The Scribes and the Widow

Today on Renewing Your Mind. He saw how all the people put money into the treasury and what we have here folks is the most famous donation that is ever been made by a human being in the history of the world. Welcome to the Lewiston Avenue in the mind. Also in more chapter 12 we read how the Pharisees wanted to prove their superiority. They tried to trap them with the nuances of the law with Jesus. Of course, outsmarted them every time.

As we continue our study in Mark's gospel we will see how the exalted status of the rulers could never compare with the humility of the one who simply wanted to serve God. Dr. RC school. We continue with our study of the Gospel according to St. Mark this morning of the reading from chapter 12 versus 38 through 44.

Which brings us to the end of chapter 12 less the congregation to stand for the reading of the word of God and then he said to them in his teaching. Beware of the scribes who desire to go around in long robes love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues and the best places at feasts, who devour widows houses, and for a pretense make long prayer. These will receive greater condemnation of Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrant so he called his disciples to himself and said to them, assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all of those who have given to the treasury, for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had her whole livelihood. He was ears to hear the word of God, let them hear. Please be seated let us pray. Again, the Lord's.

We call upon you to help us discern, understand and apply to our own hearts and lives the things that we have just heard from your word. We pray that through the help of the Holy Ghost. We made this morning be taught by Jesus for we asked these things in his name. Amen. Chapter 12 of Mark's gospel comes to an end when the gospel writer presents for us a vivid contrast between the scribes and the widow, the portion of Scripture that I just read begins with a serious warning where Jesus said to those who are around him. Beware that is watch out, be on the alert.

Be careful of something in the caution that came from the lips of our Lord concerned the scribes, the theologians, the academicians, the professors of the Bible in that particular day. He said watch out for these who have been appointed to the position of teachers anticipating what James would teach us later. Let not many become teachers for with that office comes a greater judgment that anyone who was put in the position of biblical, theological, ecclesiastical, leadership was been given the responsibility to feed the sheep of Christ have an enormous power to mislead and to miss feed the sheep to the destruction of the flock of God.

And so Jesus warns his disciples about those who are the scribes. They desire to go around in long robes, excuse me while I remove my what Jesus is referring to here was the custom of the Jews to have a prayer shawl that they would put on when they would recite their prayers that the scribes had specially made prayer shawls that were full-length like robes that would touch the edge of the ground they had ornate tassels on the end of them, and these groves or shawls depicted the lofty status that these professors enjoyed in the community. Some things never change. I know that in the academic world, there is great jealousy among professors with respect to status with respect to position with respect to titles and even with respect to the garments that are worn in academic processions.

This bill goes on with a vengeance. Even in our day. How much energy is dispensed by those in this arena to gain higher titles you start out as an assistant or instructor than is an assistant professor and then a full professor with tenure and that sort of thing.

I've always told my students that you know you start off in their education. All you have is your name and then maybe you go through seminary and now all of a sudden you're reverent and then you maybe go to graduate school and get the advanced degree were people now call you Dr. but in the academic world. That's not as high as being called Prof. but you haven't really made it in the theological world until your known simply by your last name and I we don't talk about Prof. Calvin or Prof. Luther or Prof. Augustine. We just speak of Augustine, Luther and Calvin by their names. In fact, perhaps the greatest tribute of any theologian in history apart from Jesus and Paul would be Thomas Aquinas because how is he known in the academic world by his first name.

This philosophy is called chromosome.

And so when we speak of Thomas everybody knows what Thomas were talking about business.

Crazy how people go to such great extremes to receive the status of title when the highest status you can have is when your known simply by the name with which you came into the world.

Watch out for these guys. They like to go around a long robes. They love greetings in the marketplace because it was the custom among the Jews that if a scribe came by a newer merchants. It was your duty to rise in the presence of a dignified scholar such as a scribe. I love the best seats in the synagogues, which were the benches along the sides. The common people sat on the floor where the scribes had what was then comfortable place to sit and then of course the best places at the feast whenever the feast were there. The scribes always sat at the head table and were honored in that way. Jesus said watch out for these people because they devour widows houses and for pretense make long prayers seem mean that they devoured widows houses, you know, there's a special concern in the Bible for taking care of widows and orphans because among the Jewish people. These were the ones who were most vulnerable, most dependent most easily exploited and here, the scribes would go to these vulnerable widows and basically built them out of whatever savings they had when I read this text, I can't help but think of what will happen when I was teaching in Jackson, Mississippi, and was taking dance lessons at a local dance studio and there was this exposé written by an investigative reporter in Jackson, about the unethical goings-on in these dance studios relate reported that the dance and structured was invite these elderly widows to come in for dance lessons and bend make them pay an exorbitant amount of money for them, but they would promise them companionship and they would take them to the contest in New Orleans a couple of times of year and this became the lives of these widows in the paper reported one dance instructor who went to the woman's house and explained that she needed to take like 10,000 or $15,000 more dance lessons. She didn't have the money but he said he would drive her to the bank so that she could take a second mortgage on her home in order to afford these dance lessons and that's what she did. Widows are the number one targets of Ponzi schemes in our country today because they are frightened they are not secure and somebody promises them the benefit of some return on investment that's extravagant they will often fall for it. And this is what these clergy were doing in the ancient world. She said watch out for these guys and they disguise their hypocrisy with their long, drawnout prayers that they made in public not to honor God, but that they may be seen by men.

