that we might live an abundant life today.  We enjoy freedom from sin and darkness.  We are blessed with spiritual gifts.  We are privileged to share the good news with others, so they might come into this wonderful family of God and know the joy and peace that fills our hearts each day.  We must not grow weary in sharing the blessing we have with others, in giving all we have to give.  In Matthew 11, Jesus denounces some of the cities where most of his miracles took place, yet the people did not repent.  He says, I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.  But he goes right on to thank his Father for revealing himself to the little children rather than the wise and the learned as was his good pleasure.  And Jesus pours out his heart of love, saying, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.  (Matthew 11:28-30)  Where are we today?  Have we been holding back in our commitment to our precious Lord?  Are we skimming off the top of our abundance in our offerings for God and feeling justified because the numbers add up to a tidy sum?  Do we give God just enough time to soothe our conscience?  Jesus said, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."  We love you all!  

Mark 12:38-40 Beware of False Teachers and Preachers!

Mark 12:38-40  As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law.  They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.  They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers.  Such men will be punished most severely.”

The teachers of the law should have respected what they were teaching.  In their own lives they should fulfilled the royal law of love: love your neighbor as yourself and love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and spirit.  Their energy should have been wrapped up in helping people rather than lording their power over them.  They should have been humble rather than arrogant and proud of their positions of religious authority.  However, they chose to be fleshly leaders, desiring people to treat them as spiritual royalty, deserving the best.   They coveted the people's respect and deference, but the respect they received was not deserved, for as Jesus said at another time, Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.  In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.  (Matthew 23:27-28)  Sadly, they understood the letter of the law, but they did not grasp the spirit of the law.  Jesus reprimands them for their personal greed, their desire to place themselves above the people.  Their hunger to please themselves is so great that they take advantage of even the most helpless in their society: They devour widows’ houses for their own personal gain.  

The teachers of the law were not the false prophets Peter rails against in 2 Peter 2:13-16: They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done.  Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight.  They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.  With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed — an accursed brood!  They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.  But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey — a beast without speech — who spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.  The false prophets Peter denies sinned openly and tried to mislead the people for their own purposes.  This was not necessarily the case with the teachers of the law who knew God's Word, yet would also face his punishment.  They often taught the traditions of men as laws to obey, using these traditions for their own purposes, probably for self-grandiosement, to prove how much they knew and how obedient they were personally to  these manmade laws.  They made themselves sound wise, but they were far from God's holiness.  They were not necessarily false prophets, but the results of their lifestyle and teachings were the same as the false prophets: they were doing everything for their personal gain: experts in greed.  Jesus was very harsh with these people, and Peter says they are blots and blemishes, worthy of destruction.  Such people, those who frustrate the grace of God, will not enter into the Kingdom of God prepared for those who love him.  

In today's world, we see some teachers and preachers of the gospel use their positions of authority within the church for personal gain.  If we were to look into their lives, we would see extravagant wealth and lavish lifestyles along with a lack of concern for the poor and those Christ tells us to love.  This wealth usually comes from claiming they need money for their ministry, for reaching the lost.  These people often have large followings, people who are caught up with the size of the crowds, the forceful delivery of the speakers, the talk of signs and wonders, the promises of God's blessings upon those who give generously to their ministry.  As with the teachers of the law, these leaders are greatly respected by their followers.  People seek them out and clamor to attend their conferences, to be near them.  When people write books they want these important people to write a forward, so they have a stamp of approval from Christian royalty. They own jet planes to transport them from one place to the next where they stay in thousand-dollar a night luxurious hotels and eat in the best restaurants, and associate only with important people.  We are not to judge others, but we can judge the fruit of another man's life.  We can be aware of what we support with our resources.  John tells us: test the spirits to see whether they are from God  (1 John 4:1).  We can test the lifestyles of others to see if they are bearing good fruit that will last for God's kingdom  

The lifestyles of those we are talking about are far removed from the common people.  They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.  They love the recognition that people willingly give them.  Sadly, Paul was right when he spoke of people not respecting God's truth, (People) who  changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever.  Amen.  (Romans 1:25)  Idol worship in the past reveals this so clearly.  Now, we have people worshipping people as God's voice.  Christians are often the most susceptible to this kind of distortion, for they look to people rather than God.  If there seems to be a miraculous gifting in someone, believers will stampede to be near that person, even traveling thousands of miles to find a certain person to pray for them or to give them a word of knowledge or a tidbit of wisdom.  But Christians forget that they are the temple of a God who resides in them fully and works in them.  The Bible says: Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?  (1 Corintians 3:16)  God's voice is in us; his healing power is resident in each of us.  Yes, there are different giftings in the body of Christ, but God's body is always whole, complete wherever you are.  He is just as complete in Mongolia as He is in the United States.  He is just as complete in your small town as He is in a large cosmopolitan center.  We do not have to chase after people, to worship them, to put them on a pedestal.  We need to pray that God will bless us where we are.  Then we won't give deference to men, but to God Almighty, our Lord, our Healer!       

