Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all

 

 And He said to them, "How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David?  Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms:

'The LORD said to my Lord,

"Sit at My right hand,

Till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'

"Therefore David calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"

 

Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best sets 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."

 

And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.  So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had."

 

- Luke 20:41—21:4 

 

Yesterday we read that some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife, and he dies without children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were seven brothers.  And the first took a wife, and died without children.  And the second took her as wife, and he died childless.  Then the third took her, and in like manner the seven also; and they left no children, and died.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife does she become?  For all seven had her as wife."  Jesus answered and said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage.  But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.  But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'  For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him."  Then some of the scribes answered and said, "Teacher, You have spoken well."  But after that they dared not question Him anymore. 

 

 And He said to them, "How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David?  Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms:  'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."' Therefore David calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"  Here Jesus is quoting from Psalm 110, and quizzing the scribes with His own question now, on the meaning of the Scriptures.  My study Bible explains that the first reference to the LORD applies to God the Father, while the term my Lord refers to Christ.  This question is answered in that Christ is the Son of David in His humanity and David's Lord in His divinity.  David, as king of Israel, could not and would not address anyone as "Lord" except God.  Yet, in the psalm, David refers to the Messiah as "Lord."  The only conclusion is that the Messiah is both human and divine.

 

Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best sets 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."   After quizzing the scribes, who could not answer, Jesus goes on to criticize their hypocritical practices.  Their outward piety conceals a private predatory behavior upon the poor and those least able to protect or care for themselves.  In effect, they use the trappings of their places of honor in the religious hierarchy as shields for their greed and abuse.

 

 And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.  So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had."  My study Bible comments that, according to patristic commentary, the Lord accounts the value of a gift not by how much is given, but by how much is kept back.  So, therefore, the poor widow is counted to have given a great gift, because she kept nothing for herself.  Those who give out of their abundance but keep plenty back for themselves, by contrast to her donation, have given much less. 

 

If we examine the story of the poor widow, what we find is a woman who is in this sense investing all her livelihood, all that she has, in God.  By putting her money into the treasury, she is entrusting all that she has to God.  She is, in this sense, indicating her full dependence on God, and dedication to God.  When we invest ourselves, in this sense, to our faith, we do the same.  In the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, celebrated nearly every Sunday in Orthodox churches, and the foundation for other denominations around the world, we frequently hear repeated, "Let us commend ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God."  This phrase is also found in the worship of the St. Basil Liturgy which is performed on particular occasions.  This phrase is, in the same sense that the widow invests all that she has in the treasury to God, our way of giving our all liturgically, in repeated prayer.  We seek to direct our lives to the care and service of God, and leave nothing back "for ourselves."  What that means is that as we pray and as we worship, we are seeking not to dedicate ourselves in the sense of performative action such as hides the hypocrisy of the scribes which Jesus criticizes, but to dedicate ourselves to the way, the truth, and the life that Jesus teaches us (John 14:6).  We seek as best we can to follow His way and His commands, but we also entrust that the Holy Spirit will help us to see where we need to change, things we need to give up, and new things we need to take up and make a commitment to.  This is what it is to dedicate our lives to God, to entrust ourselves to God, as this widow does with her donation.  What we find is that all the practices of worship and tradition are aimed to this end, to help us to fulfill this dedication of our whole lives to Christ our God.  When we fast, we are learning to say No the things Christ would ask us to resist that tempt us, when we pray we bow down to the One who loves us and who in turn we entrust with our whole lives, when we venerate icons and share our love of the saints, we do so with this whole community in mind that is encapsulated in this prayer, "Let us commend ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God."   For our whole lives to be entrusted to God is to go far beyond the practices of the scribes which Jesus so roundly criticizes. In so doing, we find ourselves together with that widow, where we are both part of this community dependent upon and dedicated to God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.  And we find the poor widow as our neighbor, whom we are to love as ourselves.  (See, for example,  Mark 12:30-31.)  Christ the Lord who came into the world to reveal Himself to us, to give us His care, and teach us to find the way to His Kingdom -- and this is the way He shows us in today's reading.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 

 

