Jesus Prophesies about the Future

Mark 13:1-13.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on September 20, 2020.

Today, we will look at an extensive prophecy that is given by Jesus.  He is more than just a prophet because he is not simply a man telling us what God has told him during prayer, or a vision.  He is the Son of God who has been one with the Father from before Creation.  He is the pure light from heaven that has come down in order to reveal our present predicament and the future, both for the disciples of his day and for us.

We would do well to listen to the words of Jesus and order our lives accordingly.  These are not the times to enjoy the pleasures of sin and this world.  These are not the times to cast off restraint and re-imagine how we can use the Bible to bring about Utopia.  This is the time to fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, to keep our eyes upon the prize that awaits those who persevere in faith to the end, those who are faithful to his Gospel, and faithful to his mission to reach as many who are lost as possible.

Don’t be deceived.  We know exactly where things are headed in this world because our Lord has told us so.

The Temple will be destroyed

In the first two verses, we are told that Jesus and his disciples are exiting the temple compound on their way back to Bethany for the night (a bedroom community of Jerusalem).  At this point, the disciples remark on the amazing buildings and structures around them.  There were huge porches that surrounded the temple compound and then the temple itself was even more beautiful.  This was technically the 2^nd Temple because the 1^st Temple that Solomon built was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 586 B.C.  Josephus, a first century Jewish historian, described some of the stones as being 60 feet long with pillars for the porches that were around 38 feet tall and made of white marble.  Today, people are only seeing the retaining walls that created the flat area for the temple compound.  On top of this we can only imagine the wonder of men who were from rural Israel in the Galilee.

However, Jesus is not enamored with the amazing buildings.  He explains that they will be completely torn down, and so destroyed that not one stone will be left on top of another.  Both the 1^st and the 2^nd Temple had come to be a symbol of pride and false confidence.  Yes, God had told them to build them, but the buildings had become more important than The One who was greater than them.  Forty years later, the Roman General Titus would lay siege to the city and destroy the city and its temple.  It was not normal for the Romans to so completely destroy temples.  However, it is said that a fire broke out in the temple and some of the melting gold went into the cracks of the stones.  The Romans pulled each stone apart and pushed it off of the temple mount down into the valley so that they could recoup the valuable metal.

Christians too may build buildings for the purposes of God, but we can never let those things become an idol in our heart.  How many church buildings will survive the outpouring of the wrath of God depicted in Revelation?  Yes, they are useful for us today as long as we keep them in proper perspective.  Much like our physical bodies, we understand that they are temporary and destined for destruction.  In humility and respect, we do our best to use them for God’s glory, not ours.

The disciples question Jesus about these things

We skip forward to the point where Jesus and his disciples are on the Mt. of Olives east of Jerusalem, most likely enjoying the early evening and the view of Jerusalem below them.  We are told that Peter, James, John and Andrew privately come to Jesus and ask him about the earlier prophecy that he had made.

This portion is sometimes called the Olivet Discourse.   It is also found in Matthew 24 and Luke 21.  When you compare all three accounts, it is clear that there is more that has been discussed than just the temple and its destruction.

The first question is this.  “When will these things be?” Or similarly, when will these things take place?  The second question is, “What will be the sign when these things are to be fulfilled?”  From the context of Mark, we would assume that this question is only about the destruction of the temple.  However, Matthew 24 states that this question includes the 2^nd Coming of Christ and the End of the Age.  We do know that Jesus has been telling his disciples up to this point that he would be killed in Jerusalem, that he would be leaving to prepare a place for them, and that he would come back.  However, they are having difficulty processing how all these things are to flow together and the time sequence involved.  Thus, there are three different components to this question of what will the sign be.  First, they are asking about the temple’s destruction.  Second, they are asking about the 2^nd Coming of Jesus, and third, they are asking about the end of the present age.  Note that to them the end of the present age was when Messiah brought back those Israelites who were dispersed throughout the nations, dealt with Israel’s sin and offense to God, and restored the Davidic kingdom in a global rule of righteousness.

They clearly see all of these as part of a sequence of events that happen altogether.  So, before we go further, we must talk about a couple of issues in biblical prophecy.

