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Mark | Chapter 12

Mark 12:13-17

“Whose image?”

  1. Introduction
  2. Vs. 13-15a Lawful to pay taxes?
  3. Vs. 15b-17 Giving where it belongs

Introduction

In verses 13-27 the examination of Jesus continues but from three different groups. Last week we saw that the Jesus was questioned by the delegation that held the power in the temple area: Annas and his son-in-law Caiaphas, the religious lawyers in the scribes and finally the ruling elders. Now we see that the groups will be comprised of the Herodians, Pharisees and Sadducees. The questions Jesus answers deal with two areas that most folks say are certainties in life “death and taxes”! Jesus will answer questions regarding these two things in reverse order. This week we will look at the area of who’s authority you are under as we deal with the question asked “Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?” Next week we will take up the area about death and as the Sadducees question Jesus with regards to the resurrection. The subject of Jesus’ answer covers today in verse 13-17 a far more than whether Christians should pay taxes and answers what authority the government has over a Christian.     

Vs. 13-15a Lawful to pay taxes?

Vs. 13 I notice three things about Mark’s initial statement:

  1. First, that “they sent” to Jesus another group. The “they” can only refer to the above group comprised of the “religious class, upper class and ruling class”. It is clear that though defeated by Jesus’ answer and subsequent parables the leadership remained committed to His destruction.   
  2. Second, the sole purpose of dispatching this new delegation was to “catch Him in His words”. These were not honest inquiries but instead were traps that they could employ to cause them to be able to find something that they might indict Jesus with in order that they could execute their plan to put Him to death.
  3. Finally, these two groups the “Herodians and the Pharisees” were sworn enemies. The Herodians were those that backed and supported Herod’s reign as king. The Herod’s were not Jew’s but rather descendant’s of Jacob’s brother Esau and as such had no right to the throne of Israel. They had got their kingdom through connections with the Roman Caesar’s but were hated by most Jew’s. The “Herodians” as such were Hellenistic or Greek speaking and cultured Jew’s who benefited financially by being linked with the Herod’s. The Pharisees were at differing times a political party, a social movement and after the destruction of the temple they became the foundation of the ritualistic basic for Rabbinic Judaism. To say that these two groups hated each other is an understatement, in fact the early church had to battle through the inherent prejudices even after some of them became followers of Christ.  

Quite possibly this may have been the only time these two enemies had ever united over anything and it was over the One Person who could destroy the barriers that separated them in the first place.

Vs. 14-15a First they came with a word not only to disarm Jesus but to entrap Him so that He couldn’t escape their question but first they praised Him for not being afraid to answer. Next they came with a question most American’s ask at least once a year, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?” Though that opening statement was done very disingenuous it was quite accurate and reveals commonly held beliefs about Jesus and His earthly ministry even from hostile sources. Jesus was seen as a teacher who articulated the Word of God above the wrongly held views of man, regardless of a person’s power and popularity. The only thing wrong about this statement is the phrase that stated that He “cared about no one”. The truth was that He cared about EVERYONE and that was why He always taught the “way of God in truth”. If He didn’t care about people, He would have just let them continue in their error.

            The word “lawful” in the Greek doesn’t mean with regards to civil authorities but rather is it “permissible” in the context of the religious authorities. They asked whether a Jew should pay tax in relationship with God and poised the question in a yes or no format. If He said it would put Him against the Roman government but if He said yes it would put Him against the nation. Each of the gospel writers give us a differing perspective upon the motive of these two groups: Mark says “knowing their hypocrisy” Matthew says, “Perceiving their wickedness” and Luke says, “knowing their craftiness”. They were cunning, wicked and hypocritical! People of Israel wanted to know because they were forced to pay taxes to the Roman government it’s a question that through history to the present day people want to know, “Should we pay taxes to a government when we know that the government will use the money we have to pay them for immoral and unethical ways?” Jesus was aware of their hypocrisy, these were the same folks who supported the inflated tax revenue in the temple area as well as the overly high priced animals that “qualified” for the sacrifice. They would have never have asked Jesus the question about whether it was lawful to pay the temple tax but they did the tax to the Roman’s, total hypocrisy! There are three things that surprise me in Jesus answer:

  1. First, how quickly and easily Jesus avoided their trap while answering their question. There was no hesitation, no let me think about this. Jesus was both quick and deliberate in His response.
  2. Second, even though they had asked Jesus a yes/no question, He answers first with an understanding of the motive behind their question. I believe that Jesus always addresses our motives before He gets to our questions, it would be good for us to realize that before we ask instead of after!
  3. I’m further amazed by the fact that Jesus had to ask for the coin. This tells me that he didn’t have a dime which would have been the approximate value of a denarius which was a Roman small silver coin in todays value would be around $3.50.

