The Greatest Commandment and the Poor Widow's Offering

Continuing a Bible study of the gospel accounts:

(Mark 12:28) And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?"

In the last post Jesus had been answering questions of the Pharisees, Herodians, and Sadducees that had been designed to trick Him, but of course Jesus had answered them brilliantly.  This scribe had heard Him talking with those groups of people and had been impressed with how He answered.  He may have also been trying to test Jesus, or perhaps he had heard enough to know that Jesus had great wisdom and knowledge about the scriptures and actually asked his question in earnest, wanting to know the most important commandment of all.

(29) And Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments, 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.'"

Jesus answered the scribe by quoting Deuteronomy 6:4 where Moses wrote his exhortation to obey the commandments, statutes, and judgments of the Lord.  He declared that the God of Israel was the one true God of the universe and there was no other.

(30) "'And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment."

Jesus continued quoting Moses in Deuteronomy 6:5:  "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might."  Jesus answered that that was the first and greatest commandment, to love God with all the affections of the heart, all the powers and faculties of the soul, and with all the strength of conviction showing forth in actions.

(31) "And the second like this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

Jesus went on to add that there was a second most important commandment, and He quoted Leviticus 19:18, to love one's neighbor as himself.  Jesus added that there were no other commandments greater than those two.  That is because all the commandments are based on those two principles.  If one loves God with all his heart, soul, and might, then he won't worship idols, he won't take God's name in vain, and he'll want to honor God's Sabbath.  If he loves his neighbor as himself, he will honor his parents, he won't kill, he won't commit adultery, he won't steal, he won't lie against his neighbor, and he won't covet what others have.  All the commandments, as well as all the statutes and judgments of the Lord, are summed up in these two commandments.

(32) And the scribe said to Him, "Well, Master, You have said the truth, for there is one God, and there is none other but He. (33) And to love Him with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."

The scribe told Jesus He had spoken well.  My first thought was, "How dare this man tell Lord Jesus whether or not He had spoken well?"  But then I realized that the scribes were part of the group that also consisted of Pharisees and chief priests who were trying to destroy Jesus.  However, this scribe recognized the truth.  Not only did he compliment Jesus on being well-spoken, but he confirmed with his knowledge of the scriptures that what Jesus had said was indeed truth.  That was unusual for a scribe to admit that.  He confirmed what the scriptures had said about there being only one God, and how we were to love Him with all our hearts, souls, and mights.  We were to love our neighbors as ourselves.  Additionally, these things were far more important to God than sacrifice and burnt offerings (Hosea 6:6).

(34) And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And no man after that dared question Him.

Jesus recognized that the scribe had answered wisely and told him that he was not far from the kingdom of God.  This particular scribe appeared to be a prudent, sensible, and pious man, almost a Christian.  With such a heart and sensibility, he surely eventually came to believe in and confess Jesus Christ.  It's not enough to just believe the scriptures.  Satan believes the scriptures.  But that belief in the Word of God will lead us to salvation in Jesus Christ.  After His conversation with the scribe, no one else asked Jesus any questions.

(35) And Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, "How is it that scribes say that Christ is the Son of David?"

Jesus further answered, turning His attention to teaching the people in the temple.  He began what seemed a paradoxical question and asked how it was that the scribes said that Christ was the Son of David.

(36) "For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit on My right hand till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'"

Jesus then quoted David who said by inspiration of the Holy Spirit in Psalm 110:1, "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit on My right hand till I make Your enemies Your footstool.'"

(37) "David therefore himself calls Him Lord; and how is He his son?" And the common people heard Him gladly.

Jesus went on, confirming what David had said in the psalm, that Christ was his Lord, and then posed the question that how then Christ could be David's son.  David, through inspiration of the Holy Spirit, recognized that the Christ was His Lord, at that particular time in David's life, a thousand years before Christ came on the scene.  How then could Christ be his son?  The answer, of course, was that Christ could not be a mere man.  He was the Son of God, God Himself, existing since the beginning of time, and coming to earth as Jesus Christ the Messiah at that particular time.  The "common" people in the temple listened to Jesus with great pleasure and satisfaction, probably meaning to differentiate them from the other scribes and Pharisees and chief priests who were surely not pleased with the things Jesus taught.