When God gives us information about the future, it is not His goal to give us an advance history book with dates and everything that will happen in it.  Rather, He gives us a rough understanding of where things are headed so that we know what to avoid and so that we can keep our trust in Him as it plays out.  There are always surprises for God’s people as it plays out, but not in the sense that we are caught unawares.  Christians have now received a more complete prophetic look at the future because of Jesus.  However, we should remain humble and recognize that the same God who gave us the Old Testament prophecies is the one who is giving us the New Testament prophecies.  We often think we have it all figured out more than we most likely do.  So, here are two issues to bear in mind with biblical prophecy: Conflation, and Near and Far Fulfillment.

Bible prophecy often conflates future events without distinction of the amount of time between them.  Of course, this is God’s prerogative and should be respected.  An example of this is Isaiah 9:6-7. 

                “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder.  And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.   Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever.” (NKJV)

This passage is clearly speaking of the Messiah, Jesus.  The birth of Messiah is spoken of seamlessly with his government and sitting on the throne of David.  We now know that there would be two comings of Messiah.  The first would be to provide salvation from sin, and the second would be much later to take up the throne of David, cast out the usurpers, and rule over the nations, that is, the day of judgment on all nations.  Without our New Testament insight, this passage would seem to teach that these must all happen within the lifetime of an adult human at the longest.  Thus, we should be careful to recognize that such things may also be conflated in New Testament prophecies and hold our views loosely.

The second issue of Near and Far Fulfillment can be seen when you read Isaiah chapters 7 through 9.  Isaiah is dealing with King Ahaz of Jerusalem.  He gives a prophecy that a child will be born and by the time that child can understand right from wrong (a matter of years) Syria and the Northern Kingdom of Israel would no longer be a threat.  In Isaiah 8, we are told that Isaiah’s wife has a child.  Thus, this prophecy has an aspect about it that dealt with the issues of that day and had a fulfillment in the near time of their day.  Within a short number of years, the King of Assyria invaded, subduing Syria and Samaria (Northern Israel).  Yet, aspects of the prophecy, such as Isaiah 9:6-7 and others, go beyond just a child that was born to Isaiah and his wife as a sign to Ahaz.  We don’t have time to go into it all, but Isaiah’s kid is not named Immanuel as stated in the prophecy.  Rather, he is named Maher-Shalal-Chash-Baz, which means speed the spoil and hasten the booty.  Also, in the New Testament, we are told that this prophecy was a kind of pattern or picture of a coming child that would not only be further in the future, but also a greater child.  This child would truly be “God with us,” and all the amazing things that go beyond that time period.  This is sometimes called Near and Far Fulfillment, Double-Fulfillment, and also Parabolic Prophecy.  The prophets laid down templates, or parables, by which we can recognize and understand the end times events.  Thus, Jesus may refer to things that have a near fulfillment in the first century, and yet picture a bigger event at the end of this age.

The Beginning of Sorrows

Verses 5-13 are not actually an answer to the question of “when,” or of “what sign.”  In verse 7 Jesus actually calls these the things that must happen, but the end is not yet.  We could call them the “Before-the-End-Things.”  Verse 8, also calls this period the “Beginning of Sorrows.”  The following list can be seen as part of the sorrows of this present age leading up to the end of the age and the 2^nd coming of Jesus.  They themselves are not the signs of the end, but signs of the time that we live in.

The word for “sorrows” can sometimes be connected to the sorrows of death, but it is usually connected to the sorrows of childbirth.  The prophets spoke of the nation of Israel sorrowing in childbirth to bring forth the Messiah.  Similarly, the world would go into a time of sorrow trying to bring forth, birth, the political deliverance of the Messiah.  The apostle Paul even describes the Day of Wrath of the Lord as coming upon the world like labor pains upon a woman (1 Thessalonians 5:3).  Thus, the period of time following the “leaving of Jesus” could be described as The Beginning of Labor Pains for the whole world, not just Israel.