 

Mark 12:35-37 Dream Dreams and Rejoice!

Mark 12:35-37  While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David?   David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared:  "The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet."  David himself calls him 'Lord.'  How then can he be his son?"  The large crowd listened to him with delight.  

Jesus' ministry of doing wonders that no man had done from the beginning of time had set him up as someone very special, someone whose words held sway with the people.   The people were excited about him at this point because they were beginning to believe that he was possibly the Messiah, the one who would bring deliverance to them, not only spiritually but physically from the Roman occupation.  Therefore, they were excited when Jesus would confound the wise religious men of their time.  In the above passage Jesus is literally saying that the Messiah is not a man coming from the loins of flesh, for he is even greater than the anointed King David.  Peter carries on with this theme in his sermon on the day of Pentecost:  "For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, "The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."  "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah."  (Acts 2:34-36)   Who is this lord of David?  Peter's answer is emphatically: Jesus.  In Jesus' question to the teachers of the law, his implication is that David's Lord has to be someone of great stature, someone so powerful that even King David would bow at his feet.  Of course, this would be a person of supernatural ability, who could even control the winds and the waves: Jesus.  The people who had been following Jesus knew of his miraculous deeds, and now the Bible says: The large crowd listened to him with delight.  Their ears were attuned for at least a time to the voice of the Lord.   

In the book of Hebrews, we learn that the priest who can redeem souls forever must live forever.  The chief priests in the Levitical line could only be a priest as long as they were living.  They knew sin was so intractable, so destructive, that a sacrifice of blood had to be presented to God as a curative measure, not a permanent solution.  God would always judge sin with death, so they sacrificed animals to prevent this judgement from happening to them.  The animal sacrifices kept them safe from God's wrath.  However, this safety lasted only for a short time, so many sacrifices were needed.  As the Bible says, Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.  (Hebrews 10:11)  These sacrifices were performed in a ritualistic manner, year after year, without hope of a lasting effect.  And because the Levitical Chief Priests were human, their time of offering up these sacrifices for the people was limited by their time here on Earth.  Therefore, there was a need for a more permanent solution.  This solution came in the form of an offering that would be eternal.  Of course, Jesus, an eternal being offered himself to God also an eternal being.  For we read in Hebrews that Christ is our eternal priest who did not descend through Aaron.  No, we read of our Lord: "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." (Hebrews 7:17)  Melchizedek was a priest without beginning or ending.  Jesus is that eternal Melchizedek.  He is not from the order of the Levites: their time of intervention always ended with their deaths.  No, Jesus was out of the order of Melchizedek: his offering would remain forever before God; for He is eternal.  His sacrifice is permanent and completely efficacious.  We are forever safe in God's presence because Jesus' blood forever covers us.  

The efficacy of Jesus' work on the cross not only brought us peace with God but also made us God's perfect children, cleansed by his blood.  We are pleasing to God himself because Jesus is totally pleasing to him.  We are no more under judgment, but under the blessings of God.  Many years ago Dad had a dream about his brother who was an alcoholic.  The fruit of his life at that time was troubling.  As Dad dreamed about his brother, he began to understand how God was actually in his brother's life and that He was weaving a beautiful tapestry, a beautiful life through everything that had happened and would happen.  Dad woke up laughing hysterically about how God took a life so tragically flawed and would make it come out so beautifully.  He thought how wonderful and how great the Lord is to answer all the prayers of those who loved his wayward brother.  Then the Lord started to talk to Dad in this way:  "That is you," the Lord said.  Dad was really laughing at his own life, how God worked in his life.  No, Dad wasn't an alcoholic, no he wasn't wayward and far from God. In fact, he had served God diligently since the age of 15.  But that dream was Dad's life too.  God is working in all of our lives in ways that are beyond our imagination.  Are there are ups and downs in our lives?  Yes, but through it all, God is working his mysteries, weaving his tapestries, using everything for his glory.  The heavenly, eternal Priest has his eyes on every one of us.  We are never out of his sight.  He is working out his will in our lives in the most wonderful and delicate ways.  Can you believe that today?  Can we believe these words in scripture as something more than a memory verse: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.  (Romans 8:28)  May you also wake up hysterically laughing because you see something so unbelievable that you are stunned with unrestrained laughter.  You will begin to understand the plan of your salvation, the plan of your life, the plan of a life of faith.  Peter says this well, Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.  (1 Peter 1:8-9)  

Mark 12:28-34 Love God and Your Neighbor

Mark 12:28-34  One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating.  Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”  “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.   Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”  “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him.  To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”  When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”  And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.  

