Message

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A WIDOW'S OFFERING

Mark 12:35-44

Key Verse: 12:44 "They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty,

put in everything-all she had to live on."

Last week we had several severe thunderstorms in the St. Louis County area. Thousands of houses lost power and many were flooded. Huge trees were rooted out and broken branches were scattered everywhere - on the street, in parks, in back yards, and so on. According to Missionary Esther Lee, a big tree fell down and crushed two other small trees nearby. The tree was big, but rotten and empty inside. It was not strong enough to endure the strong storms. When I heard the story of the tree, I got a lesson: If my heart is corrupt, rotten and empty, not only may I myself fall, but also others may be damaged and ruined because of me.  If my heart is not right before God, I will easily become corrupted and dangerous like the tree. So Proverbs 4:23 says, “…Above all else, guard your heart…”

In the previous lesson, Jesus taught us that the Lord our God is one. He is the only true God who is worthy to be worshiped, praised and loved. We must love him with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength.  When we love God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength, we can love our neighbor as ourselves.

In today’s passage Jesus points out the spiritual blindness of the teachers of the law while he reveals himself as the Promised Messiah. Jesus also values a widow’s offering more than the rich people’s large amount of money. Let us study the spiritual meaning of Jesus’ teachings today.

First, Christ, is the son of David? (35-40) Look at verse 35. “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?”  It was the Passion Week, the last week that Jesus lived on this earth. Jesus knew that he would die on the cross as the Lamb of God for the sins of the world. (Jn 1:29) Jesus knew that his hands and feet would be nailed and his side would be pierced by a sword. In a word, Jesus knew of his impending death on the cross as the Lamb of God. Generally, in a time of crisis or danger, people easily become emotional. It is not easy for them to think about others. But, what did Jesus do at this critical moment? He taught the word of God in the temple courts. He was not emotional. He did not become sorrowful or self-centered. Rather, he taught the word of God to those who were in the temple even up to the last hours of his life on this earth.  Jesus gave his whole heart in teaching the word of God even in the midst of a critical moment.

While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he found that there were many teachers of the law among the crowd. The teachers of the law were, so to speak, experts in the law. They mastered memorizing the 613 commandments of the law and other regulations and traditions. They also taught the five books of Moses to the people and counseled those who had questions about the law. However, in verses 38-40, Jesus rebuked their hypocrisy and warned others of their bad influence. Look at verses 38-40. “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.” What was the problem with the teachers of the law? They loved honor and desired for recognition. It is natural for men to desire honor and recognition. However, their problem was that they lived before men, not before God. Their ritual acts and religious performances were to show off before men. They had the form of worship, but had no contents like the big tree which was rotten and empty inside. They served the Lord with their lips, but their hearts were far from the Lord. (Mt 15:8,9)

 Jesus pointed out the real and serious problem which made them too spiritually blind to see Jesus as the Promised Messiah. He asked, “How is it that the teachers of the law say that the Christ is the son of David?” At that time, the Israelites believed that the Christ would come as the descendant of David. The Prophet Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 11:1, saying, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” In this verse ‘A shoot” and “a Branch” indicates the Messiah. Jesse is the father of King David. This verse tells us that the Messiah would come from the descendants of David. The Prophet Micah also prophesied about the birth of the Messiah in Micah 5:2, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” In this verse, the town “Bethlehem” symbolizes David since he was born in Bethlehem. This verse also tells us that the Promised Messiah would come from the offspring of King David. Indeed, in order to fulfill God’s prophesies, Jesus was born in Bethlehem as the son of Joseph, a descendant of King David. (Mt 1:1, 2:1, Ro 1:3)

Once in the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus unrolled the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and read, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Is 61:1,2, Lk 4:18,19) As the prophet Isaiah prophesied and after Jesus was baptized with the Holy Spirit, Jesus preached the good news to the poor. (Mk 1:9,15) Jesus said, “The time has come. The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mk 1:15) In the synagogue in Capernaum, while Jesus was teaching the Word, a man who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?  I know who you are-the Holy One of God!” Jesus had compassion on the man and said, “Be quiet! Come out of him!” The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him. (Mk 1:25) Another day a man with leprosy came to him and begged on his knees, ‘If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. (Mk 1:40-42)

In this way Jesus preached the good news, released the oppressed, healed the sick and proclaimed the day of the Lord’s favor. Thus Jesus became the eyes for the blind, the father for the fatherless, and the shepherd for the lost sheep. Finally he came to Jerusalem to die on the cross for the sins of the world.

