As we begin this portion of Mark 12, Jesus has just finished his series of debates with the religious leaders. They’re done, but Jesus isn’t. He came to Jerusalem to first proclaim His hostile takeover—retaking for God the thing man had conformed to his own image. He proclaimed that Judaism as they knew it was to be withered from the root and overturned like a mountain thrown into the sea. The way for the Gentiles to approach God, which had been polluted by man, was reopened by Jesus as He entered the Temple and threw out the money changers. He further showed His absolute dominance of the situation by completely handling the theological, social, and political questions thrown at him by the leaders of this corrupted system.
Jesus is setting up for a showdown between Himself and mankind for supremacy. Satan is betting on humanity and wants to defeat Jesu,s so he influences the religious leaders to do more of what they already want to do—and that is commit evil acts while looking pure and holy. The odd thing about this showdown at high noon is that Jesus will actually appear to lose, though in the end He wins it all.
But today we get to see the contrast between the men in charge of this current kingdom (or at least they think they are in charge) and who will be a part of the new King’s kingdom.
38 – 40
In the just previous few verses Jesus had told one particular scribe that he was not far from the kingdom as he was honest and open about his question and enjoyed a healthy exchange with Jesus. But as I said then, just knowing the truth doesn’t make you a part of God’s kingdom any more than knowing the truth of penicillin makes you better when you are sick—you have to take it, just as you have to relinquish your soul to King Jesus.
In general, the scribes were legends in their own minds. Matthew’s gospel has an elongated version of this speech as Jesus proclaimed 7 “woes” against the religious leaders. Mark records a short version of it, but the effect is the same: He will have no part with them and will not submit to them. The long robes they wore (of white linen to symbolize purity) were supposed to be used only for religious activities, but they took to wearing them everywhere because it singled them out as something holy and special to man. We need to be careful about parading our spirituality and position in Christ around so that people are impressed with us.
They wanted to be “up front” at church and at special occasions. They wanted to be seen—the show was the most important thing. So while they playacted the part of holy and respectful, their real intentions were evil. As the lawyers of Israel, scribes were often given trust of women’s dowries when they were widowed. Instead of protecting the money they stole it. Scribes weren’t paid for their service and it was considered a good thing to give to a scribe. They, however, abused that position to extort money from anyone they could.
Even their prayers were just for show. Instead of a conversation with God, they were lines in a play designed to impress others. God was not impressed and looks not at the outward appearance of a man, but at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7 – at the anointing of David). Notice the contrast too with the most important commandments—to love God and love others. They did neither. I also find it interesting that Mark hooks together in one sentence the idea of devouring widow’s houses and long prayers. It’s like they are so bent on evil that they show off how much they can get away with. They feel they are worthy of so much, but Jesus now shows by contrast what is really worth something in His kingdom.
41 – 44
Jesus now moved probably from the Court of the Gentiles to the Court of the Women near where the Temple treasury was located. In this walkway stood 13 trumpet-shaped boxes: 7 for deposit of the temple tax and six for free will offerings. During Passover a large amount of money would come into the temple coffers. In the midst of the clatter of many coins being poured into the boxes Jesus spies a poor widow. I wonder if hers is one of the houses that the scribes “devoured”.
Without family or a protector, widows could find themselves destitute. She places in two coins into the box as a free will gift. The coins, known as lepton (two would be lepta) were worth one 64th of a denarius—one day’s wages (maybe about 10 minutes wages on a 12 hour day). We don’t know how Jesus knew she was a widow. Luke (Luke 21:1-4) also tells us that she gave everything she had.
So what does this teach us? On the surface, of course, Jesus is saying that the size of the gift is irrelevant—what matters is the spirit in which it is given. I’ve heard a lot of folks teach that what matters isn’t the amount you give but the amount you have left over. But I think there are two deeper lessons here.
The first is that a relationship with God is not about an external show but an internal reality and secondly, that reality is a trust so deep that you can let go of everything holding you to this age and cling fully to the Lord. Why do I bring these up? Because if you look at where we’ve just been, Mark is contrasting the religious leaders with this woman.
The religious leaders: mistrusted Jesus (Mark 11:27-33), mishandled their mission from Yahweh (Mark 12:1-12), misunderstood the kingdom of God (Mark 12:13-17), and misinterpreted the Scriptures about God’s kingdom (Mark 12:18-27). Most all of them missed the reality that everything is centered on our relationship with God, not our relative importance to our fellow humans (Mark 12:28-34). All of their values add up to their character, which was entirely based on how impressive they were to others, and how important they felt. They trusted in themselves only. Being in power over others was their most important goal, and providing for their own sense of security through lording it over underlings and taking everything they could get their hands on in terms of the things this age values.
Contrast that with the widow—she had no value at all in this age. In terms of status, she was less than a nobody. She was a woman, poor, and a widow. She had no authority and had nothing in this age to rely on. And that’s just where God wanted her and wants us to live. It’s not that God wants us to always be on the edge of starvation and homelessness, but when it comes to where we get our security and sense of purpose—do we find it in this age, or do we realize how bankrupt this age really is and get our value, purpose, and security from a relationship with the King?
At some point, all of us have to be willing to cash in all of what brings us worth in this age and give our souls, and our destiny to a King in a new age.
Conclusions
God looks out for those who will radically trust Him. Amidst all of the clamor and noise of the Temple treasury, Jesus focuses in on one small act. Despite all of man’s attempts to impress God, the thing that does move Him is someone who has lost it all in this age but is willing to give up even what they do have in order to love Him. Now I want to ask two questions:
How do you rank your importance?
Scribes:
Used their position in the Lord to be impressive in this world (robes)
Craved man’s respect more than God’s (marketplace greetings)
Wanted first place in this age. They cared more for man’s honor more than God’s (synagogues and banquets)
Gave God words but not heart (it was just a “show”)
Woman:
No position in this world (woman, poor, widow)
No respect by the movers and shakers
Last place in this age
Gave God everything she had (put her last two coins into the box)
Where do you get your security?
Scribes:
Through the adulation and respect of people
Through material wealth no matter the victim
Woman:
Placing her trust in God and not in this age
Through trusting God, no matter the cost. By radical faith, putting it all in
It all boils down to this: relationship = trust, trust = letting go of security under your power and transferring that power to God—like tossing your last two coins into God’s box. For you it may not be money at all, but how you view your money, and your values, and your purpose and priorities and time.
Two questions to ask yourself: who validates me? And who is your ultimate Lord?