Jesus’s answer to this question is twofold: 

  1. The denarius had been in circulation for several 100 years and there was a history behind this question in this area. When Herod died in 4 B.C. he had ruled over Israel as a Roman tributary king. He had gained his position by loyalty to the Romans and friendships with those in power. Upon his death the kingdom was divided into three sections given to his three surviving sons:
  2. Antipas received the region of Galilee to Peraea which was from Galilee to ½ of the back side of the Dead Sea.
  3. Philip received the areas of the North East which would encompass the area of Jordan today, as well as the area around Mount Hermon.
  4. Archelaus received the Southern area that included both Samaria as well as Judah.

Antipas and Philip both did well and ruled wisely but Archelaus was a complete failure as a king and in A.D. 6 the Roman stepped in and took over to run things. This southern region was no longer allowed by Rome to be a semi independent kingdom and instead became a Roman province governed by a procurator. Provinces under Rome fell into two classes, peaceful and troubled. Those that were peaceful required no troops and were governed by proconsuls but the troubled areas that had troops were under the direct rule of the Emperor and were governed by a procurator “Pilate” and the tax as such was paid direct to the Emperor Caesar. There were three taxes imposed at this time in Jerusalem:

  1. Ground tax: 1/10th of all grain 1/5th of all wine and fruit paid in kind and money
  2. Income tax: 1% of a man’s income.
  3. Poll tax: all men from 14-65 and all women from 12-65 paid one denarius per-person. It was the one tax every person paid just for the right to exist in this region. And the coin which Jesus asked for was this coin used to pay the tax for the right to exist. And the image would have been Tiberius with an inscription that read “The High Priest of the Roman Nation”. The coin was a sign of power, when anyone conquered a land the first thing they would do is mint coin. The coin was also the only valid currency for the realm. Finally, because the coin held the emperors image and inscription it was essentially the property of the emperor.

 “Whose image and inscription is this?” He asked and they replied “Caesar’s”. “Well then”; Jesus said, “It must be Caesar’s money, so give what ever belongs to him back to him.” Some today would say, “This may have been appropriate in Jesus’ time but not today.” “Today we have abortion laws, same sex marriage and many other unbiblical, unjust and unethical ways our government is spending our hard earned dollars.” Paul wrote to the church in Rome largely comprised of slaves in Romans 13:1-2 “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.” The first thing we learn from Paul is that the forms of Government as well as those that occupy the positions of power are from God. Paul tells his readers that their obligation is for civil obedience and that there is not one Christian that is exempt from obedience to the state! This has nothing to do with the righteousness or lack thereof of the “powers that be”. The reason is because of the “righteousness” of the God who has sanctioned it. All of society needs government as God intended man to live under authority. Peter also wrote on this subject in 1 Peter chapter 2 saying, “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake.” A French diplomat in August 1811 said of Napoleon that, “Every nation gets the government it deserves”. Paul and Peter wrote this of Rome who was under their 5th emperor the most ruthless of all Nero. God uses a government or the powers that be to bless a people and sometimes He uses them to judge them and to get them to repent! God has allowed the “power that be” to govern over us and the flip side of that is also true: governments are in power “under God”.  In February of 1948 Louis Bowman inserted those very words “Under God” in the pledge of allegiance quoting from Lincoln’s Gettysburg address. Then under President Eisenhower’s administration it was signed into law as part of the pledge of allegiance, it would do us all good to remember this truth.