(38) And He said to them in His doctrine, "Beware of the scribes who love to go in long clothing and love salutations in the marketplaces."

Jesus went on teaching the people that they should beware the scribes who went around in long flowing robes to be seen and greeted with respect in the public places.

(39) "And the chief seats in the synagogues and the uppermost rooms at feasts."

Jesus went on describing the showy scribes the people should be wary of; they also loved the best seats in the synagogues and the chief rooms at feasts where the rulers and elders of the people sat.

(40) "Who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers; these will receive greater damnation."

Jesus completed His warning about those scribes who also enriched themselves by devouring widows' houses and estates through fraud, all the while wearing a mask of piety making long prayers.  These particular scribes would receive greater damnation than other sinners because they used the Lord God as a means to do their wickedness.  They used the holy, merciful, loving, just, and perfect God to trick people into giving them the desires of their worldly sinful hearts, thus twisting and demeaning what it meant to follow God.

(41) And Jesus sat opposite the treasury and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury, and many who were rich cast in much.

Jesus sat across from the treasury of the temple and watched people casting their offerings of money into it.  He saw that many rich people cast in a great deal of money.

(42) And there came a certain poor widow and she threw in two mites which make a farthing.

As Jesus watched, a poor widow came through to cast in her offering of two mites.  A mite was a small brass coin, the smallest in use among the Jews.  Two of them made a farthing which was not the same as a British farthing.  The original Greek word used for farthing was "kodrantes" which meant "quadrans" which was one fourth of an as, which was a Roman copper coin worth about one third of a cent.

(43) And He called His disciples and said to them, "Verily, I say to you that this poor widow cast more in than all those who have cast into the treasury."

Jesus called His disciples' attention to the widow and told them that with her two mites, one third of a penny, she had given more to the temple treasury than anyone else who had given that day.

(44) "For all cast in of their abundance, but she of her poverty cast in all that she had, all her living."

Jesus gave the disciples His rationale for saying that the woman had given the most.  Everyone else that day had given out of their abundance, out of the money they did not need, just a portion of all the money they had.  That poor widow had given all she had, the entirety of what she had to live on, which demonstrated her trust in God to supply her needs.  God, Jesus, in this incident, looks upon the heart of man.  He doesn't count the pennies and reward most to those who gave the most pennies.  Certainly, all offerings given in sincerity to help the cause of God would be pleasing to Him.  However, a person who gives all, denying self, just as the disciples had given up all to follow Jesus, those people do the most to advance the kingdom of Christ.

The widow's offering in giving all she had really sums up this post, the second part of Mark, chapter 12.  She was the exact opposite of the scribes Jesus had described who went around with a great show of religion and piety.  This woman with her poor pittance was much more pious than all of them.  She also displayed what Jesus called the greatest commandment, she loved God with her all.

Questions About Paying Taxes and Resurrection

Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:

(Mark 12:1) And He began to speak to them by parables. "A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, and dug a place for the wine vat, and built a tower, and let it out to farmers, and went into a far country."

At the end of the last chapter Jesus had just refused to answer the question of the chief priests and scribes about His authority to do the things He did, because they would not answer His question that would have answered their question, but of course, that's not what they really wanted.  He now began to tell them a parable about a man who had planted a vineyard.  The man put a hedge around it, dug a place for a wine vat, built a tower, and then leased it out to farmers.  He then went away to a faraway country.

(2) "And at the season he sent to the farmers a servant, that he might receive from the farmers of the fruit of the vineyard."

Jesus continued with His parable.  At the season when he might expect fruit, the man sent a servant to the farmers at his vineyard in order that he might receive fruit from it.

(3) "And they caught him and beat him and sent him away empty."

However, the farmers caught the servant, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.

(4) "And again he sent to them another servant, and at him they cast stones and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated."

