The Scribes and the Widow

The Scribes and the Widow

Mark 12:35-44

            Corrie Ten Boom, the Dutch survivor of Nazi gas chambers, once told a fascinating story. She said that a group of believers were meeting behind the Iron Curtain when the church door burst open and two Russian soldiers with guns stormed inside. They said they would give five minutes for anyone who wished to renounce Jesus Christ as Lord to leave, but those who stayed would be shot immediately.

As each person in the church searched his heart for courage to face a cruel death, a few got up and walked out. The officers then walked to the door of the church and locked it. They stared silently at the scared congregation and said, "Brothers and sisters in Christ, we are believers, too, but we did not want to worship in a church where everyone was not completely committed to Christ and willing to die for Him. May we become part of your fellowship?"

There are people In this world that their commitment to Christ comes with a cost, and it is a cost I don’t think we can fully comprehend. Because I believe our perspective of what it means to live for God, is different from what the Bible says. We think we are committed to God because we listen to smile FM on the way to work. We think we are committed to God because we go to church, and we give in the offering.  And Jesus paints a very different picture of what it means to be a Christian. He paints a picture of sacrifice and suffering. He paints a picture of truth, justice, mercy, and holiness.

I want to talk to you this morning about what it means to be committed to God,  Because that is what Jesus teaches us in this passage. A True Christian is fully committed to living for God. Nothing will stop them. They can get knocked down by the world, or a church, they can be disowned by their family, and they will get back up and put one foot in front of the other and continue to serve God with their life. And that’s what we see from this story. (Read Mark 12:35-44)

  35      And Jesus began to say, as He taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?

  36      “David himself said in the Holy Spirit,

‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at My right hand,

UntilI put Your enemies beneath Your feet.” ’

  37      “David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; so in what sense is He his son?” And the large crowd enjoyed listening to Him.

  38      In His teaching He was saying: “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like respectful greetings in the market places,

  39      and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets,

  40      who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.”

  41      And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums.

  42      A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent.

  43      Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury;

  44      for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on” (Pray)

            In our passage this morning we see two types of people that are very different. We see one group that was very concerned with looking religious, and we see one poor woman who was the epitome of what it means to be a believer. We see one group of people that are playing a role and one person who was living a life.

And Mark places this here for a reason. It is a great contrast for us to see what it looks like to live for God and be a true Christian. Because if there were ever a Christian lifestyle laid out for us in the Bible to emulate it would be this poor widow. And if there were ever a religious lifestyle to avoid it would be these scribes. What we learn from this story is a true Christian is fully committed to living for God.

            First, I want you to see, the question Vs. 35-37. Jesus poses a question to the people in the temple to make them think, to make them question what they have heard and been taught by the scribes.

            The setting of His question is the temple courts. The court of the Gentiles specifically, where Jesus cleansed the temple and chased out the money changers. Jesus has been challenged by the religious/ political leaders of Israel, and He has met every challenge with wisdom and honesty. They were questioning Him. They were trying to embarrass Him before the people, but He is trying to teach them truth. They have been trying to tear Him down, but He is trying to lift them up.

            Now, he is going on the offensive. He is going to begin to question the questioners. And He could have just walked away. He could have left the temple and left them like they were, they didn’t deserve Him, but instead He continues to teach and instruct. And we need to ask ourselves why?

Well for the same reason He hung on a cross and looked out at those who were crucifying Him and said, “Father forgive them because they no not what they do.” He is giving them the opportunity. He is giving them every chance to embrace the truth. To understand He is the Messiah and to surrender to Him as their Savior.

            And that is something He continues to do today. Jesus is long suffering; He is patient and kind. It is not His will that any should perish but that all would come to the knowledge of the truth. So, He continues to pursue us. He continues to send people are way, who will share the gospel with us. God wants each one of us to turn from our sin and turn toward Christ and make Him our Lord.

            But we need to understand. There comes a time when the questioning ends. There comes a time when the hope of chance is gone, and the time of judgment begins. Jesus discussed, and He questioned, and He debated with these scribes in the temple, and they rejected Him repeatedly because of their unbelief. And then finally, the discussion was over.

            The second clause of Vs. 35 begins the question. Jesus says, “How is it the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?” It is important we understand that Jesus is not denying this truth, at least not yet. This is truth. The Christ is the Son of David. The problem was the scribes did not go far enough in their teaching; they didn’t paint the full picture because they didn’t understand who the Christ was.

            You see the word “Christ” here means the Messiah. The anointed One of God. The one who was foretold by the prophets who would be born King of the Jews. The one they had been waiting for from the beginning of time.

 And the fact that He would be born the son of David, means He would come from the lineage of David. He would be born from the tribe of Judah, and all of that is undisputed. But you see Jesus was all of those things and more.