  • The truth is all human government has limited powers over our freedoms. They can restrict our actions and speech, regulate our conduct and influence our society. But no government or powers that be can legislate HOW we worship, or WHO we worship, nor can it dictate our conscience. Jesus said a most impactful statement to all followers of Him, “And to God the things that are God’s.” Wherever God has “minted”, “stamped” His image upon your life, you should give that back to God. Has God stamped His image upon your marriage, your family, your gifting and talents? Has He minted His image upon your profession, your hobbies and interests, your bank account and wallet? Has He stamped His image upon your time? If so then give them to God and let Him dictate when, where and how! I can promise you that if you do you won’t be questioning if “He is using them for immoral and unethical ways?” Instead you will see fruit that will bring Him glory, honor and praise!          

The bible teaches three great truths with regards to the individual Christian and the state:

  1. The State is ordained by God: Without the laws of the state life would be chaos, people can’t live together unless they agree on laws and obey those laws.
  2. No person can accept the benefits of the state while opting out of the responsibilities of the state: To receive the benefits from the state means that you have to accept the laws of the state!
  3. The limit of the state upon the Christian: The coin had Caesar’s image upon it and it belonged to him but the Christian has God’s image upon us and we belong to Him! If the state makes demands that conflict with our loyalty to God, then God must come first. But where the state requires obedience that doesn’t conflict with our loyalty to God we Christians must be the better citizens than any other non-Christian.  

Mark 12:18-27

“No microscopes in heaven”

  1. Introduction
  2. Vs. 18-23 The case of the unlucky widow
  3. Vs. 24-27 Ignorance of the Word and power of God

Introduction

This is the only place in Mark’s account that the Sadducees appear, and their questioning of Jesus is very reminiscent of the other accounts of them. To understand their questioning, you would need to look into just WHO this group was and WHAT they believed. They were one of the three main religious movements during the time of Jesus and were aristocrats. They tended to be wealthy and held powerful positions, made up mostly of priests, including that of chief priests and high priest. They also held the majority of the 70 seats of the ruling council of the Sanhedrin. They kept peace by agreeing with the decisions of Rome being more concerned with politics than religion. Because of this they didn’t relate well to the common man, who sided with the Pharisees. Even though they held the majority of seats in the Sanhedrin, they had to go along with the ideas of the Pharisaic minority, do to the Pharisees popularity with the masses. Religiously, the Sadducees differed with the Pharisees in the authority of scripture as the Pharisees believed that oral tradition was equal to the written Word of God, while the Sadducees considered only the written Word to be from God. They held many beliefs that contradicted Scripture:

  1. They denied God’s involvement in everyday life.
  2. They denied any resurrection of the dead.
  3. They denied any afterlife, believing that the soul perished at death, denying any penalty or reward after the earthly life.
  4. They denied the existence of a spiritual world, i.e., angels and demons.

The Sadducees ceased to exist in A.D. 70. When the Temple was destroyed because of their political and priestly ties.


Vs. 18-23 The case of the unlucky widow

Vs. 18-23 The Sadducees had a strong belief if the scriptures specifically the books of Moses; so not surprisingly they use a particular legislation that God gave Moses to prevent the break up of the family. The case study is from Deuteronomy 25:5-10 and the obligation of brothers to take care of his brother’s widow. Theoretically, this would go on as long as there was brother’s and no child born when the child was born that child would be seen as heir of the original husband this would ensure two things: That the family name would continue and that the family property would remain within the family.

Since the seven husbands had died and now also the wife the interest in the case was upon whose wife she would now be IF there was such a place called heaven. Apparently this case was supposed to present a difficulty to those who believed in life after death. Their denial of the resurrection was not over a particular type of life after death but any possibility to it.

            It is clear by Mark’s comments that this was not a serious question but one that intended to mock Jesus and the Pharisees, though it doesn’t appear to be a question that was designed to entrap Him that would lead to His death. These aristocrats were the rationalists, materialists and secular humanists of the day. They come to Jesus to ask a question that they believed was complete nonsense with the aim of making Him look foolish. But their contrived story is so strange that it makes them foolish and Jesus could have just skipped ahead and said “This woman had seven husbands in a row and they kept dying, you might want to know what she was putting in the soup!”


Vs. 24-27 Ignorance of the Word and power of God

Vs. 24-27 Before Jesus answers their question in two parts He first tells them they are mistaken on two accounts:

  1. The scriptures: God has insight and knowledge beyond that which we possess. It is for this very reason that He has given us the Word of God so that we can look into the scriptures to gain the insight we need to make it through what we don’t understand.
  2. The power of God: God has power that is infinitely greater than the power we humans have.

