Mark: The Scribes, the rich, and the widow [Mark 12:38-44]

Mark: The scribes, the rich, and the widow []

To refresh our memories to what’s been happening in Mark, Jesus has been teaching in the temple. The religious leaders were present, along with a large crowd all listening to Jesus teach. Jesus had been on the receiving end of several questions from the religious leaders that were trying to discredit Him, but that’s ended now. So, Jesus turns to ask the questions. Jesus’ question turns the theologians on their heads, as He asks the question of the ages…a question concerning the identity of the messiah.

After this question concerning the Messiah, to which the religious leaders had no answer for, Jesus turns to warn those listening about the hypocrisy of the religious leaders.

Stand for the reading of the word of God []

Revelation brings responsibility. The more you know, the greater your accountability. Where does this come from? It comes from Jesus. Danny Akin said [SEBTS president] “One of the most dangerous vocations in life is being a theologian. One of the most dangerous places you can go is to a Bible-believing church that faithfully proclaims the gospel. Each time you hear Gods’ word taught, your accountability before Him increases. Tragically, those who often receive God’s revelation and traffic in His truth become deaf, even hardened. Rather than walk humbly, they become proud. Having drawn so near to Jesus, they think and act nothing like Jesus. God will not overlook such hypocrisy and sin.”

We are given an example of this in verses 38-40, Jesus turns to the crowds and warns them of the sin of the scribes. So what is it these scribes are guilty of? I think upon examination we’ll see these scribes are not so different than people today. Three things marked these scribes that Jesus warns of…pride, greed, and hypocrisy.

Pride []

Jesus says beware… [read verse 38-39] Long robes, love greetings, best seats in synagogue, best seats at feasts. Jesus is warning His listeners, which includes us, beware of those who put on a show, they are filled with pride. The scribes craved recognition as they walked around with their long showy full length robes, shawls, and long tassels to be admired by others. Bling is nothing new. These guys looked liked really something. They didn’t wear the common everyday robes of the times…they had these really fancy outfits that you wouldn’t wear to do everyday things in. Like a guy today going to the ball game in his $3,000 Armani suit…it’s a little to fancy for the occasion. These scribes were like that…over the top with their fancy garb.

The reason was they loved to get praise from others, Jesus said, “they love greetings in the marketplaces.” The marketplace was where common people went to buy common things such as food, clothing, and the like. These guys stood out in the crowd. They loved titles such as “rabbi”, “master”, even “father” it tripped their trigger when people looked at them and said… “that is someone important…hello rabbi, master, father, etc.” Pride!

They also love the best seats…in the synagogues and at feasts. In the synagogue there was usually a seat in front by the case which held the Torah. This seat of honor didn’t face the same way as the rest of the congregation it faced back at the congregation, so who ever sat their could look at the rest of the congregation and be looked upon by everyone else. The same was at feasts, they always went right to the seats of honor. They didn’t check the guest list to make sure where they sat, they went to the honored seats.

Jesus has already addressed this kind of thing many times as He turn the world’s ideas on it’s head, remember Jesus points out, “the greatest among you will be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles themselves will be exalted.” . These religious leaders despised this saying of Jesus, they were filled with too much pride to humble themselves.

I afraid we still have people who put on a show for religion today. They may look the part in front of the right people but in the private confides, how’s the walk with Jesus? We need to check our own lives for pride.

They were also filled with...

Greed []

“beware...who devour widow’s houses” does that mean they eat houses? Of course not, it’s metaphorical language for their greediness. Jesus is warning His listeners to beware to those who take advantage of others. These scribes were in the habit of taking advantage of the vulnerable, in this case it was widow’s. I’m sure they took advantage of others as well, but Jesus uses widow’s as an example.