Jesus then describes some of the sorrows of this time and how they could impact his followers.  The first is Deception, especially through False Christs pretending to be him having come back.  This would also include false prophets, false religions, and even false philosophies that are atheistic, such as Marxism et. al.  Jesus warns us that people will try to deceive us by many means, even pretending to be him.  Thus, in God’s word, we are warned against the antichrist spirit that rules this world and one day will be able to bring forth the ultimate godless leader, The Antichrist.  He both pretends to take the place of Christ, and also to stand against him.  We can only expect this deception to grow more and more difficult to see through.  If you try to navigate this period with only your natural eyes and mind then you will be deceived.  However, if you will rely upon the truth of God’s word then you will be able to discern the times that we live in and the deceptions that currently exist.  We are the most manipulated generation to have ever lived and it will only grow worse.  Jesus talks about this more in verse 21, so we will expound on this further then.

This time of labor pains would also be marked by Wars and Rumors of Wars.  In fact, verse 8 makes it clear that this is many wars and many nations and not just what happened in 70 AD.  This is not meant to be a prophecy that wows us.  It is meant to prepare God’s people and inform them.  In verse 7, Jesus emphasizes that we are not to be “troubled.”  This translation is a bit flavorless here.  It comes from a word that means to wail and could be better translated as “cry out in anguish, panic, be alarmed,” etc.

Yes, troubling times will trouble our hearts, but we are warned in advance so that we will not descend into panic and anguish, despair and depression.  Rather, it should strengthen our faith as we see these things confirm the prophetic word.

Verse 8 also mentions Earthquakes, Famines, and Troubles.  They basically represent things like natural disasters and the pestilence, or disease, that comes on their heels.  This is not about a particular earthquake, but about them happening in various and different places.

Verse 9 shows that it would be a time of Persecution for the followers of Jesus.  However, in the midst of persecution, the Gospel would go to the ends of the earth.  Jesus expounds that Christians will be brought before councils, beaten in synagogues, and brought before courts in order to give an account for the sake of Jesus.  God intends this to be a witness to those leaders.  God’s people are not to worry about what to say in those moments, or prepare a speech, because the Spirit of God will speak through them in those moments.

It is important to note that, in Matthew 24:14, Jesus states that the end will not come until the Gospel goes into the whole world.  “And this gospel will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”  This may be the closest thing to a sign of the end of the age.  At the least, we can say that it is a prerequisite.  So, this age will be marked by Christians who suffer persecution, and, yet, witness to the world about Jesus, the coming judgment, and how to be spared from it.

Lastly, we are told of Betrayal and Hatred of Christians.  This can be seen as a part of the Persecution.  However, betrayal is done by those of your own kind.  Brother to brother can be both biological and a reference to fellow “Christians.”  Of course, they would be Christian in name only.  This is similar to what the early believers experienced from their fellow religious Jews.

Ultimately, Jesus states that Christians will be hated because of their connection to Jesus.  No matter how syrupy sweet the world may treat us in the moment, there is an underlying hatred that seeks to come to the surface in the opportune time.  In John 15:18-19, Jesus describes it this way.  “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.  If you were of this world, the world would love its own.  Yet, because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

Did these things all happen in 70 AD.  Yes, of course they did.  However, neither did they end then.  These things have continued on down through the centuries into the modern age.  In fact, more believers were martyred for the sake of Christ in the 20^th century than the previous 19 centuries combined.

Another question to ask is this.  Did Jesus come back at 70 AD and did he bring an end to the age of Israel’s domination by the Gentiles?  No, he did not.  All attempts to spiritualize the 2^nd Coming of Jesus and the end of the age come across as a religious person trying to have their cake and eat it too.  It smacks of religious charlatans who discover their prophecy did not happen and so seek to further the deception by spiritualizing it.  Don’t be deceived.  These things are spiritual and nature, but they will also be literal.  Jesus will come back and the domination of Israel by the nations will come to an end.  We are still in the Times of the Labor Pains, and the contractions are happening quicker and harder each day.  The Day of the Wrath of the Lord is at hand and who can stand?  Only those who have put their faith in Jesus as their Savior and Lord.  Don’t put this off until later.  Do it today!

Jesus Future Audio

Evangelist Ernie Salinas

This Sunday, we were blessed to have Evangelist Ernie Salinas with us.  We will not post an article for his words of encouragement, but we are making the audio available for those who missed it.

Blessings!

Salinas audio

The Spirit of the Age

Ephesians 2:1-3; 6:10-13.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on September 6, 2020.

