Holy Tuesday
Mark 11:27-33;12:1-44
Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24, 2010. Law & Order was the longest-running crime drama on American primetime television. Its record of 20 seasons ranks as the longest-running hour-long primetime TV series. The show makes courtroom discourse seem exciting when in reality it is not. As anyone that has been on a jury can tell you, the courtroom can be very tedious. Jesus spent much of the Tuesday before His death and resurrection debating in the Temple.
Jesus answered the Pharisees, the Herodians, the Sadducees, and the scribes (lawyers) as each tried to trap Him in a debate of Scripture. Throughout His ministry, they had each wanted to catch Him with their arguments. This final week they all gathered in one day. He answered them all and destroyed their traps. The Word used the Scripture to destroy their arguments (2 Corinthians 10:4-6). And after that, no one dared to question Him anymore.
After dealing with this courtroom drama, He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. He observed as many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. He called His disciples and said, "This poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on." (Mark 12:41-44) Why was her meager amount more celebrated? Was it the relative amount; percent of resources Jesus was speaking of? I don't think so. I believe that Jesus was talking about her faith.
The Pharisees, Herodians, Sadducees, and scribes were not really concerned with the truth of scripture. They were playacting. The rich were dropping large numbers of coins into the Temple treasury of their abundance requiring no faith. The wealthy were playacting. The rich knew where their next meal would come from; their own resources. The widow had no funds. She had to have faith to give her all. She must have trusted her God to provide for her next meal. We are not told that she was cared for, but the Lord saw her.
Jesus answered the Pharisees, the Herodians, the Sadducees, and the scribes (lawyers) as each tried to trap Him in a debate of Scripture. Throughout His ministry, they had each wanted to catch Him with their arguments. This final week they all gathered in one day. He answered them all and destroyed their traps. The Word used the Scripture to destroy their arguments (2 Corinthians 10:4-6). And after that, no one dared to question Him anymore.
After dealing with this courtroom drama, He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. He observed as many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. He called His disciples and said, "This poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on." (Mark 12:41-44) Why was her meager amount more celebrated? Was it the relative amount; percent of resources Jesus was speaking of? I don't think so. I believe that Jesus was talking about her faith.
The Pharisees, Herodians, Sadducees, and scribes were not really concerned with the truth of scripture. They were playacting. The rich were dropping large numbers of coins into the Temple treasury of their abundance requiring no faith. The wealthy were playacting. The rich knew where their next meal would come from; their own resources. The widow had no funds. She had to have faith to give her all. She must have trusted her God to provide for her next meal. We are not told that she was cared for, but the Lord saw her.
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