It says that when they prayed they ate to see who was watching so that they would enjoy this reputation for piety and what a dreadful, dreadful evaluation of a group of people. Jesus makes who said they will receive their condemnation of the main focus now of the text is not on the scribes, but on the contrast between those who serve God with hypocrisy and those who serve him with true spiritual devotion the attention of of Mark comes to Jesus as he sat opposite the treasury of the temple was found in the court of the women because both men and women can enter into that court of the Temple and in that court were 13 receptacles for donations or FOR there are many needs for which the donations were used in the temple. If you were listening this morning when Burke read from the book of Exodus, where God commanded his people to bring their offerings because God wanted his sanctuary to be built, and God said to the people of Israel bring now your gold, your silver and your bronze. And then he said bring onto my house. Your precious threads your colored threads and your woolens and your linens and those things were used to make the garments for the priests that were woven of the finest materials and adorned with the greatest beauty because they were to serve God in the beauty of holiness and notice. Also what Moses commanded that the people should bring in grain that they should bring in wine that they should bring in oil that they should bring in incense and precious fragrances.

Why all of these things would be used in the worship of the people of Israel. Oil was needed for the lampstand and for the candles that were in use and wine was used in the sacrifice. Now that was in the original edification of the tabernacle in the Old Testament. Fast forward now to the Herodian temple that now has this court with the 13 receptacles for donations. It still was required of the people of Israel to bring in gold, silver and bronze and wine and precious garments because these things were still to be used in the sacrifices in the temple. So really the temple became almost like the central bank of the nation. There was so much money deposited regularly in the temple treasury that the person who administrated the temple treasury was the second-highest figure in the nation just underneath the high priest, Jesus is watching the drama of the giving of the people he saw how the people put money into the treasury and what we have here folks is a description of the most famous donation that is ever been made by a human being in the history of the world that fame that goes beyond the fame of a Bill Gates who has given his hundreds of millions by way of donations or of the Carnegie's sewer the Rockefellers or anyone else who have made names for themselves by their great generosity, but the most famous gift, the gift that is been known by more people than any other gift in all of history is the gift that this woman brings to the temple treasury and the amazing thing is that, in stark contrast to the scribes who couldn't wait for people to see their piety to see their spirituality.

The last thing this poor woman one was for anybody to even notice she was probably ashamed of the meager donation that she was given what she was offering in the Temple was a mere pittance.

She brought to mites, which together make up 1/32 of a denarius and a denarius was the pay for one days work of a laborer. So this woman's offering was 1/32 of one days work of a laborer to sense would not catch it. It was less, than to set visit where we get the phrase putting your two cents worth in the widow comes with her meager donation.

Why, because it's all she had. Jesus watches as the wealthy people come and give out of their substance they gave to God what they could spare this woman had nothing to spare. Should nothing to spare. But what she had.

She gave this is a story of sacrificial giving because again it was for the purpose of offering a sacrifice to God for the vast majority of people who came into the treasury.

There was no sacrifice involved at all. The cost them. Hardly anything in terms of their substance. One poor widow came through into mites, which make the quadrants. Jesus then called his disciples to himself and said, this poor widow has put in more than all of those who have given to the treasury that sounds crazy.

She's given more care to add to Jesus. Do the math. Please Jesus. She doesn't even give to sense. How can that be more than all the rest of the money that's being poured into the treasury by these people who don't miss. You see what Jesus is telling us here is something about God's balance sheet is me most stop for a minute. Use your imagination. We started our study of the book of Mark, where I asked you to use your imagination to pretend you were back in the catacombs of Rome at the time when this book was written must put ourselves for a moment into the skin of this poor widow sure that she approaches the treasury and the offering place tentatively, almost furtively.

She doesn't want anybody to see how small her donation is hopes of nobody's looking when she gives her gift. The one who was watching her is God incarnate God himself in the flesh was in the treasury of the temple that day watching who was giving what Emily saw this woman make this sacrifice, he called his disciples and he sits look at that. That's devotion. That's what it means to be a disciple. That's what it means to love.

My kingdom because this woman did not give out of her substance. He gave out of her poverty. She gave herself as a living sacrifice, which is what Paul would later say is the appropriate response for every Christian who has received the pearl of great price that that there is no gift big enough that we could ever give to give the gift that we have received out of her poverty. She put in all that she had her whole livelihood. This was not very long before Jesus would deposit in the treasury of his father the richest contribution he could make. He held nothing back.

He gives life really took it from them.

He laid down his life for his sheep. Paul noted that when he wrote to the Corinthians.

He said the night in which our savior was betrayed, he took bread, and when he blessed that he broke it and he said thus is now my body given for you. Then come to the table with a denarius or quadrant four to mites became of his body is that I'm giving for you and that is a gift of immeasurable worth. We were the convicting message about selfless giving today here on Renewing Your Mind. Each Sunday we returned to Dr. RC scrolls first fiber series through the gospel of Mark, and even though today's message is familiar to many of us God's word always teaches us.

We so appreciate Dr. scrolls careful study of this passage are resource offered today will help you continue your own examination of God's word. When you contact us today with a donation of any amount will be glad to send you a digital download of Dr. scrolls commentary on Mark. In it you'll find easy to read insight into every verse you can go online and requested@renewingyourmind.org again that's Renewing Your Mind.org your faithful support allows people around the world to access the teaching of Dr. Spruill in a religion or teaching fellows.

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