            Isaiah 9:6-7 says,        6          For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;

And the government will rest on His shoulders;

And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

            7          There will be no end to the increase of Hisgovernment or of peace,

On the throne of David and over his kingdom,

To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness

From then on and forevermore.

            So, the fact that the Messiah would be a descendant of David is the clear teaching of the Old Testament, and they believed that The problem was they didn’t understand that He would be God. The scribes thought a mere man that would do all these things. The idea that the Messiah was going to be of divine origin never occurred to them.

            The truth is the Messiah was not only going to be David’s son, but He was going to be David’s Lord. And that is what Jesus is teaching in Vs. 36-37. This is a direct quote from Psalm 110:1. Which by the way is the most quoted Psalm in the Bible. I find it at least 27 times. It’s in Peter’s famous sermon on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. Stephen quoted it before they stoned him to death in Acts chapter 5. Paul quotes it in Romans 3:1 and Ephesians 1:20. This Psalm is so important to them, because it is the only Psalm that was all about the Messiah.

            The point Jesus is making in Mark is; “How can the Messiah be both David’s son and David’s Lord?” And the answer is only through the incarnation of Christ. Only by Jesus coming into the world and being more than a man but being God. And that is what Jesus did. He was fully God, and He was fully man. He is both the Son of God and the Son of man. He is both David’s son and David’s Lord.

            And what He is teaching these crowds of people in the temple is you have completely missed the point of the entire Old Testament. The scribes have been giving you an incomplete picture of the Word of God. And we need to be careful today because we can be given an incomplete picture of the Word of God.

Paul teaches us in 2 Tim. 4:3, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires.” This is taking place right before our eyes, people will chase after preachers who will tell them what they want to hear instead of telling them truth. America is a warehouse full of unqualified preachers of the Word.

Jesus teaches us a true Christian is fully committed to living for God. The next thing I want you to see in this passage is The Condemnation, Vs. 38-40. Here we see Jesus is done playing games with the scribes. He is not going to tickle anyone’s ears, but He is going to unveil the truth.

I want you to notice the word “beware” in verse 38. To beware means to be on guard. To be wary of or to be alerted to. But what are we to beware of? The lifestyle of the scribes because it leads to greater condemnation. Jesus will go on and name six different sins they were guilty of but they can all be summed up in two words: pride and hypocrisy.

I am reminded of something Howard Hendricks said, a famous seminary professor of Bible study methods. He said that one of the most important things you want to look for when studying the Bible is, a sin to avoid. No one can read verse 38-40 and not see the pride and hypocrisy of the scribes leaping off the page.

They liked to dress in long robes, just to get attention. They liked to be greeted and given tittles like father, teacher, or rabbi. They wanted the front row seats to be seen, admired, and honored. They would pray long winded prayers just to hear themselves speak.

Now it’s important we understand (apart from their treatment of widows) there was nothing wrong with what these scribes were doing. I mean there is nothing wrong with dressing nice. There is nothing wrong with being greeted and having titles. There is nothing wrong with sitting in the front row, there are seats there. There is nothing long with praying long prayers. Jesus says, “they liked these things.” The problem was their heart, and we need to understand the reason we do the things we do are important to God. The Bible says, “It is He who judges the intentions of our heart.”

You see what Christ really wants from us; is that we would love each other, and the enemy of love is selfishness, and pride. Someone once said a life wrapped up in itself is a very small package. Pride is like a beard on your face it just keeps growing and you have to shave it every day. Selfishness is like weeds in the garden. If you don’t stay on top of them they will grow until there is no garden. Let me ask you this; how are you maintaining the garden of selfishness and pride in your life? I trust that you are clearing the fields of anything that would prevent you from becoming who God would want you to be.

Paul teaches us in Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interest of others.” What is interesting is Paul wrote this while he was sitting in a prison cell in Rome. He was locked up for sharing the gospel, and yet he was more concerned about the Philippians than he was himself. What an example for us to follow of what it means to be committed to Christ.

There is something else we learn from this passage. We are not all judged the same. We learn we are not all on the same level playing field. Vs. 40 says, “These shall receive greater condemnation.” Why? Why would they be judged more harshly than everyone else?

These scribes were the ones who knew the Word of God. They were the teachers, the instructors, the councilors. They were the ones assigned to help the people learn how to live for God, and they should have known better. They had more light than everyone else. They had more truth than everyone else, and they were going to be held more accountable than everyone else. That means greater judgment and greater punishment. Luke 12:48 says, “To whom much is given much is required.”

J.C. Ryle a famous evangelical Bishop of England writes, “Let us learn from these verses how odious the sin of hypocrisy is in the sight of Christ. This is a lesson taught us by the Lord’s warning against the scribes. He expresses their notorious practices. Their unbelievable manner of dressing. Their love for honor and praise from men rather than God. Their love for money disguised under a pretended concern for widows. Their long protracted public devotions intended to make men think they are imminently Godly. Ryle says, “Jesus winds up all this solemn declaration with these words, “These shall receive greater condemnation.”

