Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury

 Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?  For David himself said by the Holy Spirit:

'The LORD said to my Lord,
"Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool." '

"Therefore David himself calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"  And the common people heard Him gladly.

Then He said to them in His teaching, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  These will receive greater condemnation."

Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury.  And many who were rich put in much.  Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans.  So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood."

- Mark 12:35-44

Yesterday we read that one of the scribes came, and having heard Jesus and some of the Pharisees and Herodians reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, which is the first commandment of all?"  Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is:  'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.  And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'  This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  There is no other commandment greater than these."  So the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher.  You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He.  And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."  Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."  But after that no one dared question Him.

 Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?  For David himself said by the Holy Spirit:  'The LORD said to my Lord,
"Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool." '  Therefore David himself calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"  And the common people heard Him gladly.  My study bible tells us that Christ asks this question in order to lead His listeners to the only logical conclusion:  that He is God Incarnate.   (Let us consider it likely that the Pharisees, Herodians, and the scribe who questioned Him are still present, together with the common people who love to hear their disputes.)  The leadership suppose the Messiah to be a mere human being, and therefore the scribes say that the Christ (the Messiah) is the Son of David.  But Jesus is pointing out that David, as king of Israel, could not and would not address anyone as "Lord" except for God.  But in Psalm 110:1, quoting here by Jesus, David refers to the Messiah as "Lord."  This leads to the conclusion that the Messiah must be God.  The only possible understanding, therefore, my study bible notes, is that the Messiah is a descendant of David only according to the flesh, but is also truly divine, sharing His Lordship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.  Mark tells us that the common people heard Him gladly.

 Then He said to them in His teaching, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  These will receive greater condemnation."  Let us keep in mind Jesus speaks in the presence of at least one scribe, and most likely more.  What He condemns is the hypocrisy of their practices of greed, hidden under piety.  Moreover we see the link to a relishing of the "praise of men" over the praise of God (see John 12:43).  We note Jesus' use of the word pretense.  Perhaps Christ is goading that very scribe who questioned Him and whom He told that he was "not far from the kingdom of God" in yesterday's reading, encouraging him to shed the entrapments of position in order to truly see what is before him, and what is real, to recognize that he is literally not far from the kingdom of God in the person of Jesus. 

Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury.  And many who were rich put in much.  Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans.  So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood."   My study bible says that according to patristic commentators, the Lord accounts the value of a gift not by how much is given, but by how much is kept back.  So in this estimation, the poor widow is counted to have given an enormous gift, as she kept nothing for herself.  Let us note how Jesus singles her out for the disciples, contrasting the real value of the gift of the poor widow with the "pretense of the scribes" He's just publicly taught.

Jesus teaches us to beware of appearances.  Moreover, He teaches us that we ourselves must beware of putting too much stock in our own appearance before others.  In this way, we may dangerously delude ourselves and therefore our own salvation, putting emphasis on the wrong thing.  Above, I cite a passage from John's Gospel, in which we read that "even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God" (John 12:42-43).  Jesus' focus on hypocrisy is not simply for the purpose of criticism, but part and parcel of His work to save, for all of us.  An appearance-focused life is not a real life, it's not a search for a true sense of self -- for that image of God in which we're created.  In this sense, Jesus' scathing criticism is still an attempt to save this scribe, who clearly approved of Christ's answer to the question regarding the greatest commandments in the Law (see yesterday's reading, above).  Jesus' further focus on the poor widow's gift emphasizes this point for us, as He gives His disciples a further teaching about what is real, and what falsehood an appearance can make for us -- the difference between how we see on the surface and the depth of what is real in us.  Jesus pushes us to see below the surface and to live below the surface, to understand and know the heart and guard its real treasures, the place where we come to know and give ourselves to God.  In the same sense, He pushes the scribe to take a closer look at the Scriptures in which he is supposed to be an expert.  What does it really say about the Messiah?  And who is truly standing before him but the One who has just told him that he is not far from the kingdom of God?  We live in a time when the differences between an appearance-focused life and a true wrestling and struggle in the heart could not be more pronounced.  Social media has exacerbated the differences.  We are surrounded by an easy emphasis on morality signaled to others by following the dictates and causes of the day -- with the heart being the last thing that matters.  No one dare doubt what becomes a social standard without risking being vilified and scapegoated.  Christ calls us in the opposite direction.  He calls us on our pretense through His words about the scribes.  He demands that we reconcile our own hearts by focusing on the poor widow, and that we recognize truly who and what is around us by looking carefully, and judging with righteous judgment (John 7:24).  That is, with a sense of what is true, with right-relatedness, with mercy.  Our Lord will die the death reserved for the worst criminals at the end of this week of His life.  What could give us a stronger statement about false judgment and the ruthless demands of life lived only through appearance and its hypocrisy?