In our present readings, Jesus is in Jerusalem.  He has made His Triumphal Entry into the city, and for several days answered questions and taught in the temple.  Yesterday we read that one of the scribes came, and having heard Jesus and the Pharisees and Sadducees 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 is 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.  We begin with an understanding that He continues to address the scribe to whom He was speaking at the end of yesterday's reading (see above).  My study Bible suggests that He asks this question to lead the scribe to the only logical conclusion:  that He is God incarnate.  It notes that the scribes supposed the Messiah to be simply a man, and therefore in this sense he is the Son of David.  But David, as king of Israel, could not and would not address anyone as "Lord" except God.  But in Psalm 110 (from which Jesus is quoting here), David refers to the Messiah as "Lord."  So, therefore, logic concludes, the Messiah must be God.  The only possible conclusion is that the Messiah is a descendant of David only according to the flesh (as is Jesus), but is also truly divine, sharing His Lordship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.  We are to understand in this Psalm that the LORD is God the Father, and my Lord is Christ the Son.  Note how St. Mark tells us 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."  In St. Matthew's chapter 23, we can read Jesus' extensive criticisms of the practices of the Pharisees and scribes.  Here in St. Mark this shorter set of verses nevertheless encapsulates Jesus' great and most scathing criticism:  their hypocrisy, the gap between what they preach and what they practice, hiding behind an appearance of great piety their greed and predatory practices upon the poor and weak.

 

 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 commentary, the Lord accounts the value of a gift not by how much is given, but by how much is kept back.  So the poor widow is therefore counted to have given a great gift, having kept nothing for herself.  Those who give out of their abundance but keep plenty for themselves are counted by God to have given very little.  In the conversion of Cornelius, we learn that God takes note of our giving (Acts 10:4). 

I recently had occasion to consider this story of the poor widow who gave so much into the treasury.  This was because of a fundraising occasion in which I had the privilege of seeing various donations given.  I was most extremely impressed because people whom I knew to be on a limited and fixed income, of not much means, had given -- like the poor widow in today's reading -- very generously out of what they had.  This was a powerful impression, not least of which because it brought to mind Christ's story in today's reading.  There is something overwhelming to the realization of how incredibly generous the poor can be.  Among the people who comment on matters of our faith around the internet I have had occasion to see several articles in which this experience of the generous poor is noted.   If we but look around, we will find such truly gracious behavior and experience.   Once upon a time, as a very young person, I was stuck in my car by the side of the freeway, with a broken clutch cable, two days before Christmas.  As the traffic poured by, it was remarkable to note the people who stopped to offer help.  Most were quite obviously on the poor side of the economic spectrum and all the offers of help were sincere.  There is a tremendous lesson to be taught in that whatever it is we have to offer, we have the ability to do so in a similarly generous manner.  If one is pressed for time, but someone needs your attention, taking that time to do what is compassionate for another is a generous and fine gift, and it is God who will take note of the gracious behavior God asks us to imitate.  Perhaps what we have to give is effort to a project, even at a time we feel overwhelmed or exhausted.  But our effort becomes a potential for a most generous and gracious expression of ourselves, of which the Lord will truly take notice, because we do so in imitation of Him.  Of course we remember that Jesus Himself shows us the greatest gift of all in giving His life for all of us.  As He said, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends" (John 15:13).  Therefore I write that such generous gifts are beautiful in their imitation of Christ the Lord Himself.  There have been more occasions than I can count in which I experienced the tremendous generosity of those who had far less than I, and who yet offered me help of one sort or another without reservation, simply to help.  Such gifts seem divinely inspired as they reveal the true gem of good inside of a person, even, if you will, their love of God showing in the act.  In yesterday's reading Christ taught us about the two greatest commandments, to love God and to love neighbor as oneself.  In so doing, we reveal the blessedness of gracious life.  Sometimes if we pare down life to what is truly essential, it can help us to see what is truly great and gracious.  And in those "little ones" whom Christ so loved, especially among the humble, we might find what it is to be greatest.

 

 

 

Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had

 

 And He said to them, "How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David?  Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms:

'The LORD said to my Lord,

"Sit at My right hand,

Till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'

"Therefore David calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"  

Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, "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."  

And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.  So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had."

 

- Luke 20:41—21:4 

 

Yesterday we read that some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Jesus i the temple in Jerusalem and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife, and he dies without children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were seven brothers.  And the first took a wife, and died without children.  And the second took her as wife, and he died childless.  Then the third took her, and in like manner the seven also; and they left no children, and died.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife does she become?  For all seven had her as wife."  Jesus answered and said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage.  But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.  But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'  For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him."  Then some of the scribes answered and said, "Teacher, You have spoken well."   But after that they dared not question Him anymore.   