These Sadducees, like many today, limited themselves to only what they knew. People tend to trust solely upon business, science, religion, politics, psychology or family more than they do God’s Word and God’s power. Every human failure can be attributed to one or both of these things “not knowing the scriptures or not knowing the power of God”. The great scientist and philosopher, Pascal once noted that “The ultimate purpose of reason is to bring us to the place where we see the that there is a limit to reason.” The trouble with rationalists, materialists and secular humanists is that they, like the Sadducees, rely on only things that they can verify with their limited knowledge and power. People and life is far more complicated than just what we can verify! When people start the equation with the presupposition that there is no God, there is NO life after death, they have already stated by their presupposition that any thought of those ideas are irrelevant to their situation and purpose of life. All of this because they can not prove it with their limited knowledge and power.

            So Jesus boldly declares, “Their wrong” because they refused to see the full scope of reality beyond time, space and matter. You can’t view the resurrection in a microscope but the rationalist, materialist and secular humanist is more than that they are a human! They can not escape the great spiritual questions simply because they don’t conform to the scientific method of discovery. Everything we see in time space and matter dictates a belief in intelligent design. It is illogical to believe in random chance creating anything but chaos! No one has ever observed random chance creating anything but chaos! We can test this theory over and over and the outcome will always be the same, chaos. So if there is a Designer, it is illogical that this Designer would create with such complexity, variety and creativity without the possibility for that which He created to know Him who created them. That means that the emotions, intellect and will of humans not only have the capacity to know their creator but can intimately connected to Him. These things can’t be tested but our whole life experience testifies to the reality of it. It encompasses all of time, space and matter and never changes or advances. As far as God’s knowledge and power what was true at the beginning is still true today, even with all of our human advancements. There is not a subatomic particle anywhere in space that God does not have full knowledge of and power over!

Jesus answers their question in two parts:

  1. Vs. 24-25 The manner of the resurrection: The Sadducees assumed either God could not raise from the dead, or that He could raise them only back to a life that would just like the material present. Further more Jesus points out that Angels (whom the Sadducees didn’t believe existed) were also created but in their sphere have no need for propagation thus no need for marriage to continue their existence. There are the same number of angels today as there was at the beginning, they are the same angels and in eternity though we will still be humans we will be like the angels in respect to no need to procreate. So Jesus dismisses the Sadducees hypothetical case because they lack the knowledge of the Word of God that Jesus possessed.
  2. Vs. 26-27 The matter of the resurrection: Jesus speaks on the second aspect of the resurrection and uses Moses whom they only recognized. The point Jesus is making to the Sadducees in Exodus 3:6 is that God reveals to Moses His real present relationship to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; men whom in Moses time had been dead for over 400 years. The question Jesus is imposing to them is “How can the living God have a relationship with men who had been dead for over 400 years if they cease to exist after they die?” The answer is they aren’t dead but very much still alive, thus there must be life after death. Jesus words establish not only the immortality of the soul but indirectly the resurrection of the dead. That also means that humans do not remain in an imperfect condition and will recover a body that will be raised in perfection! Paul writes on all of this to answer the question of the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 15 where he writes, “So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.” He went on to say, “And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.”      

Mark 12:28-34

“What the world needs now”

  1. Introduction
  2. Vs. 28-31 Four dimensions of our devotion
  3. Vs. 32-34 Not far from the Kingdom

Introduction

If you have been following our study through the Gospel of Mark than you know that we have chronologically come to the final week of Jesus earthly life known as the “passion week”. During this week Mark points out the examination from varying religious and political groups designed to either entrap Him or make Him look foolish. The context of these inquisitions was 11:18 after Jesus cleansed the temple for the 2nd time we read that they “sought how they might destroy Him…” This morning we will see yet another question posed to Him but it is radically different than all those who approached Him. The difference is not in the group or even the question but rather in the heart of the person who asked Him as it is the only honest inquiry. Most of the scribes were Levites and were called upon to copy the scriptures and they belonged to the sect of the Pharisees. The Jews had in the 5 books of Moses 613 commandments in the law. Three hundred sixty-five of those were negative one for each day of the year. Two hundred forty-eight of them were positive, one for each of generations from Adam to their present day. Ah but if you go to David’s Psalm 15 you will find that he reduced them to only 11. But Micah in his book in chapter 6:8 reduced them down to only three. Now here Jesus reduces down to only two, love God and love your fellow man!   