This should be repulsive to us. These actions by these men should cause us to recoil in horror as we read them. The idea that religious people could be so contaminated by sin should make us sick. They were like sharks circling in the water at the smell of blood. Just out for their own personal gain.

Jesus teaches us a true disciple is fully committed to living for God. The next thing I want you to see in this passage is The Commitment, Vs.41-44.

The scene shifts to a different location in the temple. Jesus has left the court of the Gentiles where He was teaching the people and He is now in the treasury area of the inner temple. But not only do we see a shift in the scene, but we see a shift in His tone.

Vs. 41 says, “And He sat down opposite the treasury and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums”

I want you to notice the word “how” here, because the emphasis is not on what they were giving but, how they were giving it. It is as though their giving was metric a barometer of their spiritual condition. You see there were large receptacles in the treasury and as the people through their money in the coins would make noise and the more coins you threw in the more noise you would make.  Many of the wealthy people were doing this as a way to get attention. And Jesus was watching, He was observing this, He was scrutinizing it.

It's important that we understand there is nothing wrong with giving, I don’t want to give you that impression. God has blessed certain people with the ability to make money and to give more than others. The point of this passage is not on what they were giving, but on the way they were giving it, and why. They wanted to draw attention to themselves. They wanted to let everyone know they were the big givers, and that everyone should be grateful to them for supporting the temple. They wanted to be treated special for what they gave.

In Matthew 6:1-3 Jesus says, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise, you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. So, when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogue and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly, I say to you they have their reward in full.  But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” In other words, we are to be so private in the way we give because, Jesus not only sees what we give but why we give it.

Now, I want you to see the great contrast in Vs. 42. It says, “A poor widow came.” There couldn’t be a greater contrast in this story. First, in vs. 41 He said, “many rich came” and now in Vs. 42 we see one poor widow. The word “poor” here means extreme poverty. A person who is completely destitute and down to their last drop. She was a broken beggar who had nothing.

More than likely the reason she was so poor was because she was one of the widows the scribes had preyed upon. They had devoured her. And now here they are worshipping together in the temple. How humiliating.  she is so poor is because these scribes have stripped her of everything she has.

They have hustled her out of all of the things her dead husband had worked so hard to provide for her when he was gone. She is one of the widows who have been exploited by these monsters of religion. No one was looking out for her. No one was there to protect her from these wolves In sheep’s clothing, these long robe manipulators. I am ashamed of people when I read this.

The fact that she still comes to the temple speaks volumes of where her heart is at. She is devoted and dedicated to God no matter what. She is a committed believer. It would be easy for her to come up with so many excuses not to come. She could have been like so many people today who have been hurt by the church or turned off by religion. She could have said, “there is no reason to go, there is nothing but hypocrites over there. All they have ever done is hurt my feelings and offend me.” If anyone had an excuse it was her.

Yet she doesn’t let any of that stop her. She not only comes but she gives, and Jesus praises her for it. She is the real deal. She is an example of what it means to be a fully devoted follower of Christ. She is trusting God with her very life and believing that “If God can take care of the sparrows, He can take care of me.”  She is exhibit A in this story for us and who Jesus would have us to be.

Vs. 43-44 give us the spiritual lesson of this story. It says, “Calling His disciples to Him.” Mark intentionally puts this here because he wants us to know that Jesus is teaching His disciple how important this lesson is. He says, “Truly I say to you.” In other words, don’t miss this. You need to hear this. I am going to highlight this for you.

And then He says, “This poor widow ‘put in more than all.” Not just some, but she gave more than all of them combined. More than the entire treasury could hold. But why would Jesus say that? Because her giving was a sacrifice. Her giving was a greater self-denial. She gave with a greater commitment. She gave with a greater faith. She gave with a greater abandon to the Lord. And Jesus holds her up and puts her on a pedestal for them and for us of what it means to live for God.

What a contrast this is from the way the scribes lived for God. One was real and the other was fake. One was honest and one was wicked. One was selfish and the other was self-less and faithful. The scribes received a greater condemnation and the widow received the greatest commendation of all, the praise of our Lord. The question is; which one of them are you?

Because if we are Christians, then we are followers of a suffering Savior who gave His life on a cross so that we can be forgiven. Jesus is the greatest example of what it means to give. He left all the riches of heaven and became poor in the earth that we might leave the poor of the earth and become rich in heaven.

Jesus said, “What does it prophet a man to gain the world and yet forfeit his soul.’  In other words, you can have all this world has to offer and this world will be all you ever have, or you can give yourself for the Kingdom of God and be rich for all of eternity. The point of this message is not about your money, but it is about your commitment.