True Service for Christ

After the religious leaders had failed in their attempt to discredit Jesus, Jesus continues to teach the people. At first, it seems like the three paragraphs we cover today have not much to do with each other. The first is a theological question that Jesus poses - an apparent contradiction between the Messiah as Son of David and the Messiah’s status. The second is a practical warning about avoiding the trap of the scribes who pursue religious status while secretly doing evil when no one cares. The third is instruction about giving - the Widow’s Mite was more than the giving of the rich in the eyes of God. What do these three things have to do with each other? They all are prerequisites to being a true and effective servant of Christ. Only Christians can serve, only those who serve without elevating or enriching themselves are true servants; and the value of the service in the eyes of God is partly determined by the degree of sacrifice required to do it.

Is not the Christ the Son of David?

First, after being grilled by the religious leaders, he then poses his own challenging question to them. Jesus is going to demonstrate something about the Messiah that very few people understood; and he is going to do it by explaining the Scriptures. But he isn’t going to directly state the conclusion, instead he is going to leave them with the disquieting realization that the Messiah is more than they admitted.

“Christ” is a human office

Understand that “Messiah” and “Christ” are the same words; one is derived from Hebrew the other from Greek, but they mean the same thing. They both mean “annointed one.” That is, in ancient Israel a few select positions were directly appointed by God rather than being chosen by people. Those were the offices of prophet, priest, and King. Jesus is all three, but the one that most people were eager for was King. Jesus is the annointed prophet, but he is more than just a prophet; he is our great high priest, but the Israelites thought the priesthood was already good enough. He is the King of Israel.

The Christ must be the Son of David

Understand that “annointed King” is a human office. Only a man can qualify, but more than that, when Jesus challenges the crowds on who the Messiah is, well they say that the Messiah must be the Son of David because he really does have to be.

2 Samuel 7:12–16 NKJV

“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”

In other words, for all eternity after David, the only legitimate King of Israel will always be a Son of David, and there will always be a Son of David who can sit on the throne of Israel. Thus, the Annointed King of Israel, meaning the Messiah, the Christ, can only be the Son of David.

So when Jesus challenges their thinking on this, he isn’t trying to get them to reject a Davidic King; he is trying to get them to realize they have missed something else, something he does not directly state.

Now the “something else” is found in his quotation Psalm 110:1

Psalm 110:1 NKJV

The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”

Now we ought to recognize that the two words for “Lord” in this sentence are different; the first “lord” is Yahweh, the personal name of God. The second word is adonai, which means “lord” or “master,” or “sir.” The second word was normally used by people when they addressed someone of a higher social standing than themselves. So the entire point of Jesus’ argument hinges on who wrote the Psalm and who he is speaking about.

‘my lord’ is higher than David

First, David is the author of the Psalm, as Jesus himself states, and as the title of Psalm 110 also states. Thus “my lord” is someone who stands above David socially. Now there are a couple of places where David does address someone as ‘lord,’ one is Saul.

1 Samuel 24:8 NKJV

David also arose afterward, went out of the cave, and called out to Saul, saying, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed down.

And the other one is when David was hiding out with Achish, king of Gath

1 Samuel 29:8 NKJV

So David said to Achish, “But what have I done? And to this day what have you found in your servant as long as I have been with you, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”

However, at the time David said these things, he was the subject of the king - He called out to King Saul when Saul was still King of Israel; he was pretending to be a loyal subject of Achish when he called the Philistine “my lord the king.”

David was king when he wrote this

So in order to understand Jesus’ argument, we must identify when David wrote Psalm 110. And we can figure out that David must have written it after becoming king. How do we know this? Because David’s lord rules from Zion

Psalm 110:2 NKJV

The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies!

Zion is another name for Jerusalem; and “your” must be David’s lord. But when did Zion become the center of the King’s authority? Only after David captured it and made it his capital. And when was that? Shortly after David became king over all Israel. Yet he is writing to someone he addresses as King and assumes that the king is reigning from Jerusalem. He could only have written this after Jerusalem was the capital, and he was king then.

But this is the problem Jesus presents us - David was writing to someone he addressed as “Lord,” yet he was king at the time. The King that David is talking to must be the Son of David, since it would not make sense for David to be speaking about any other king. No king would write a celebratory poetry of a king of a different lineage than his own. Thus by the time David wrote Psalm 110 he must have already known that the Messiah was the Son of David.

Who is higher than the King?

Yet David as King was addressing someone who was of higher status than himself. But no human is higher than the King. People address David as “my Lord the King,”

2 Samuel 3:21 NKJV

Then Abner said to David, “I will arise and go, and gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may reign over all that your heart desires.” So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.