We still see this today with televangelist and religious charlatans taking advantage of and preying on the vulnerable and weak. Their philosophy is, “there is money to be made in ministry.” Several years ago there was a movie made called “O brother where art thou.” It was a comical movie based during the time of the great depression. In it there was a traveling bible sales man named Big Dan who said to two escaped convicts, “there’s money to made in the name of the Lord.” Then he beat the two men up and took all their money. It was done in cinematic fashion and comic relief yet it still displayed a sad truth, there are some who take advantage of others in the name of God.

These scribes were such people, they were also filled with...

Hypocrisy []

Jesus warns of their hypocrisy… “and for a pretense make long prayers.” These men were experts in pseudo-piety. They could say long prayers in the public arena yet the private prayer closet of their lives was empty and void. This I believe hits close to home for many, some can say long colorful prayers in front of others, use the right language, say the right things…but at home in their private life…how’s the prayer life?

We should ask ourselves... Do we pray daily? Do we pray more than just before meals? Do we spend time with God in prayer on a regular basis. We must be careful we don’t fall into this hypocritical position of prayer that these scribes had, only praying when we can be noticed by others.

These hypocritical scribes preyed on the weak in return for praying for them. i.e. they’re like, “if you give to me and support my ministry, then I’ll pray for you.” These scribes were very good at this kind of exploitation of others. Give to me, and I’ll pray for you. So really instead of praying for the weak and needy they were preying on the weak and needy.

Jesus says...

Beware []

“These will receive greater condemnation.” The bible tells us much will be required of those who have been given much []. The greater our revelation, the greater our accountability. To know what is right and not to do it invites harsher punishment in judgment. At the beginning I said, revelation brings responsibility. The more you know the more accountable you are to God.

We shouldn’t miss this warning, James probably had this saying of Jesus in mind when he wrote “not many should become teachers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment.” []. You want to be a leader in the church? You want to be a teacher of the bible? Are you ready to be held to a higher accountability with God? Let me just say, if you are teaching a bible study in some capacity…don’t take it lightly…God doesn’t. We can’t miss this warning. I’m not trying to scare you, I’m just trying to inform you…now everyone here is held to a higher accountability because I just told you.

To many people sit in church week after week asleep to the warnings of God. We need not just to beware of pride, greed, and hypocrisy, but we also need to be aware of the greater accountability to those who have been given God’s word…handle with care.

In contrast to the scribes is this nameless widow in verse 41-44. While the scribes were filled with pride, greed, and hypocrisy, this poor widow was nameless, lowly, and gave all she had. I don’t think it’s by accident that Jesus points out that this widow, whom in the prior section widows were the preyed upon by the scribes, is the one who is exalted by Jesus…the first will be last, the least the greatest kind of thing Jesus has been teaching.

In this widow we see a marvelous example of one who loves the Lord God with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength…unlike the self-centered ambition of the scribes.

First notice in verse 41 Jesus sat and saw those who put money in the treasury. Jesus sat which was custom for teachers to do in that day and watched as people put their offerings in the treasury. The treasury was the place where gifts and assessments were deposited near the vestibule in the north part of the court of the women. There were 13 boxes that were trumpet shaped, as you place your offering in it made a noise, the larger the coin, the larger the offering, the louder the noise. So when the rich would place their offering you would know just how big it was.

I just want to point out the obvious…Jesus saw who gave what and so did everyone else, the only difference was, Jesus is the only who saw why they gave and how much it actually cost the giver. Jesus always has an eye for the individual not what they give or have to offer right. Jesus heard the cry of blind Bartimaeus when no one else did, Jesus sees the tremendous gift of this widow when no one else even noticed.

She put in two mites [lepta] it was the smallest Greek coin worth very little, kind of like our penny, not worth much. And in the grand scope of things the offering is inconsequential, but what does Jesus say about this offering? She has put in more than anyone else??? What? How can this be? Even a young child knows that 2 cents is not worth more than 200 dollars. So what is Jesus saying?