The man then sent another servant to the farmers, but they cast stones at him and wounded him in the head, and also sent him away empty-handed after treating him so shamelessly.

(5) "And again he sent another and him they killed, and many others, beating some and killing some."

The man continued sending servants expecting the farmers to finally listen to them, but they beat them, and even killed some of them.  Of course, this is a picture of Father God preparing this perfect place for His people to use and then He sitting in heaven afar and letting His people work it.  When He sent His prophets to be a check on the fruits of their labor, they persecuted and killed them.  God continued to send prophets to try to make the people listen, but they either persecuted or killed them all.

(6) "Having therefore still one son, his well beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, 'They will reverence my son.'"

The farmers having rejected and killed all his servants, the man lastly sent his beloved son to them, expecting them to surely respect his son.

(7) "But those farmers said among themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'"

The farmers knew that was the heir who came to them, but they decided to kill him, thinking the inheritance of the vineyard would be theirs.  This was certainly a direct condemnation of the chief priests and scribes who had just proved at the end of the last chapter that they knew who Jesus was, yet they wanted to kill Him because He was a threat to the little kingdom in the temple they had set up for themselves.

(8) "And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard."

Those farmers took the beloved son of the man and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.  That, of course, is exactly what the chief priests and scribes were going to do to Jesus.  They would kill Him and get Him out of "their" temple.

(9) "What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do?" "He will come and destroy the farmers and will give the vineyard to others."

Jesus posed the question about what the lord of the vineyard would do after the farmers had rejected all of his servants and killed his beloved son.  He would naturally come and destroy the farmers, and then he would give the vineyard to others.  According to the account in Matthew, Jesus posed the question, and the chief priests and scribes answered it, thereby incriminating themselves.  Indeed, that was what was to happen to them, and God's gospel would be given to the Gentiles.

(10) "And have you not read this scripture? 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. (11) This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.'"

Jesus asked them if they had read a particular scripture, and He quoted Psalms 118:22-23.  In spite of their actions in rejecting Jesus and even killing Him, He would become the cornerstone of the church.  "This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes."  It is positively marvelous that the Lord would come to earth, suffer immensely and ultimately die to save us all.  It is extraordinary to think that even in death, Jesus would rule and be the cornerstone of the church.  It was all amazing, and it was God's plan all along.

(12) And they sought to lay hold on Him, but feared the people, for they knew that He had spoken the parable against them; and they left Him and went their way.

This infuriated the chief priests and scribes because they knew Jesus's parable had been about them.  They would have liked to have taken hold of Him at that moment but feared the people.  Rather than learning from the parable, they chose to ignore its message, and instead, just grew angrier.  However, for the time being, they left Jesus and went their way.

(13) And they sent to Him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians to catch Him in His words.

The chief priests and scribes, afraid of the potential uprising of the people against them, sent some Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus with the mission of catching Him in His words.  The two groups opposed each other but were united against Jesus.  The Pharisees were for the Jewish church and the Herodians were for Herod and the government, that same old church vs. state that has always existed.  By sending two groups with opposing views, they imagined Jesus would make one of them angry enough to want to see Him destroyed.

(14) And when they had come, they said to Him, "We know that You are true and care for no man, for you regard not the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth; is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not?"

They approached Jesus with compliments, calling Him a Master of God's ways, true and upright, having regard for no man, for example, Caesar.  Therefore, they wanted to know, was it lawful to pay tribute to Caesar?  Of course, this was not a sincere question but intended to be a trap.  If Jesus had said no, then the Herodians would have apprehended Him as an enemy to the government, but if He said yes, the Pharisees and all the Jews would have been against Him, as they were looking for deliverance from the yoke of tax collectors who were viewed as sinners.

(15) "Shall we give or shall we not give?" But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why do you test me? Bring Me a penny that I may see it."

When they asked Jesus whether or not they should pay taxes to Caesar, He saw right through their hypocrisy, and asked why it was they wanted to trap Him.  He asked them to bring Him a penny.