At the end of this exchange between Jesus and the teacher, there were no other questions, for what else could be said about loving and serving God?  Anything else would be mere religious discourse, peripheral to worshipping and yielding to the living God.  At all times, the religious leaders’ intended to discredit Jesus’ teachings, but the wisdom in Jesus' responses confounded them.  What could they say to counter his words when He lifted up God?  The teachers of the law despised Jesus and feared his teaching, for they knew his theology could bring down their kingdom and destroy their position of authority in the Jewish culture.  In the above passage, we see Jesus performing the coup de grace to their traditions of men and show of holiness.  Their day of religiosity was over if the people followed this man, Jesus.  Jesus revealed the essence of serving the living God.  Jesus knew as John declared, God is love.  (1 John 4:8)  He knew as John also said that if you do not have love, you do not know God.  The Pharisees, the Sadducees, and all who plotted to destroy Jesus erred in this domain: they did not understand the love of the Father.  God’s eternal domain is based upon unreserved, unconditional love.  Jesus said we are to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute or abuse us.  God’s efficacious love revealed in scripture heals, restores, and sets the captives free.  Sin, the opposite of love, found a foothold in God's creation through Adam and Eve’s disobedience.  Yet love displayed as the cross dislodges sin's destructive hold on men and women’s hearts.  Only love could dislodge sin from it's fierce position of strength in the hearts of sinful people.  Christ defeated sin once and for all time through his sacrifice as He gave himself for our sins.  God's love conquers all.  The victory was won!

When Jesus stated the two royal commandments of love, He said it all.  He condensed the gospel into two commands.  First we are to love the Lord wholeheartedly with all that is within us.  Without that commitment of love, we cannot perform the second command to love others as we love ourselves.  This is the love of God at work in our hearts and minds; this is love in action.  We see this love in operation throughout the Bible.  Cain was to take care of his brother.  In answer to God's question: Yes, he was his brother's keeper.  He had a responsibility to shelter and to protect the brother God gave to him.  Love takes care of brothers and sisters: it does not destroy them.  We see Abraham following God’s command to sacrifice Isaac.  He proved his love and respect for God by obeying God.  Believing God would miraculously fulfill his promises, Abraham willingly gave his all as an offering to his Lord.  Jesus said, If you love me, you will obey what I command.  (John 14:15)  Moses counseled God not to destroy the wayward Israelites, for if He did, his name would be besmirched on Earth.  He did not want his God to be mocked, so he offered himself for destruction instead.  This is love, God's love.  We hear David’s psalms of love, his strong belief in a God of mercy and loving kindness: I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.  (Psalm 13:5)  We see the steadfast kings and the lonely prophets proclaim God’s righteousness to the people throughout the history of the Jewish nation.  In the New Testament, we see Jesus and the disciples give their lives for God out of the love they find in a relationship with the Father.  The early church manifested their love for God by facing and enduring great persecution, rejection, and often death.  Love is the fulcrum of the Old and New Testament message: GOD IS LOVE.

How does this work out in our lives today?  Are we still basing our Christian experience on TOUCH NOT, DO NOT, TASTE NOT, BE NOT.  Are we basing our Christian lives on law or are we basing our lives on the Spirit of God: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.  (Galatians 5: 22-23)  Agape love perfects all of these attributes of the Spirit in us.  Agape love is a love of CHOICE.  You can agape the world or agape God.  You can choose to allow the Spirit to make you an instrument of God’s love or you can choose the flesh to make you an instrument of decay and death.  Christ came to give you life, and that life entails everything wrapped up in the royal commandments of love.  Anything else is not living.  Anything else will not end with the praise "good and faithful servant" that all Christians want to hear from the mouth of the Lord.  We who are living RIGHT NOW can reveal to the world the image of God by loving others as God loves us.  God is love, and He is also light.  John wrote, God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  (I John 1:5)  As we allow his light to shine through us, his love radiates to others, and his image draws them to the Lord as the Spirit speaks to their hearts.  We are lights in a dark world, ready to share the love of the Lord.  When Peter and John met the lame man at the gate Beautiful, they could not offer him worldly goods, but they did have something to give.  Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you.  In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”  (Acts 3:6)  That day the love of God poured over the lame man and he was changed forever!  Jesus was glorified.  Today, there are no other questions we need to ask our Lord.  He has finished the work He came to do.  "Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?"  (1 Corinthians 15:55)  Love is the foundation of freedom from sin, the foundation for eternal life with our Most High God.