Mark 12:35-44

Mark 12:35-44 A Study in Opposites

Sometimes it is helpful to see life contrasted. We see how one person is, and how another person is, and suddenly the problems of the first seem so much clearer, and the goodness of the second becomes easier to see. There are many examples of this in the movies; like when the goodness of Luke Skywalker contrasts with the evil of the Emperor at the end of the Star Wars movies. Or when the innocence of Forrest Gump contrasts with the cynicism of the other people in his life…or when the different aspects of the characters in the Wizard of Oz play off each other. The lion’s lack of courage is contrasted with Dorothy standing up to him…and so forth. You can think of your own examples.

I watched people older than me in Boy Scouts, both adults and the older kids and how they acted. Some acted like jerks all the time. I’m not sure why; I’m sure they had their reasons. But some treated others, including me, with dignity and honor, even though they didn’t have to. When I saw what I could act like, both good and bad, I chose to act like the people I admired, rather than the others. The contrast between people helped me chose who I wanted to be like. Maybe you had this too…one of your parents contrasted with the parents of your friend. Maybe it was how a grandparent treated you when compared to how another older person treated you. The personality traits and decisions of people are seen most clearly in contrast to someone else who has made the opposite decisions.

Today we are looking at two sets of people. They are contrasted in their demonstrations of faith by Mark, and hopefully we’ll see how we can live in a more Christ-like manner following the good example. Please stand, mark 12:35ff

While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, “How is it that the teachers of the law say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared:

“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord:

“Sit at my right hand until I

Put your enemies under your feet.”’

David himself calls him ‘Lord’. How then can he be his son?”

The large crowd listened to him with delight.

As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widow’s houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely.

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worthy only a fraction of a penny.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.

Let’s pray.

Jesus has arrived in Jerusalem, the last city He’ll visit during His lifetime. During the week leading up to His death, Jesus spent the time hanging around the Temple, discussing theological issues with any and all. There was a large crowd following His every move, probably some of the same people who had been throwing their cloaks and tree branches on the ground as Jesus entered the capital city of Israel. They were listening to Him teach, they were listening to Him discuss theology with anyone who asked. Temple professionals tried to trap Him, and He couldn’t be trapped. Last week a genuine seeker of God approached with a good question. Jesus answered the question and I hope the person really listened.

Jesus is still physically at the Temple, which was where the day before He had turned over the money changers tables and the tables of people selling sacrificial animals. He has been hanging out around the Temple, because that’s where someone would hang out if they want to confront the religiosity of the Jews. If you want to talk religion, go to the Temple. That makes sense to me. So that’s the scene. I would guess they are in the outer most court of the Temple so both men and women could listen to Jesus teach. Jesus valued women, and it would be my guess that He would teach anyone who would listen to Him. All people are valuable in God’s eyes. In fact, we see in the text that Jesus points out a woman giving her tithe, so we know Jesus is teaching in a place where everyone can hear Him. You remember the Temple had different courts; further in there was the court where only the men could go, then where only the priests could go.

So Jesus is teaching the crowd and sees a contrast. He sees the priests on one hand, and a faithful old woman on the other. Time for an object lesson.

While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, “How is it that the teachers of the law say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared:

“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord:

“Sit at my right hand until I

Put your enemies under your feet.”’

David himself calls him ‘Lord’. How then can he be his son?”

The large crowd listened to him with delight.

This exchange is largely lost on us as we read it. We don’t live with Messianic expectations as the First Century Jews did. We also don’t understand the different uses of the word “son”. There are two ways to think of the word ‘son’. The first is that of a descendant. The son of the son of the son…you can see how that would work. In some ways, I am the son of the man who got himself kicked out of England all the way to Georgia when it was a penal colony. We are all sons or daughters of people who came to this country, unless we came ourselves. You hopefully understand this use of the word. David was promised that his heir would always sit on the throne in Jerusalem, so there was the expectation that the Messiah would be of David’s lineage. But this is not how Jesus is using the word. Instead, he appears to be using the word to mean “secondary or lesser”. What that would mean is that the Messiah would do the things David did; that the Messiah would come to fulfill the promises of David’s rule, David’s kingship. The triumph of the Messiah, then would look like the triumph of David…a large kingdom, self-rule without the hated Romans, and yes, a return to worship of God.

So with that mindset, it becomes a little easier to understand the question, or the dilemma, Jesus poses to the Pharisees and chief priests who are listening to Jesus as He was teaching the crowd in the Temple. How could David be the model for the Messiah and the Messiah’s kingdom when King David himself called the Messiah his Lord? Maybe, Jesus is suggesting, you have a very different image of what the Messiah will do, what He will accomplish. Maybe your hopes for the Messiah are too small. Maybe the box you’d like the Messiah to fit into isn’t what the Messiah has in mind at all. Jesus is asking if they can expand their thinking; can they think differently about the Messiah? Could they understand He was the Messiah, or was that not going to be possible given that they would have to give up their expectations of what the Messiah would do and accomplish?

The crowd listened with delight. These folks seem to have made the decision. In contrast to the Pharisees and chief teachers, they have decided that Jesus is the Messiah. The different kind of Messiah; not the Messiah the people had imagined, but instead a better Messiah, even greater than King David could ever have been. Now the text doesn’t say anything about Pharisees or teachers of the law listening in, but they must have been around. This is the Temple after all. If they weren’t listening in, they certainly were very carefully and publicly ignoring Jesus and the crowd. They wouldn’t answer Jesus’ question; but they tried to make Him answer theirs. Doesn’t quite seem fair.