We have reached Mark chapter 13, which is a big transition in the book.  We will also have a visiting evangelist next Sunday.  Therefore, I have decided to go a different direction today and talk about the Spirit of this Age.

Throughout history, it has been noticed that people groups can be infected by an idea that seizes them to such a degree that they are caught up into something that is bigger than themselves.  The group energy often pulls the individuals that comprise it beyond where they would go on their own. 

Fyodor Dostoevsky, among others, saw this happening in his country of Russia, and, at the end of the 1860’s, published his novel The Possessed (depending on how it is translated it could also be called The Demonized).  At one point in the book, some revolutionaries have started a poorer part of town on fire.  During the pandemonium of trying to put the fire out, one character that has been a bit of a goof, even borderline mental, shouts one of the best lines of the book.  “You can’t put out the fire; the fire is in the minds of men!” 

We similar activity in our own country today, and must ask ourselves the question.  Just what has seized the minds of not just 21^st century Americans, but people all over the world?  The Bible refers to it by many names, but we are going to use “The Spirit of the Age.”

The reality of the unholy spirit

In the opening verses of Ephesians 2, the Apostle Paul points out the reality of a spirit that is influencing this world.  Satan loves to mimic God.  If there is something that God has done then he will mock it with a false version of his own.  Just as there are true prophets of God so, he sends false prophets.  Those who pretend to speak on behalf of God, but delude the people.  Just as there is a true Christ so, he sends all manner of antichrists, or false Christs, in order to deceive the people.  The Bible warns of a coming, ultimate Antichrist who will deceive the whole world with the help of the ultimate False Prophet.  It should be no shock that there would also be the work of an unholy spirit, which represents the whole force of spiritual wickedness led by Satan.

Notice how Paul portrays those who do not follow Christ.  Yes, they are walking in their sins, but they are also under the influence of the “prince of the power of the air.”  In fact, he says more pointedly that this unholy spirit is presently “working in the sons of disobedience.”  They are those who refuse to follow the Holy Spirit of God and believe upon Jesus Christ.

There are some who disobey the Holy Spirit knowingly.  They believe that the God of the Bible and Jesus of the cross have misled the world.  They work directly against the Truth of God.  However, the great majority of people in this world participate in disobedience unknowingly.  They are simply following the course of this world that was laid out in front of them, and going with the overall flow of this Age.

Paul explains that this spirit uses the lusts of our flesh and the desires of our mind to influence and direct us.  Like a harness on a horse, we can be pulled around away from truth and towards the destructive ends of our own desires.

Satan didn’t make Eve want the fruit of The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  He only influenced her towards the idea of rebellion against God’s command.  The Bible tells us, “when the woman saw [who saw?] that the tree was good for food [good for whom?], that it was pleasant to the eyes [whose eyes], and a tree desirable to make one wise [which one?], she took of its fruit and ate.”  The strong desires and appetites of our flesh do not want to be limited by the Truth of God.  The willfulness of our mind wants to go in particular directions that God warns against.  On top of all of this, there is a spiritual realm with beings who are working overtime to influence and manipulate us towards rebellion against God, whether knowingly or unknowingly.  This is the Spirit of the Age.

You should go ahead and read all of Ephesians 2.  When reading verses 1-3, it seems a rather dark image with little hope.  However, verse four says,

“But God, rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.”

Christians are no longer a part of the “walking dead.”  Instead, we have been delivered and made alive.  The biblical picture is not one of Zombie movies, or games, in which we are trying to slaughter all the zombies created by the evil spirit of this world.  Rather, we are the hand of Christ to touch the minds and hearts of the zombies so that they may have a renewed mind.  Everywhere he went, Jesus touched people and healed them.  He has given us the antidote to the greatest wound, the direst disease, that this world has.  We have compassion because, “we too were zombies once.” 

Let us never forget the battle that is going on all around us.  If we merely go through life trying “to get ours,” or trying to change the world according to the philosophies of this world, then we will find ourselves part of a fire that may promise a better future by which to warm ourselves, but in the end only leaves mankind in cinders and shackles. 

Later in the letter, Paul touches on this spiritual dimension again.