 

Vs. 28-31 Four dimensions of our devotion

Vs. 28 Mark records for us the primary reason this scribe was different than the delegations that had been sent to try Jesus in that he had been only an observer of the inquisitions not a participant, “having HEARD THEM reasoning together”. Further more he had become quite impressed with Jesus’ answers. This caused this scribe, whose career it was to copy and study the commandments, to ask Jesus “Which is the first commandment of all?” The word “which” is a Greek word that refers not to an individual commandment but of quality or importance. He was asking Jesus the distinction between the ritual and ethical aspects of the law. There were two schools of thought: One placed a higher importance upon the ritual laws of circumcision and Sabbath-keeping and the like. While the other led by Hillel emphasized the ethical and moral aspects of the law such as how you should treat your fellow man. Love is moral not ceremonial! If a person loves then they will do everything else they should do, but even if they do many right and good things except love then the moral obedience and motivation is lost. Every sin known to man is a violation of the law of love, and every grace and virtue is an expression of love.

 Vs. 29-31 The quotation is from the Shema Yisrael or “Hear, O Israel” as it makes up the first two words of this section. It goes like this: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” from Deuteronomy 6:4-5. There are alternate interpretations of “Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.” Some render this “The LORD our God is one LORD.” Others have it “The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.” It was recited twice daily at the morning and evening prayer service by every Jewish person. All the males 13 years and one day would carry this on a small scroll placed on phylacteries bound on their foreheads or arm. This passage was the preamble of the confession of faith and duty as it spoke of the “individual’s devotion of their whole being to God”. The scribe wanted to know of all of God’s commandments which one held the “priorities of life” and Jesus answered that all human priorities begin with “Loving God completely”. No matter what situation or circumstance a person finds themselves in when you don’t know what to do, start first with the only Person who has the Power and Resources to handle all of life. Most of us when we are hurting and disappointed don’t start with “Loving God”. Instead we obsess with our problems, wrapping ourselves up in knots with our struggles which keep us from the Answer to what confronts us. But Jesus says, start with the One who sees and knows all about our problem, He is the only One that can see it from every angle. There are two things Jesus words inform us that may be a surprise:

  1. First, from our perspective it doesn’t seem possible to “love God form a commandment”. You can’t be expected to “love” unless it is free and spontaneous, from the heart. But this perspective is based upon a misunderstanding of our relationship with God that assumes that God is demanding and commanding that we “love Him or else!” But nothing could be further from the truth. Instead the perspective is from a child’s loving trust for their parents, who have brought them into the world and demonstrated their care and concern through consistent nurture. They have provided for their needs, cared and been concerned over their every hurt and heartache. They have affirmed them and taught them through their continual affection and love. It is only natural that a child under those circumstances respond towards their parents with affectionate loving trust! The apostle John put it in the right perspective in 1 John 4:19 where he wrote “We love Him because He first loved us.” It’s easy to love some One who has loved us first and the reason why it is placed in a command is so that we will remember and recall His loving us first. We so easily forget what God continually does for us, we just don’t live with a continual awareness of God’s love for us but when we become aware of it our response is natural and spontaneous.
  2. Second, the fact that Jesus tells us “HOW TO LOVE” reveals that the love for God in which Jesus is speaking of is NOT a mere emotion or sentiment but is instead an “ACTION”. In the Bible love is more than a feeling it is a logical choice seen in a specific action! This action Jesus says has four dimensions to it that are in a different order as the three given in Deuteronomy 6:4-5. These four dimensions are what love is all about and what we need to put into practice. First the Greek word for “love” here is “agapo” which speaks of the Holy Spirit generate love in the heart of the yielded Christian. A divine love, which is do God from His creation.
  3. “Love God with all your heart”: The Jews viewed the “heart” and “mind” differently then we do today. They saw the “heart” as the organ of the intellect and the “mind” as the organ of the desires and affections. As such the heart was the center of the human will as we read in Genesis 8:21 where God says that He saw that “IMAGINATION of man’s heart is evil from his youth” which speaks every deliberate willful intention! The Bible also speaks of the “hardened heart” which speaks of the deliberate choosing to disobey God. As such Jesus in using the word “heart” in conjunction with “loving God” to illustrate making a deliberate willful decision to give back to God the love He has first given to us. We are not to wait until He has performed up to our expectations or standards before we make this deliberate choice we choose to do so. He has already shown His continual unending love towards us as Jesus said in Matthew 5:45 “He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” This is a moral and spiritual decision on our part, to cling to God’s love!            
  4. “Love God with all your soul”: The word for “soul” is the word “psuche” and it describes the innermost part of us the seat of our emotions and feelings. To love God with all your soul describes not only loving Him with deep passion and emotion but also choosing to do in spite of deep emotions of hurts and fears as well as joy and elation. The psalmist described it this way in Psalm 42:1 “As the deer pants for water brooks, so pants my soul for You of God.” But we do so not only when times are good but during seasons of great fear and anxiety as we read in Psalm 94:19 “In the multitude of my anxieties within me, your comforts delight my soul.” To love God with all your soul means we go to Him with all our joys and sorrows longing just to be with Him in the midst of our emotions and feelings!  
  5. “Love God with all your mind”: The word in the Greek for “mind” means the faculty of thought and understanding, especially moral understanding. It is with the mind that read God’s word, reason and comprehend all that God has done for us. Isaiah the prophet wrote in 26:3 that God would “keep him in perfect peace whose MIND is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” Paul also reminds us of this in Philippians 4:8-9 that “whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.” God created our minds and wants us to meet Him in the quiet sanctuary of our thoughts where we can hear His still small voice.
  6. “Love God with all your strength”: Finally, once our heart’s as seen in our will have been moved towards God, then the emotional being of our soul has been lifted into His presence, which will move our mind to think of Him which only leaves “all our strength”. This means that we are to demonstrate our devotion towards God by obeying Him in all that He says. Applying our daily strength fulfilling His will for your life, daily living out His loving commands. The will of God for us isn’t so mystical that no one can know what “God’s will” us for your life. In fact, Paul wrote of God’s will for each of us in 1 Thessalonians 4:3 saying “For this is the will of God, your sanctification” and went on to describe areas where they need to bring their life under His word. 

Vs. 31 Then Jesus went on after stating the four dimensions of our love towards God the 2nd most important priority: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is a love of self which is necessary as there is a self-love that is destructive. The point Jesus is making is that we must have the same loving care we naturally exhibit towards ourselves aimed at others. What we wish good for ourselves, we should wish for others and what we wish others to do for us we should also wish to do for them. As you and I reflect upon God’s continual demonstration of love towards us even when we have been particularly difficult and ornery we are softened by the truth that we didn’t deserve His love and we certainly didn’t earn it yet God has still offered it to us. Why what we are being asked to do by God is so small in comparison its not worth mentioning. You are free to love another person who is just like you because God has so loved you. We have been loved and forgiven in part so that we can love and forgive others. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians says that, “all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” Love is how we are to respond to those who irritate us even if they miss treat us or are unfair in their dealings with us. Love is the only act that can change a person who is unlovely or unloving!


Vs. 32-34 Not far from the Kingdom

Vs. 32-34 This unknown scribe immediately understood the great truth he had just heard and commented on it. He realized that God is not into religion with all its rituals and outward performance. God is not concerned with religion, He is concerned with relationships both towards Him and towards our fellow man! And this all starts with our love towards Him then flows to our love towards others.

            Jesus recognized that this scribe was on the right path and commended him for it but I notice that Jesus told him that “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” That fascinates me because the scribe had the right answer, he valued relationship above religion, so why wasn’t he IN the kingdom instead of just NOT FAR from it? I believe because knowing the truth is only the first step, the next is the application of truth! That’s why we read that we are to “get wisdom” and not “get knowledge”.

  • KNOWLEDGE is by definition the accumulation of truth!
  • WISDOM is by definition the application of truth!                     

How terrible a thing it is to realize that a person can be near the kingdom of God without entering in it! “So near, that you hear the sounds from those who have found their pardon! So near, yet unwilling to give up their sin, while Jesus is waiting to welcome them in!” That being the case what was that this scribe needed to get him beyond knowledge to wisdom, what was He lacking? Ah we will take up the answer to that question next Sunday!