Jesus has just been through a time of testing before the very skeptical, and frankly, disbelieving leaders of the Temple, the teachers of the law. They have dogged His steps throughout His ministry. From questions at the very beginning of in Northern Israel to the day before, the teachers of the law have tried to undermine and sabotage Jesus’ ministry. They decided He wasn’t the Messiah, and never revisited that decision. That one decision changed their whole future, for the worse. At the same time, Jesus has seen fit to criticize them, repeatedly. There were things very wrong with the Jewish religion. It was all about an adherence to man-created rules, not loving the man-creating God. These priests were supposed to be the shepherds of the people, the men who would help the common people know God better, know how to please God with their lives. But that goal degenerated into forcing the people to follow many different rules. Some of the rules were good, but others were off target, and simply burdened the people with financial obligations to the priests. Some rules were simply ways to get around God’s commands, like for someone traveling on a Saturday. There were elaborate ways to travel on Saturdays, but it involved having something personal at another person’s house, which kind of made it your house, so you really haven’t traveled…silly rules to get around the command to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.

This is what Jesus is criticizing, this rule based religion, along with the people who perpetuated this way of doing religion that continued to enslave the common people, to the benefit of the teachers of the law. The common folks were trusting the teachers of the law to tell them what to do, and how to live; that call to holiness had been reduced to personal spheres of influence. That is the human temptation; when given power we can use it to control others to our benefit. These men loved to be looked up to; they loved the respect of sitting at the head of every table, they loved to nod their heads toward people who would bow to them, they loved the attention. These were people who had been given a measure of authority in the community and had grown to abuse it. They used their influence for themselves, and not God. Each of us has our own sphere of influence, where we can say things that either tear people down or build them up, where people listen to us and can be hurt by us, or helped by us. We each have our places where what we say matters. We choose what we say in those times; whether to tear down or to build up. These men had made the wrong choice, the choice to glorify themselves rather than God.

And then comes the contrast. These men are criticized, and an old woman, powerless, almost penniless, the very opposite of these teachers of the law who were so important. This woman is almost worthless in the eyes of the community, but not in God’s eyes. God has a much different perspective on who is faithful and who is important than we do.

This is the contrast, where we can see most clearly who is a follower of God, and who is a follower of themselves. The widow throws in a paltry amount, almost nothing. But it is everything to her. She is committing herself to God in this action. She is trusting Him with her whole life. A paltry sum, but it is a complete sum. It is all. This woman is worshipping God with everything she has. The Pharisees and chief teachers of the law worship God when it is convenient, when it makes them look good. They certainly are not straining to bring money to the Temple. That is not what they are about. They are about the things of this world; other people’s adulation, their own pride and happiness, its all about them. For the woman, it is all about God. Her life is offered up as a living sacrifice, to quote St. Paul in Romans 12. It doesn’t seem much clearer than that. The contrast is obvious. The poor, powerless worshipping God; the wealthy men of power worshipping themselves.

This is one reason that I left politics. Most people don’t know that I was very interested in politics for a long time. I did a couple of internships on Capital Hill when I was in college. But I realized when I was there that I didn’t like the person I was becoming. For me, politics came to be about winning, not about doing what was right. It was a competition, not a chance to help people. And so I left. And I do look back occasionally, and wonder ‘what if’… but I think I would have lost myself, that I would not like the person I would have become if I stayed. Power is very appealing to me. And the abuse of power is not far behind. I know that about myself, and all people, so I try to be very careful with power issues, very cognizant of power and authority. Because all power and authority belong to God, not to any one person or people. I get very nervous around people who are constantly trying to pull power plays on me or around me. I’m much more comfortable struggling with who I really am; the poor woman struggle to give God all that I have. I don’t always like it, but that struggle has helped me become a much different person than I was going to be.

It isn’t fun to put everything into God’s basket. It is not easy to trust God with the last little bit of the money I have, that we have. And so I back away, and try again later, but I wonder what would have happened had I stepped out in faith, if I would have been able to put everything in God’s control. I still struggle with that. I want my own areas of my life, where I am in control, where I am my own master and commander…but that’s not the Christian life. That’s not all that God has for me, or you. All God has is so much better than my plans, my hopes, but it is harder. And that’s when we back away from putting in the 2 pennies, and just put in 1. I may not have much, but I’ve given some, and kept some. But is that enough? Is it enough to trust God half way? Is it enough to take one step forward, and a half step back?

We have been looking at Mark for a long time, and one major theme has been the calling of us, like Christ, to lay our lives down and live for the King. The hardest area for this is the future. We live in a culture of fear; the news programs every night report the days activities, but in large measure they are selling fear. The top five objects in your house that can kill you and your family, news at 11. People killed by cars, dogs, tornados, whatever. Fear. We try and hold the fear at bay by saving up enough money for a rainy day, and while that is ok, I would ask all of us to really think if we are trusting money or God for our futures. The woman trusted God; the Pharisees and teachers of the law trusted their power and their prestige and their money. Step out in faith; God will meet you there. Whether it’s a money issue, a faith issue, an issue of trust, I is my deep belief that God meets us in our doubts and proves Himself worthy of our trust.

Let’s pray.