But there are no examples of the king addressing others that way, because the King has the highest status possible.

On top of that, are you in the habit of calling your children, “lord?” I didn’t think so; yet that’s exactly what David is doing.

Jesus’ point is that something else must be going on; if the Messiah were purely human, just the physical son of David, then David could not have called him lord, yet that’s exactly what he does.

So what is going on, then? Look closer at Psalm 110:1; it is the declaration of Yahweh - the Lord “said,” which isn’t the normal word “to say,” but one that more often is the affirmation of a prophet that what they say comes from Yahweh; that is, David is claiming to be giving prophetic insight.

And this prophetic insight is that this King of Jerusalem; this Son of David will sit at the right hand of God.

What does it mean to sit at God’s right hand?

To sit at someone’s right hand was the position of honor and power. When James and John wanted to get the top spots in the Kingdom, that’s what they asked Jesus for.

Mark 10:35–37 NKJV

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask.” And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” They said to Him, “Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory.”

That is, they were asking to rule with an authority nearly equal to that of Jesus himself. They don’t get it, by the way.

But Yahweh promises that the Messiah would sit at the right hand of God himself. This isn’t the throne of David, it’s the throne of the universe!

Hebrews 8:1 NKJV

Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,

Now David prophecies that the Messiah will sit on the throne of the universe, “until Yahweh makes his enemies his footstool.” To make enemies your footstool means to defeat them. So David prophesies that the Messiah will sit on the throne of the universe while he waits for God to defeat his enemies. This isn’t what happens once Jesus returns; it is what Jesus is doing right now. He did not defeat his enemies immediately, instead, Satan and his hosts are still alive and well on planet earth. It is what Jesus will do when he comes again. It is not like God has to work hard for a long time to defeat his enemies; once God moves to defeat them, it will happen fast.

Who could sit at God’s right hand?

But what sort of person gets to sit on the throne of the universe?! No mere human was ever given the right to rule as God; in fact, God never shares his glory in this way.

Isaiah 42:8 NKJV

I am the Lord, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.

So there is only one possible conclusion. David was prophesying that the Messiah, his own son, would share in the glory of God because he is the Son of God. That’s why David had to address his descendant as “my lord.” This Son was not only a man, but he would be God in the Flesh. That was the implication that Jesus is leading the crowds to realize. Now saying that outright would again be problematic, since Jews were quite sensitive about people claiming to be God. That’s why Jesus does not actually state the conclusion, he shows them what the Scripture says and lets them figure out what it must mean. But any thinking person could not miss that Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah. That’s what the crowds were saying at the triumphal entry, that’s what Jesus affirmed by his words and actions to the religious leaders. Therefore Jesus is not just saying that the Christ is the Son of God; he is saying that he himself is the Son of God in the Flesh. And therefore he is claiming to be God.

But if Jesus is claiming to be God, he is not doing that in a vacuum; he is saying to Israel that they must recognize he is the Son of God. You cannot be the servant of Christ without this most basic acknowledgement, that Jesus is the Son of God.

Beware of the Scribes

Now what he says next is primarily addressed to the disciples. He raised the question of who he is to everyone, but this one is only to Christians. It is a warning, but not a warning about what the Scribes teach; it is a warning about what the Scribes do. Why would that be important? Because one of the ways that leaders lead is through example. The disciples may be tempted to follow the scribes, and by doing so they will imitate what the scribes do.

Why would they want to imitate the Scribes? Remember that the Scribes were usually Pharisees; and there aren’t too many people today that would want to imitate a Pharisee. That’s because we have absorbed Jesus’ warnings about the Pharisees perhaps a bit too well. Today to be called a Pharisees is to be called an insufferably narrow minded intolerant bigot. Who wants to be like that? But that’s not what most people thought about them at the time. The Scribes were the most knowledgable people about the Scriptures, the most dedicated to following the law. That’s what Paul alluded to when he told King Agrippa Acts 26:5

Acts 26:5 NKJV

They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.

That is, the Pharisees were respected as wise and dedicated to following God. But when any group is sufficiently exalted by people, there will be the temptation to join them for the exaltation that is available. That’s what had happened by Jesus’ day.

No one today is going to be tempted to be a Pharisee; but the reason that Jesus had to give the warning is ever present. Instead, people might be tempted to emulate other kinds of people because of the adulation it brings. It might even be a danger for some to enter the pastorate. After all, becoming a pastor gives you spiritual authority. But if that’s why someone wants to enter the ministry, then he is absolutely not fit for it.