Our battle is not with people, but with the Spirit of the Age

In Ephesians 6:10-13, we are reminded of our real enemy.  Jesus has given us a clear directive, but it is easy for us to lose sight of the one we should be fighting.  Paul reminds us that our battle is with the spiritual powers that are enslaving people by their own lusts and self-will.

An important part of any battle is one’s protective gear.  Paul tells us to put on the armor of God.  The things that he lists involve the very things that often make us afraid.  The Spirit of the Age (SotA) warns us not to tell the truth because it will cause us trouble.  The SotA tells us that doing the “right thing” will only get us into trouble.  The SotA tells us not to share the Gospel because we will look stupid; don’t trust God because He doesn’t exist; don’t trust Jesus to save you, take your salvation into your own hands.  And, the antibiblical messages never stop.  Through fear, the Spirit of this Age convinces people to lay aside the only things that can protect them from it.

Christians, we cannot put our faith in Jesus without also trusting his armor.  Too many Christians are wearing the armor of Saul, the armor of this world.  However, Christ calls us to wear the armor that the world can’t see and it can’t understand.  It is an armor that protects our hearts and minds from the lies of a deceptive enemy.  Now is the day to stand on the Truth of God’s Word even when the world says it isn’t true.  Now is the time to do what God says is right rather than what the world says is right.  We need to be a people of the Gospel, walking in faith, and holding onto the salvation of Jesus through prayer.  This is the only protection we have against an enemy that is to us much more than Goliath was to little David.  However, always remember that is sufficient for the task.

Paul does list one offensive weapon, the sword of the Spirit.  He makes it clear that he is talking about the Word of God, the Bible itself.  It is powerful and able to cut to the hearts and minds of people.  It is the Good News of Jesus, which is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.  Becoming a student of God’s Word, and a follower of the Holy Spirit of God, will enable us to both stop attacks against ourselves, and rescue others from the grip of the spirit of this world.

Jesus said that you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.  This world tells us that our problem is that we don’t have stuff that other people have.  But, the truth of God tells us not to covet anything that belongs to our neighbor, much less steal or destroy it.  It tells us to love our neighbor like we love ourselves.  Yet, the spirit of this age stirs up envy, jealously, resentment, and then anger and rage.  It seeks to light a fire of passions in you that can be used to destroy you and your neighbor (and our communities, nations, world). 

The spirit of this age tells us that our problem is all the differences that we have: gender, race, economic status, etc…  But, the truth of God tells us that there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  It is not that these distinctions and affect on our lives aren’t real, but that they are used to manipulate us.  Men and women fighting against each other, blacks and whites, the have-nots against the haves, these are the things that only destroy us further.  In Christ, believers are to cease living for their distinctions.  They are to lay down the bloody flag of earthly revolutions in the flesh, and join God’s revolution against the spirit of this age.  If we will do this then we will truly find life.

Spirit Age Audio

Under the Scope of Jesus

Mark 12:35-44.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on August 30, 2020.

Our passage today is broken up into three teachings that are connected.  Here, Jesus puts the scribes themselves under the microscope of judgment as they have done to him.  Jesus is not doing this out of spite.  Rather, it warns others not to follow the life of these men, and it gives opportunity for the Holy Spirit to convict some of the scribes so that they can be saved.  Truth opens the door for salvation and freedom from our sins.  This is exactly what the scribe in Mark 12:34 needed to hear.

We will all one day come under the judgment of Jesus.  If we listen to God’s Word and the Holy Spirit then we will have nothing to fear about that day.  However, if we follow the desires of our flesh then we will not be prepared for that day.  God loves us too much to leave us without a warning, or to leave us without the help that we need in order to follow Jesus.

Until that Day comes, we must be careful how we live our lives, and what purpose we pursue.  Our own judgments can be fraught with error and self-deception.  Only coming into a relationship with the Truth himself can truly set us free from our self-wisdom and the so-called wisdom of this world.

Jesus on the teaching of the scribes

Verses 35-37 come on the heels of a particular scribe whom Jesus stated was not far from the Kingdom of God.  Though the following lessons can be helpful to the rest of us, it is more than likely that Jesus is throwing a lifeline to this scribe through this first lesson.  The scribe was close, but close is not good enough.  To close the remaining distance, he would need to recognize the errors of his group and fully embrace the wisdom of Jesus.  Otherwise, he would just be led astray.  You can’t hold onto Jesus and the wisdom of the group that were in when you came to him.  You will eventually hold onto one and despise the other.