When the teachers of the law saw what Jesus was doing, they must have believed that Jesus had come from God. They must have accepted him as the Promised Messiah, who came to this world to save sinners from their sins. They must have acknowledged that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the laws and prophesies. But, they did not. They were spiritually blinded. They did not see God in Jesus. They did not see the work of the Messiah in his life and in his teachings. So they frequently argued whether the Christ is the son of David or not. They were known as experts of the law, but they were spiritually blind. They did not catch the core of the Bible because of their habitual Bible study. Their habitual Bible study made them spiritually blind.

Habitual Bible studies often make us spiritually blind not to see the work of God and not to read the heart of God. One young man was eager to study the Bible and know Christ Jesus right after he was born again. His heart was burning for the knowledge of God and to him every day became new day. Soon God called him as a Bible teacher. But, as years went by, his pure and eager desire for the Lord became cold. His Bible study became habitual and superficial. He began to lose his spiritual influence and power little by little and day by day. On the contrary, a woman began to read the Bible newly with a new heart. She said that each Bible study became as new and fresh to her as if she had not read the Bible at all. She is always happy because she has Jesus in her heart and enjoys the knowledge of God every day. 

In verses 36,37 Jesus taught the teachers of the law that he himself is the Messiah whom even David had waited for. Look at verses 36,37. “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.” In this verse Jesus explained that even David himself had longed to see the Messiah and that Jesus  himself is the one. Those who understood Jesus’ teaching were very happy and well satisfied. (37)

Second, Jesus values a widow’s heart offering. (41-44) Look at verse 41. “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, worth only a fraction of a penny.”  At that time the temple treasury, the offering box, was placed in the women’s court.  Many rich people in flowing robes with golden tassels came proudly and threw in large amounts of money with much fanfare.  Seeing their pompous robes and large amounts of money, the eyes of the poor disciples of Jesus popped out. The disciples must have been fascinated by more money than they had ever touched before. Soon, a poor widow followed. She, with her trembling hands, dropped two copper coins into the box. Jesus’ disciples were not impressed. Jesus read their hearts.

Look at verse 43. “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.” Surprisingly Jesus valued the widow’s offering more than all the others. In fact, the two small copper coins were worthy only a fraction of a penny. Mathematically speaking, Jesus’calculation was not correct. Nevertheless Jesus valued the widow’s offering more than the large amounts of money. Why? Jesus explained the reason in verse 44. “They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” These days in America there are many rich widows. But at Jesus’ time widows were the symbol of poverty and the needy. So in the Bible God frequently told his people the Israelites to take care of widows and children. To the poor widow in this passage, the two small copper coins were very precious and valuable. Probably, the two copper coins were all her money she had owned. She might have saved the coins for her last meal. Indeed, to her the two copper coins were everything.

She put the two copper coins into the offering box. It meant that she gave everything to God. It was not just an ordinary offering. It was her heart offering and she gave herself as a living sacrifice to God. That is why Jesus said that she put in everything, all she had to live on.  Here we learn Jesus’ value system. Jesus values heart more than amount of offerings. God measures our hearts before we bring our offerings. Sometimes I see offering envelopes with many thankful topics written in small letters.  I realize that they gave their hearts to God before they offered their money. With the two small copper coins, we cannot buy a Big Mac. But, with the two copper coins, the poor widow bought the heart of Jesus.

Then, what is our two small copper coins?  It could be our one to one Bible studies and weekly testimonies. As a self-supporting missionaries and a full time students, visiting campus and teaching the Bible is not easy. In reality we don’t have enough time to take a nap at home after working hard all day long. We are not full time ministers, but lay missionaries and students. So to the eyes of Jesus our one to one bible studies are like the two small copper coins. It is because we gave our heart and time, not out of abundance, but out of sacrifice. That’s why missionary James Lee’s one to one bible study with Andrew is very precious and valuable in the eyes of Jesus. All our Bible studies are important to Jesus.

What are your small copper coins? My two small coins are my weekly Sunday messages and prayers for our young disciple’s meeting. I decided to offer my weekend, Saturday and Sunday, for message writing and prayer for young disciples. I pray that God may accept my small offering and use them preciously to make America a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. May God also accept each one of our heart offerings and bless them for world salvation. Amen.

In today’s passage, we learned that Jesus is the Promised Messiah. As the Messiah, Jesus gave all his heart to save sinners including the teachers of the law. He taught the word of God up to the last minute. Finally Jesus offered his life as living sacrifice for the sins of the world. We also must give our hearts to God. Whether we offer money or teach the Bible or pray or serve, or whatever we do, we must give our hearts to God. We must do it with the heart of Jesus.  May God bless the coming Summer Bible Conference at Niagara Falls when we all give our hearts to God.  Amen.

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• pamk12em-2009.doc