WWUTT 2221 The Widow Gives Two Small Coins (Mark 12:35-44)

The story of the widow, putting two small copper coins in the treasure box in the temple, it is a very well -known story and one that is often used to talk about how we need to be willing to give more.

But is that the lesson when we understand the text? Many of the

Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text is an online ministry dedicated to teaching the

Word of God in context, promoting sound doctrine while exposing the faulty. Here's your teacher,

Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We're finishing up chapter 12 of the Gospel of Mark today with a very familiar story of an old widow who puts all that she has in the treasure box in the temple.

Let's read it in context. I'm going to start here in Mark 12 verse 35 and read through verse 44.

This is from the Legacy Standard Bible. Hear the word of the Lord. 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? David himself said in the Holy Spirit, the Lord said to my

Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies beneath your feet. David himself calls him

Lord. So in what sense is he his son? And the large crowd enjoyed listening to him.

And in his teaching, he was saying, beware of the scribes who want to walk around in long robes and want respectful greetings in the marketplaces and best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets who devour widows houses and for appearances sake offer long prayers.

These will receive greater condemnation. And he sat down opposite the treasury and began observing how the crowd was putting money into the treasury and many rich people were putting in large sums.

And a poor widow came and put in two lepta, which amount to a quadrants and calling his disciples to him.

He said to them, truly, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all those putting money into the treasury 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.

Now, how do you often hear that particular account preached? You often hear the old widow as being an example of what?

As being an example of willing to give all she had, she gave out of her poverty.

So how about you? How much money are you going to put into the offering today? How much are you going to give to building the kingdom of God?

That's often a message that you hear, especially in very large churches. You're looking at bright stages that were made with incredible amounts of money.

Bright lights, probably a professional worship band. It felt like a concert that you were watching. And here comes the preacher who's making more money than you probably do.

Talking about this poor old widow and all the money that she had to put into the treasury, giving out of her poverty.

So shouldn't you be willing to give more today? Now that's not only in mega churches.

I pick on them because you're very likely going to hear this kind of account spoken in that kind of a church.

But there are even pastors in small churches that are preaching the same thing and probably very well meaning in their message.

But they don't quite have the context. Though they may say, this woman gave out of her poverty, so she needs to be an example to all of us to be more willing to give.

There may be some truth to that, but that is not the lesson that we are supposed to glean from this poor widow.

That's not why Jesus singles her out. So let's come back again to verse 35.

There's a reason why I wanted to save this whole section and preach on it all at once.

For we have this divided up into three parts, Jesus asking a question about an interpretation of a certain psalm, and why is it that the scribes can't seem to get this right?

Then he mentions in verses 38 to 40, a warning about, don't listen to what it is that they teach.

For you see from their lives how it's inconsistent with the words that they would be proclaiming from God's law.

And that's going to hearken back to the last lesson that we considered on Wednesday with the man who came and challenged

Jesus and asked him what is the greatest commandment in the law. So we're going to look back at that when we get to that section, verses 38 to 40.

And then the last section, of course, is the account of the widow, often talked about as the widow's offering or the widow's might.

You heard a couple of words there for currency that are not common to you, right?

The widow came and put into lepta, which amounts to a quadrants, oh, a quadrants, of course. And we'll talk about those amounts of money and how much it was that she gave.

How much out of her poverty did she really give? So coming back to verse 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? Now let's consider this question that Jesus is asking here. Remember that this is right after a scribe had come to Jesus and said, what is the greatest commandment in the law?

What is what commandment is the foremost of all? That's the way that we have it worded in the L .S .B.

Mark, twelve, twenty eight. Jesus, of course, answers. You'll love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

And a second one is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.

And the scribe says to him, right, teacher, you have truly stated that he is one and there is no one else besides him.

And to love him with all the heart and all the understanding, with all the strength and to love one's neighbor as himself.

This is much more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. That's the scribes response. And Jesus says to him, seeing that he had answered thoughtfully, you are not far from the kingdom of God.

Now, that doesn't mean Jesus said you are in the kingdom of God. Don't mistake that answer as as being the same, but saying you are not far from the kingdom of God.

One of the things that Jesus demonstrates by saying that to the scribe is the way that you have answered.

Is different than what the Pharisees teach and exercise in their teaching, so the scribe is answered in such a way that actually puts a man closer to the kingdom of God than everything that the scribes and Pharisees had been teaching out of the law and, of course, from their own laws, man's traditions, as Jesus has rebuked them for going all the way back to Mark seven.

They make their own laws, follow their own laws. They're nowhere near the kingdom of God and are not getting anywhere.

They are not getting anyone near to God. And so after this man has asked this question about the law,

Jesus has a question himself about the scriptures. Riddle me this. Tell me the answer to this question.

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? David himself said in the

Holy Spirit. So this is Jesus saying this is the word of the Lord. This is the word of God.

It is David who says it, but it is God who is communicating something about his son.