The scribes were teachers of Israel and masters of the Law of Moses.  They taught the people that God had an anointed man that He would send, Messiah.  This Messiah would be the son of David.  Everything about this teaching is correct.  Psalm 2 is the classic passage that promises an Anointed One or Messiah sent by God to be King over Israel and all the earth.  This promise of a righteous king from God was supplemented by more prophecies through the years.  God promises David that one of his descendants would have an everlasting throne.  The phrase “son of David” can mean an immediate offspring, but it can also refer to later descendants by extension.

The Old Testament does reveal these teachings, but it is best summed up by the angel who spoke to Mary the Mother of Jesus in Luke 1:32-33.  “He [Jesus] will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.  And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Jesus then highlights the problem.  In Psalm 110:1, David is clearly talking about the promised Messianic Kingdom.  However, he refers to the Messiah as his lord, and he does so “by the Holy Spirit,” that is under the inspiration of God.  We are not told what the typical scribe taught about this verse and the identity of David’s lord.  Today, if you go to Jewish commentaries or online articles, you will find that they give several possible answers that can point to David talking about Abraham, or someone else.  Ultimately, they will deny that it can ever refer to Jesus.  However, these are not views that were established by the scribes in those days.  Those modern views were developed in response to Christian teachings.

Basically, Jesus is showing that these who claim to be masters of the Law had a problem in perfectly explaining it.  They were correct in some things that they taught because they were using the Scriptures.  However, they did not know everything, or not nearly as much as they thought they did.  They promoted the concept of an oral tradition handed down from Moses that explained the written tradition.  It is clear that some of these traditions were not actually from Moses.  If they had taught what they knew was true, but then humbly admitted areas of ignorance, then they would have been able to hear the Spirit of God speaking through Jesus.  Pride and arrogance, declaring that you have all truth, is not what any prophet of the Lord ever claimed.

So, how can the Messiah be David’s descendant and simultaneously be his lord?  To be his son, the Messiah would have to be a descendant of David, which Jesus was.  However, in those cultures, the elder is always higher than the younger.  This is not a mere mistake either because Jesus establishes that David was a prophet and was writing this psalm as a prophecy, which is what the scribes believed.

Though God is faithful to give us revelation, that is, things we cannot know without Him telling us, He doesn’t tell us everything.  Through Jesus, the world has received a greater revelation of the Truth of God.  However, even we must not be arrogant.  We must humbly teach what is clear and be honest about what is not.  The scribes pretended to be able to identify the Messiah, and yet could not explain this puzzler.  This should have been a red flag that there was something about Messiah unexplained.

The answer is in the reality of who Messiah is.  There was something hidden about the true identity of Messiah.  In his Gospel, the apostle John describes the reality that Jesus was a man born of the woman Mary.  Yet, he was more than a man.  He was the eternal Word of God by whom the whole creation was brought into existence.  John purposefully uses the language of Genesis 1 to reveal to us that when the Father spoke, it was Jesus who went forth to make His will happen.  Thus, the Messiah would be both human and divine, man and God.

As a human, he would qualify to pay the price for humanity’s rebellion, but as God He would have the power to pull it off.  In Jesus, God has stepped into our world and put His back under the crushing weight of sin that lies upon us.  He has lifted it up and offers us to be rescued out from underneath of it by his grace.

Jesus on the life of the scribes

So, the scribes lacked humility in their teachings.  Next, Jesus moves to their lives and how they lived.  He starts out by telling people to beware of them.  They are not innocent and will lead people into the ditch.  Those who are supposed to be their teachers were not worthy to be listened to.  Even today, we must beware of the many teachers in this society.  We can be led astray by people who look good, but are not.  Humility will do us in good stead.

Jesus points out several things about the scribes.  First, they desire to look good in front of others with their long robes and long prayers.  These were the daily trappings of their life in front of others.  The second thing is connected to the first.  They desire public honor from others, like honored seats at public events.  Now, the problem is not that people are honored, or that the scribes were honored.  The Bible tells us to honor those who lead well.  The problem is that such honor had become their desire.  Their desire should have been to know God and to help others to know Him.  They should have worked to receive the honor and praise from God and not from the people.  Many in this world operate to get the adulation of the crowds and their co-workers.  They hope by it to be elevated.  The Bible shows us another way.  “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.”  1 Peter 5:6 (NKJV).  And, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”  James 4:10 (NKJV). 