Or someone might want to emulate a celebrity of some kind. The point is that the Scribes got lots of respect in their culture, and it is human to enjoy that adulation; but if you study the Bible to be respected, you have fallen into the very same trap that Jesus warned his disciples to avoid.

Now again, “devouring widows’ houses” is obviously devious and something that people today would only do in great secrecy; but the deepest temptations are not for the things that the culture condemns, but the things that most people know are wrong but are ready to overlook. That is, we need to be especially on our guard against “respectable sins.” No one in the first century thought that it was good to take a widow’s house, but it wasn’t condemned as readily as it is today, so as long as they didn’t shout it too loudly, the Scribes could get away with a little fraud to line their pockets and no one cared.

What instead got them respect were outward shows of piety - making long extended prayers to show how much they loved God. Here’s the scary part - God does not agree with the “respectable sins” of society. He judges righteously. God sees what you really do when you think that no one will notice or care.

And what is the danger? “greater condemnation.” greater than what? Greater than those who did not become leaders. The idea is that doing these evil things is bad and will be condemned by God. But doing them as leaders is even worse. Why is it worse for a leader? Because people follow leaders. That’s what makes them leaders. But if people follow them, people will try to be like them. And if people try to be like them, they will try to do those things too. If a leader is in his position for the adulation; if he lets himself get away with the evil that he knows no one will care about; if he puts on a show of what people want to see so that he will be liked, then he will not only damage his own soul, he will drag other people along with him.

And what exactly is the condemnation Jesus is talking about? He is talking about being condemned by Jesus himself at the last judgment. Remember that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1), therefore, Jesus is saying that these Scribes are not saved, despite their apparent piety. They will be condemned at the Great White Throne judgment along with the rest of the unsaved. But their condemnation is especially bad. I’m firmly convinced that the most evil people in history will not be the mass murderers but the false teachers; after all, a murderer can only kill your body; but those who follow false teachers will lose their soul.

So the warning that Jesus is giving his disciples is not to give in to the temptation to focus on what will get you respect instead of what God wants. Better instead to be hated by everyone and honored by God.

Who Gives More?

The final paragraph is a very short story. Now the background is that there were offering boxes for the purpose of receiving donations for the support of the temple. These gifts were intended as an offering to God. They did not pass a plate, the offering boxes were always available, and Jews would come continually and give their tax or offering. It wasn’t particularly interesting unless you just liked watching people, but Jesus made an object lesson out of it.

Now in this case, Jesus does not charge the rich with giving for show. They don’t give a lot because they want people to look at them; they give a lot because they are rich and can spare the money. So the problem here isn’t hypocrisy as it was for the scribes; the issue is what counts as a lavish gift in the eyes of God.

The point that Jesus makes is that God does not care about the actual dollar amount of your gift; after all, he owns the cattle on a thousand hills. If he needed money he would not tell you. What makes a generous gift is how much it costs you. The widow gives two leptons; a lepton was worth only 1/128 of a denarius, which was one days labor for a day laborer. Two of them together would buy you 1/3 lb of bread (about five slices worth, though sliced bread hadn’t been invented yet.). Not enough to put anything on the bread, mind you; just the bread. It’s a tiny gift, and it is dwarfed by the large gifts the wealthy are bringing. What’s the point of such a tiny gift? It does not change the balance of the temple bank account enough for anyone to notice.

And no one noticed the widow. No one knew that this was all she had to buy food that day. She went hungry for one day so she could give to the temple, and no one noticed. Those who later counted the money didn’t go - wow, we got so much more than usual. Instead, it didn’t even make a dent in the total.

Until Jesus point out that God saw. God noticed that she sacrificed more than the wealthy, since they had plenty left over. That’s not a shame on the wealthy here. They weren’t required to give everything; it’s just that it wasn’t really a sacrifice for them. And since God cares about sacrifice more than the amount, in the annals of heaven, her gift mattered more to the only one that mattered.

So the obvious application is to giving to your local church. The point that Jesus is making is that one of the things that matters to God is how much it costs you to give rather than how much it benefits the church. All else being equal, the person who sacrifices more to give has done more in God’s eyes, even if the dollar amount is the same as his neighbor. God does not care if you are so poor that a sacrificial gift does not even move the church’s budget to a meaningful degree. He recognizes that you made the church a significant priority.

But if the magnitude of the sacrifice is what matters, then your gift does not necessarily have to even be money. it could be your time, or your reputation. the point is that the true servant of Christ is a sacrificial giver - the amount of the sacrifice is something that you must determined in your own heart. Paul declares that the law of sowing and reaping applies to giving whether you give a little or a lot; so this is not black and white with the generous givers getting credit before God and the stingy ones getting no credit.

2 Corinthians 9:6–7 NKJV

But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.