Now, what Jesus quotes is Psalm one hundred and ten. Now, I'm going to read this out of the out of the

ESV because he uses the word Lord as Jesus uses the word Lord here in the

LSB. It would say Yahweh. But for consistency sake, because what Jesus is quoting here would have been out of the

Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. So I'm going to quote from the ESV Psalm one hundred and ten.

The Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.

Jesus quotes the same. The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies beneath your feet.

Now, we're not going to go into depth as to all of the understanding of Psalm one hundred and ten and its application.

We're only going to consider the context in which Jesus asked this question. There's a whole other lesson regarding Psalm one hundred and ten.

Why does Jesus single out this passage? What is his point? His point is to get the hearers to understand that David, in referring to his promised offspring, who will be the

Messiah, doesn't call him son. He calls him

Lord. Now, that's important because remember that the people are expecting an emancipator with the

Messiah that is to come. They're looking for somebody who is a descendant of David, who is a successor in the line of David.

That is true. And in fulfillment of prophecy, the Messiah needs to be that he needs to come in the line of David, line of Judah, line of David.

He therefore becomes a rightful heir to the throne of David. But a rightful heir to the throne is not a reference to the earthly throne.

It is a reference to a permanent throne, which was part of the covenant that God made with David.

On your throne, I will establish my kingdom forever. And that's really more a reference to the one who is going to come in the line of David than it is to the fact that there's going to be a kingdom on earth.

That's, of course, how the Jews misunderstood this particular covenant. So Jesus is trying to get them to see that and trying to get them to understand that the way your scribes are teaching this to you is wrong and you have a wrong expectation.

Your heart is set on things on earth, not things that are above in heaven. Once again, going back to Jesus' answer to this scribe, you are not far from the kingdom of God.

So he's trying to help the other people to see how do you get near to the kingdom of God? How do you get into the kingdom of God?

You can be near it, but that still doesn't give you entrance. So how do you get in? It is through this

Messiah that is being referenced here in Psalm 110 and knowing him not as a descendant of David, but as Lord.

He is a descendant of David, but you must know him as David knew him. As Lord David himself said in the

Holy Spirit, the Lord said to my Lord. Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies beneath your feet.

David calls him Lord. He is my Lord, not my son. He is my Lord. He is my ruler.

And David himself calls him Lord, Jesus says. So in what sense is he his son?

And it says the large crowd enjoyed listening to him, they're baffled by this. Oh, what a brain teaser.

That is some deep stuff. I'm really going to have to think about that. And of course, it's these things that Jesus says that does eventually lead them to an understanding of the kingdom of God.

It's not yet. It will come later. Even those who were there listening to Jesus in the temple may not have understood him now, but, you know, come 50 days from now or something like that.

When the Holy Spirit comes, when these things are proclaimed again by the apostles in Jerusalem at Pentecost, then it will come to their understanding.

And then by faith in Jesus, they recognize knowing Lord as David knew his

Lord. It is only in this way do they enter the kingdom of God.

But once again, Jesus is also showing that the teaching of the scribes and the

Pharisees is incorrect. They have not been leading you in the right way. The very question that Jesus has just asked, the scribes have never asked such a question.

They have never taught in this way. The people are enthralled with what Jesus says. And so he goes on to say in verses 38 to 40, here's the next section now where he warns against the teaching and the actions of the scribes and the

Pharisees. And in his teaching, he was saying, beware of the scribes who want to walk around in long robes and want respectful greetings in the marketplaces.

They're self -absorbed. They're just trying to gather attention for themselves. And verse 39, they want the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.

They exalt themselves. Verse 40, who devour widows houses and for appearances sake offer long prayers.

They feed themselves. These will receive the greater condemnation,

Jesus says, as we've been going through a series in Titus, if you've been listening to my

Sunday sermon series, you know what I've been preaching through in my church and one of the themes to Titus that we keep coming back to is an understanding that your doctrine affects your living.

What you believe will affect how you behave and how you behave will also affect what it is that you believe.

These two things go together. And we're not just talking about Christians and believers when we consider those things. This is true even of unbelievers.

What you believe affects the way that you behave. You can see that in the world around us. What people believe will will allow them or permit them or justify them to do the sins that they love.

They have these certain beliefs so that they can get the desires of their flesh fulfilled.

But if what we love is Christ and the gospel and the good doctrine that flows from that, then what kind of behavior would you expect to see?

You're going to see godliness. So from godly teaching will flow godly behavior from ungodly teaching will come ungodly behavior.

So what Jesus is demonstrating here regarding the scribes and the Pharisees is, first of all, they don't even have sound doctrine.

They do not understand. That the Lord David was referring to in Psalm 110 is the

Messiah who is to come and David regards him as Lord, not an earthly emancipator, but a savior.

One who is enthroned on high in the kingdom, whom David even exalts in the heavenly kingdom as his own

Lord, the scribes, the Pharisees are not teaching that they're looking for earthly things, not heavenly things.