Their desire for honor wasn’t their only lust.  We are told that they devoured widow’s houses.  The picture here is of their lust for the religious donations of wealthy widows by which they would benefit.  Instead of caring for the plight of the widow, they saw them as a means to an end.  It is fitting that the next section is about a widow, so I will save some comments about this situation until then.

Jesus also notes that their long prayers are only for show; they are a pretense.  Again, it was about getting people’s honor, not God’s.  The length of our prayer has nothing to do with its goodness.  It is the target of our prayer that matters more.  Am I truly speaking to God and desiring Him in it?  Or, am I putting on a show so that people will think more highly of me than they ought?  The scribes may have looked good on the outside to those who couldn’t see their hearts, but God had seen through them, and He brings them out into the open through Jesus.

Jesus ends by declaring that they will receive a greater condemnation.  The Bible doesn’t explain exactly what a greater condemnation would look like, but it will be greater nonetheless.  James says it this way in chapter 3 verse 1.  “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.” 

We could say that this makes Jesus look judgmental, but he is speaking the truth.  The previous scribe who wasn’t far from the kingdom of God was also in jeopardy of being influenced by his peer group.  He would need to change; he would need to reject that mindset that he was mixed up in.  Only embracing the Truth could set him free.  The Bible warns us of our condemnation so that we can flee to Jesus and be saved from it.  That is why it says that He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and believe in Jesus.  They would receive a greater condemnation, if they didn’t change their hearts and minds about Jesus.

So, their teachings and their lives were not the light that they pretended to be.

A poor widow is contrasted to them

Just as wealthy widows were the hunger and target of the scribes, Jesus uses a poor widow who could offer the scribes nothing.  In their eyes, she is practically worthless and can bring no honor to them or God.  This is a powerful contrast that Jesus reveals.

They were in the temple compound and people would be coming and going.  Some would be bringing sacrifices and others financial offerings to put in the offering box.  Many rich men had come and put in large bags of money, but then a poor widow comes to the box and puts in two small coins.  Several times up to now, we have mentioned that a denarius was one day’s wage for a common laborer.  Two mites would have been equivalent to 1% of a day’s wage.  Let’s say about $1.50.

Jesus asks who has given more.  When the honor of people is your desire, large amounts of money are more important.  Yet, God does not judge like humans judge.  We tend to honor those who give the most, and despise those who give the least or nothing at all.  However, God sees the heart.  This widow was giving all that she had.  Perhaps, she was desperate and was down to her last dollar.  She could buy her last meal with that dollar and then starve, or she could take it to the temple and offer it up as a prayer to God.  Please, God, see me; help me!  Oh, did God ever see her that day.  He just happened to be in the temple in human form that day.

We don’t know the rest of her story, but we do know that God saw her.  I think, somehow, she was taken care of from that day on.

 There are two sides to religious donations.  Those in charge of receiving are not always rotten.  It can be done righteously, and God expects it to be done so.  Also, those who give are not always pure as the driven snow.  It can be done wickedly.  The key to receiving is to recognize that it is a holy thing devoted to God.  He will hold any financial trustees accountable to the holy gifts of His people.  The key to giving is to give it to the Lord and not remain attached to the gift.  We can be overly controlling over how funds are spent.  Even in the area of charity to others, we must recognize that how they spend it is between them and God because you were giving it in the name of the Lord.  It is a holy gift.  If you receive such “holy” funds then you should fear God enough to put it to good use and not be spending it upon your lusts. 

Praise God that when we have a clean heart in this area, both as givers and receivers, then a true blessing can be upon the community in which we live.  This widow, who would be despised by the great teachers of the day, gave far more that day than they would ever know.  She would receive the pleasure and honor of God in far greater amounts than the trickle that the scribes would receive from others.  God is the husband of the widow and the Father of the orphans, and if we want to be like Him, we will be too!

Scope of Jesus audio