Mark 12:35-44

“Loving God, not counting coins”

  1. Introduction
  2. Vs. 35-37 The destination of our devotion
  3. Vs. 38-40 What can happen
  4. Vs. 41-44 How we give

Introduction

I purposely left last Sundays study with an unanswered question. We were looking at Jesus’ answer to the question from a scribe who wanted to know which was more important; devotion or duty. When Jesus replied that devotion would always drive right behavior but duty will never motivate devotion and the scribe enthusiastically agreed with Jesus’ teaching. Yet surprisingly Jesus only committed that this scribe wasn’t FAR from the kingdom of God. When I consider that statement I want to know how a person can have the right “theology” but still only be “NOT FAR” from the kingdom of God instead of having “ARRIVED”? I’ve dedicated my life to being an instrument to make sure that people arrive, and not “just missed it” with regards to the kingdom of God! Eternity is not a place where God will give out “participation ribbons” or “2nd place trophies”! Instead I believe that there will be many in hell who would be able to say that they missed heaven by inches! That is one of the questions this section answers; “How to not miss the kingdom of God by inches!”


Vs. 35-37 The destination of our devotion

Vs. 35 For us this passage is difficult to understand as it uses thoughts and language which are strange to us. But it would not have been difficult for the people in the temple to understand. Verse 34 left us hanging after Jesus’ statement that this scribe was “not far from the kingdom of God” as it appears at first glance as told by Mark that “no one dared question Him.” The scribe had agreed whole heartedly that the most important commandment was to “love the LORD God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength”. The unanswered question was: “What part of that was this scribe unable to perform? Where was he failing to lay hold of the kingdom of God?” He sees that God is more concerned with the devotion of the inward attitude than He is duty of the outward performance, yet Jesus says He is still missing something, but what? And with the apparent close of this section we are left with no answer, or are we? You see the linkage to the next paragraph is obscured in the English translation, as we are only told that “THEN Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple….” The New International translation renders this “WHILE Jesus was teaching in the temple courts…” And the literal translation is “And Jesus ANSWERING said, teaching in the temple…” Each of these words translated (THEN, WHILE and ANSWERING) are important as to the timing of the next paragraph; they put the next section NOT at a later date and another conversation but rather an extension of the same conversation with the same scribe. Jesus was answering this scribe while he was still teaching in the temple. These next words of Jesus are aimed directly at what was missing from this theologically correct scribe making him ONLY NOT FAR from the kingdom of God instead of ARRIVED at the kingdom of God. It is here that Jesus launches into a teaching with regards to Psalm 110 verse 1 and the question as to “How could David call his son LORD, making the son greater than the father.” The answer to that question is the key to understanding what this scribe was missing that left him not far from the kingdom of God instead of IN the kingdom of God.

Vs. 36-37 There are two things that I notice before we even get into Psalm 110:1 and the two questions Jesus asks concerning it:

  1. First notice that there is no recorded answering of Jesus’ questions of:
  2. Vs. 35b “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?”
  3. Vs. 37a “Therefore David himself calls Him Lord; how is He then his son?”

The scribe doesn’t answer the questions we are only told that the common people heard Him gladly.

  • Second, notice that in verse 36 Jesus makes sure that all who were listening, specifically the scribe understood that what David wrote in Psalm 110:1 was inspired by the Holy Spirit. In saying this Jesus is making sure that what is said here was not a mere interpretation or mistake but rather divine information!

The key to Jesus questions are to be found in defining terms and words especially in light of the Septuagint (the translation of the Hebrew Bible into the common Greek language of the day):

  • The word “Christ” is the translation of the word “christos” which means “Anointed One” and was used to translate the Hebrew word translated into English as “Messiah”. The use of the word refers to the part of the coronation ceremony for a king to be anointed with oil. The definition was used for the future King of Israel who would one day reign of the throne of David.
  • The word “son” is a Hebrew expression used to speak of a future descendant, not just a son.
  • The word “Lord” is the Greek translation of the word “kurios” which means “master, one who has the power over another.” In the Septuagint it was used as the title of God and was the transliteration of the Hebrew word Jehovah, as such its use implied deity.