And because their teaching is worldly, this is the behavior that you see demonstrated from them.

Look out for the scribes. They walk around in long robes. They want respectful greetings in the marketplaces.

They're all about themselves. They are not fulfilling the commandments that the scribe recognized being the totality of the law and the prophets.

Love God, love others. Jesus said, you are not far from the kingdom of God. The scribe answered in a way that was contrary to what the rest of the scribes and the

Pharisees were teaching. And you see in their lives that they do not love

God, as said here in verses 35 to 37, nor do they love others as demonstrated in verses 38 to 40.

So that is why this section of Mark is set up in that way with the scribe answering an understanding of the law and the prophets summarized with love

God and love others. And then David shows the scribes and the Pharisees don't love God. And then he shows they don't love others either.

They love themselves. And then we get to the account of the widow's offering.

And maybe now you understand the right context of this is not about giving more in the offering plate on Sunday.

That's not the lesson here. So let's consider it again. Verse 41, and he sat down opposite the treasury and began observing how the crowd was putting money into the treasury and many rich people were putting in large sums.

It's quite a thing to sit there and want to watch and become a spectator of that. You're just sitting opposite the treasury and the offering box basically is what it is and just watching people put money into it.

A lot of rich people coming by putting in large sums of money and a poor widow came and put into it to lepta, which amount to a quadrants.

Now, once again, a lepta is a small copper coin. In fact, it is the smallest of currency that was used in that region in that time.

It was one one hundred and twenty eighth and you've probably never even written such a fraction before.

It was one one hundred and twenty eighth of a day's wage. So it would take one hundred and twenty eight of those small coins to amount to an entire day's worth of wages.

This woman has two of those and it amounts to a quadrants.

Now, a quadrants is a Roman copper coin, which is about one sixty fourth of a day's wage.

It would take sixty four quadrants to amount to a day's wage. It would take one hundred and twenty eight lepta to amount to a day's wage.

And this is all the woman has. It's all she has. And she puts it in the box.

We don't have anything said here about the attitude or the consideration of her heart that that she was joyful or gleefully giving unto

God. Nothing like that is being said here. She puts all she has into the box and calling his disciples to him,

Jesus said to them, truly, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all those putting money into the treasury for they all put in out of their surplus.

It was hardly a sacrifice for them to put the money in the box that they gave.

That is not a knock on their giving to the to the treasure box. That's not what

Jesus is criticizing. But she out of her poverty put in all she owned, all she had to live on.

What should the disciples have seen with what Jesus just showed them there?

There were all these rich people that were coming in and dumping large sums of money in the treasure box.

They should have been turning around and helping this widow. Again, this is right after Jesus had just said, beware those they walk around in long robes, they want respectful greetings in the marketplaces, best seats in the synagogues, places of honor at the banquets who devour widows houses.

And for appearances sake, offer long prayers. So the large sums of money that are being dumped into that treasure box, you know where that large sum of money came from?

That widow's house that was devoured by them. And these rich men should have been turning around and caring for that widow, but they did not.

Why? Because their doctrine was bad. And though one of the scribes had just answered that loving

God and loving others is much more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.

If he truly understood that. Then he would have turned around and helped this widow.

But he didn't. And so the lesson here, even for us in Mark 12, is the same as what

I've been preaching out of Titus. Our doctrine. Has to match our behavior, our behavior has to match our doctrine.

What do you believe? Do you believe that God gave his son for us, that Jesus gave himself for us, left his throne in heaven, took on the form of a servant.

And humbled himself in obedience, even to the point of death on a cross, this is out of Philippians 2.

Therefore, God is highly exalted him and given him the name that is above every name so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is

Lord to the glory of God, the father, because Jesus was obedient to the father.

He humbled himself in every way, even leaving his throne in heaven. To take on the likeness of sinful flesh for us, for our sake, on our behalf.

And it's in that same passage, Philippians 2 .5, that Paul says, let the mind of Christ be in you.

And then he explains, this is what that looks like. The son of God who gave up his throne in heaven to humble himself for us, how much must we be willing to humble ourselves for the sake of others?

How important a lesson that is, if we know Christ and we know the gospel, how is it being demonstrated in your life?

If you say you love God, do you love the people of God? If you know the gospel is the way of salvation that saves from death and gives eternal life, do you indeed share that message with others so that they too would put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ and live knowing him as their

Lord who saves? If you know that the gospel is the only way of salvation, then you need to be sharing that message with others so that they may be saved.

God, forgive us our sins and forgive us those ways that we become self -absorbed, thinking only of ourselves and not considering others.

Help our behavior to match our belief. What we say we believe, do people see it in our lives?

We say that we love God. Do they know that we love them too? Convict our thoughts, correct our ways that we may demonstrate the life of Christ in our lives and die to ourselves and live unto

Christ. It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to When We Understand the

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