(16) And they brought it. And He said to them, "Whose is this image and superscription?" And they said to Him, "Caesar's."

They brought Jesus the penny and He asked them whose image and inscription were on the coin.  They answered that it was Caesar's.

(17) And Jesus answering, said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they marveled at Him.

Jesus answered their question by telling them to give to Caesar what was Caesar's and give to God what was God's.  Demonstrating that it was Caesar's face on the coin, the circulation of that money was from him and should be returned to him as judged by his government.  Therefore, pay the appropriate taxes.  However, give to God all that is His, which is basically everything.  Caesar had no control over the consciences and hearts of men.  He had no control over the souls of men.  Therefore, give to God what is His judged by His commandments.  The people marveled at the wisdom of His answer and His avoidance of the trap.

(18) Then came to Him the Sadducees who say there is no resurrection, and they asked Him, saying, 

Then the Sadducees came to Jesus.  They were a religious sect who did not believe in a resurrection.  They followed only the Mosaic law very strictly, and because it did not teach resurrection, they did not believe in it, denying the scriptures and the prophets.

(19) "Master, Moses wrote to us if a man's brother dies and leaves his wife and leaves no children, that his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring to his brother."

The Sadducees recited to Jesus the law of Moses which stated that if a man died and left a wife but no children, his brother was to take her as his wife and raise up children in his brother's name (Deuteronomy 25:5).

(20) "Now there were seven brothers, and the first took a wife, and dying, left no offspring."

The Sadducees then began to relate a hypothetical situation in which there were seven brothers.  The first brother married, but then died leaving a wife with no children.

(21) "And the second took her and died, and neither did he leave her any offspring. And the third likewise."

They went on with their hypothetical case. The second brother indeed took the woman to be his wife, but then he also died, leaving her no children.  Then the third brother stepped up and married her, but the same happened to him.

(22) "And the seven had her and left no offspring. Last of all, the woman died also."

The Sadducees carried their example to an absurd limit, saying that all seven brothers subsequently took the woman as wife, and all died, leaving no children.  Finally, the woman herself died.

(23) "In the resurrection, therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife will she be of them? For the seven had her as wife."

Since the Sadducees did not believe in resurrection, the hypothetical situation they supposed was surely designed to show an unsolvable difficulty in the idea of resurrection.

(24) And Jesus answering, said to them, "Do you not therefore err? Because you do not know the scriptures neither the power of God."

However, there was no difficulty, and Jesus told them they erred in their thinking because they neither knew the scriptures regarding the future state, nor did they know the power of God in Whom all such difficulties disappear.

(25) "For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels which are in heaven."

Jesus explained that in their resurrected bodies there would be no marriages, but they would be more like the angels in heaven.  1 Corinthians 15:50 stated that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom.  The flesh expects there to be sensual pleasures to be satisfied, but Christians know there is so much more than we have ever known.  The world tries to measure God and heaven with their worldly views, but Christians know there awaits us an unimaginable glory in heaven and in the presence of Jesus that no mere human could ever envision.

(26) "And concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses how in the bush God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?"

Jesus went on, knowing their non-belief in a resurrection of the dead, and asked if they had ever read the account in Moses about God appearing to him in a burning bush.  He quoted Exodus 3:6 where God called Himself the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

(27) "He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living; you therefore do greatly err."

God had spoken to Moses in the present tense, "I am..."  He did not say He "had been" the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  He at that present time He spoke was Abraham's God; He would never have been God to a dead body rotted away in the ground.  Therefore, Abraham must be living, so the Sadducees had erred in their thinking about the particular hypothetical they had proposed to Jesus, and also in their general belief that there was no resurrection.

In this first part of the twelfth book of Mark, we found Jesus putting to shame and folly all the questions and actions of the Pharisees, Herodians, and Sadducees.  When you have real truth, God's truth, there are no difficulties.  There may be things that we don't fully understand, but we can rest assured, it is the way God said it is, and there is nothing that can truly disprove it.  I will end this post here and continue chapter 12 in the next post.