He explains, “the rich gave out of their abundance, she gave out of her poverty.” In essence, the rich gave what they would never miss, while the widow gave what she couldn’t afford. Warren Wiersbe captured it well, he said, “The rich made a big production out of their giving, but Jesus rejected them and their gifts. Its not the portion but the proportion that is important: the rich gave out of their abundance, the widow gave all she had. For the rich, their gifts were a small contribution, but for the widow, her gift was a true consecration of her whole life.”

In essence this is the fable of the pig and the chicken. Do you know that fable?

It goes, the chicken said the the pig, “let’s go into business together”

the pig said, “what kind of business”,

the chicken said, “the bacon and egg business.”

The pig replied, “now wait a minute, for you that’s a contribution, but for me, it’s a sacrifice.”

The poor widow’s offering was a sacrifice, she had two mites, she could have said, I’ll give one and keep one to buy bread, and she’d be justified in that…but instead she said, I’ll give all and trust God.

This widow’s offering foreshadows the offering Jesus would give in three days…Himself as an offering for the sin of the world. Jesus gave all so that we might have eternal life in Him.

In this light let’s ask ourselves, “have I truly given God my all?”; “have I given till it hurts?”; “Have I really made a sacrifice to God or simply a contribution?” There’s a principle here that we shouldn’t look past, it’s not about the amount you give but the heart of the giver that matters. You can give a rather large amount but not really feel it in your bank account, but this woman here gave till it hurt and trusted in God.

Now let’s not misunderstand, Jesus doesn’t condemn the people for giving, he’s more concerned about the heart of the giver. Now I want to be practical and helpful when it comes to the topic of money. The bible has a lot to say about money, but most of us don’t want to hear it. What is God’s purpose for money? Money is used by God in supplying our needs. All of our needs are purposed by God to help us grow spiritually…therefore, God’s ultimate purpose for money is spiritual growth. John MacArthur called this “the grace of giving.”

What is this? MacArthur said, “giving of our resources to the work of the Lord, in gratitude for all God has given us in Christ. It’s simply giving in response to God’s grace. Giving is an act of worship and in the word of God there are several truths brought out to help us in our understanding of graceful giving. [we might also call this stewardship].

Here are several principles about giving from God’s word.

1. All that I am belongs to God [] We are not only dependent on God but also owned by Him. The price He paid to purchase us was the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

2. All that is belongs to God [; ; ] We often speak of our possessions, but the reality is it’ not ours it’s all God’s… we’re just borrowing it.

3. God has entrusted His possession to us [; ; ] Everything is God’s He simply entrusts us with possessions to be used for His purpose

4. God’s possessions entrusted to us have a purpose [, ; ] possessions entrusted to us meet our needs and the needs of those who depend upon us.. with that in mind...

5. Giving should be viewed as investing with God [] don’t store up treasures on earth, but treasure in heaven. We don’t think twice about investing in a good thing on earth, but have we been investing in the kingdom of God?

6. Giving should be sacrificial, generous, and joyful [; ; ]

There are many more biblical principals that could be brought out, but what I want us to keep in mind is being obedient to the word of God will always open the way for the blessings of God to be experienced…that even includes the area of giving. We may not like to hear messages about giving of our money, but the truth is God wants us to grow in every area of our lives…and that includes giving.

Biblical and spiritual giving is the act of giving one’s self and what one has to God which flows from a thankful heart in what God has done for us. Louis Giglio said “worship is a response to who God is and what God has done in our lives.” Giving is an act of worship then, because giving is a response to who God is, the owner of all things, and to what God has done for us, sending Jesus into the world to give His life a ransom for sin.

As we look to God, as we look upon the cross at what God has done in Christ for us, it should spark in us the joy and hope that God was and is willing to give His all for us, why would we not then give our all back to Him?

As we close today I want each of us to ask ourselves this question, “Have I truly given to God?” Have I really made a sacrifice to God, or just contributions that have never really challenged me? It’s not time to think about other people here, what others may or may not have done, it’s time to examine ourselves.

Have I been the chicken making contributions to God, or the pig and making sacrifices for Him? Remember…it’s never to late to begin doing what is right.