It was common place for the Jews to refer to the coming Messiah as the Son of David but in this passage from David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, David himself refers to the “Anointed One” not as his “son” or offspring but rather as Lord. Both the scribes as well as the Jewish people believed that the Messiah would come from the royal linage of David and as David was human so too would the Messiah be human, He would be David’s son or a direct descendant of David. What Jesus brings to the attention of His listeners is that David wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and that David calls his future heir who would be the Messiah, Lord, the Jehovah of the Old Testament. The question is how can the Messiah be both human and deity bringing before them the incarnation. The Jewish leaders rejected the idea of the incarnation and the deity of the Messiah. Now to the two questions:

  • Vs. 35b “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?”
  • Vs. 37a “Therefore David himself calls Him Lord; how is He then his son?”  

The answer is to the mystery of Jesus identity:

  • A descendent of David according to the flesh
  • The Messiah according to prophecy and the promise of the Father to David
  • And the Lord of glory according to the Holy Spirit, in Psalm 110:1

The only way a son could be greater than his father is if he was more than just a descendent! What this scribe had missed was not devotion before duty but who He was to be devoted to, namely Jesus the Son of David the Son of God! You can’t have the proper order of devotion above duty if you miss the person you are to be devoted too! All this scribe needed to do was recognize that Jesus was the Messiah as described by the Holy Spirit in Psalm 110:1.


Vs. 38-40 What can happen

Vs. 38-40 In these next two stories Jesus gives a perfect illustration of the difference when a person has the religion but are not devoted to the right person. First notice that Mark starts off by saying “Then He (Jesus) said to them in His teaching.” The “THEM” in this passage is “the common people” who heard Him gladly in verse 37. Jesus spoke specifically of the scribes, the very sect that this man belonged to, saying watch out for the Scribes who make a great show of their religion, but are the first ones on the scene to rip off widows. Scribes were employed to make out wills and would swindle widows into giving their homes and property to the Temple and then would take a portion of the proceeds of the sale for themselves. Even if we have the proper order of devotion before duty but are not devoted to Jesus we will sooner or later be reduced to a religious show that exists for our own benefit. We will want the respect and adoration of people all the while taking what they give us.


Vs. 41-44 How we give

Vs. 41-44 Jesus then contrasts this with that of the widow who they observed while they sat opposite the treasury. The location of this treasury was in an area called Solomon’s Between the Court of the Gentiles and the Court of the Women there was the Gate called Beautiful, from that vantage point you could look directly to the 13 collection boxes for the needy known as the “trumpets” because of the way they were shaped. Each of these boxes had a specific dedication and would collect a considerable amount but no greater amount ever given then when Jesus noted this widow giving her two cents. The coin she threw in was called a lepton as it literally meant “thin one” and was the smallest of all coins 1/16th of a penny. Some of the Scribes and Pharisee had taken up such an absurd level of religion that they hired a trumpeter to go before them as they made their way to a donation to the poor. The truth was they gave more to the trumpet player than they did to the needy as what was more important was getting noticed for giving instead of the gift. Jesus has never been interested in WHAT we give but He has always been interested in HOW we give!

            So as they were watching here came this “poor widow” who threw into the needy box two tiny coins that were 1/8th of one cent. Jesus informs us that she hadn’t found these coins behind the sofa, it was her last and only cent and she gave it to the needy because she loved the Lord with all her heart, with all her soul, with all her mind and with all her strength and she loved her neighbor as herself. She had put into the treasury more then all other combined as she gave for love of God. What we see in this is three points of our giving is to be devotional:

  1. Giving must be sacrificial: It is not the amount of the gift, it is the cost to the giver! It is not the size of the gift but the sacrifice of the gift. True devotional giving costs us, it is a sacrifice, we forgo what brings us joy and pleasure for the work of God.
  2. Giving must be carefree: This widow held nothing back as she didn’t consider holding a coin back for her own needs. Symbolically there is a deeper truth to this devotional giving and that is that we are typically holding onto or hanging onto something for ourselves instead of giving all of ourselves to the Lord.
  3. Giving must be by faith: This is the story in the Bible that goes down as the greatest illustration of generosity but at the hands who gave the least amount. This suggests to us that devotional giving focus is not on what we give but on what God can do with what we give!          

God is not impressed with our show; He is blessed by our hearts towards Him seen in our love for others! True devotion is not giving what you have to God, it is understanding that God has all of you, so you can can give all back to Him.               


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