 

And He said to them, "How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David?  Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms: 'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'  Therefore David calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"  Here Jesus quotes from the beginning of Psalm 110.  My study Bible explains that the first reference to the LORD applies to God the Father, while the term my Lord is a reference to Christ.  The question posed by Jesus is answered in that Christ is the Son of David in His humanity and David's Lord in His divinity.  This "riddle" of the Scripture is only answered by understanding that the Messiah is not a mere man, but is also divine.  David, as king of Israel, could not and would not address anyone as "my Lord" except God.  

Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, "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."   In Matthew 23, Jesus goes into an extensive listing of His criticisms of the scribes and Pharisees.   His greatest condemnation is due to their hypocrisy, the extensive practice of outward piety and signs of their office (long robes, greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts), while at the same time their practice is to prey on the poor for their own gain and greed (they devour widows' houses), and their practice of making long prayers are but a pretense.  Christ's warnings are pertinent for us today.  My study Bible comments that because the example of a leader can be so influential, leaders who do not love God can hinder others from finding God as well.  Moreover, it maintains that these criticisms are especially important to Orthodox Christians, as the Church has maintained ancient Christians practices, using sacred vessels, and holy rites, following tradition.  It says these practices can be expressions of deep faith, lead a person to deeper commitment to God, and safeguard our life in Christ -- or they can be observed without ever taking them to heart and lead to condemnation.  

And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.  So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had."  My study Bible comments that, according to patristic understanding, the Lord accounts the value of a gift not by how much is given, but by how much is kept back.  So, therefore, this poor widow is counted to have given a great gift, as she's kept nothing for herself.  Those who give out of their abundance but keep plenty back for themselves are counted by God to have given very little.

How do we give gifts?  This is a good question for today, as today is the feast day of St. Nicholas.  St. Nicholas lived in the 4th century in the Byzantine Empire.  The stories we've been given about St. Nicholas tell of a great many virtues.  As one might suspect, he's very well known for his charity and gift-giving.  Among other things, we're told about St. Nicholas that his parents were wealthy, and upon inheriting their wealth, he followed the examples of Christ's teaching in the Gospels:  he gave it all away to the needy.  According to a biography found at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, St. Nicholas "regarded himself merely as the steward of goods which belonged to the poor and took particular care to keep his good deeds secret, so as not to lose the heavenly reward.  On three occasions he secretly left gold enough for the marriage portions of three maidens whom their debt-ridden father intended to give up to prostitution. When the man eventually discovered his good deed, Nicholas made him promise, as he valued his salvation, to tell no one of it."  He became known, perhaps in return for his generosity of spirit, for gifts given by God, of miracles and charismata (he is also known as St. Nicholas the Wonderworker).  He is known for saving those in danger of drowning at sea through his prayers to calm winds, and for other miracles regarding dangers to ships and people making sea voyages (both before and after his death).  Perhaps for this reason, Nicholas is a very common name among the people who populate islands of Greece.  He is the patron saint of sailors, and also of children.  He became a bishop at a young age, and is also famous for defending the faith against the Arian heresy at the Council of Nicea.  He is indeed the same saint who became known as Santa Claus in the West (coming from the Dutch Sinterklaas, meaning St. Nicholas).  Today's story of anonymous and generous giving is a magnificent parallel with the saint's feast day.  The story of this very humble widow no doubt quietly putting her two mites into the treasury of the temple, in parallel with the secret and hidden generosity of St. Nicholas to others, tells us something very important about our own generosity and good deeds.  Christ is aware even of the things that are hidden to others or unknown generally speaking.  The good things we do, the kindnesses, our acts of compassion, are all known to the Lord, and He takes notice.  God also clearly knows the extent of our generosity, how deeply we give from the heart, and how generous we truly are being.  St. Nicholas, in the East and in the West, becomes the embodiment of the gracious spirit of our faith.  Perhaps the best message we're given today might be one of gratitude, because no matter how small we may believe our resources to be, a gift can always be generous, and we always have indeed a generous gift we can make: of our time, our love, even the truth of our deep convictions, and whatever resources we have.  The sacrifices we make for God always count, for we worship the God who sees (Genesis 16:13).  So let us, today, venerate St. Nicholas, and the poor widow whom Jesus lauds, for each of us is more than capable of bestowing the generous gifts Christ helps us to give.  We are all rich in this respect.  For, as Jesus says, even out of her poverty, this poor widow has put in more than all.

But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

 

 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells on it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.  

 

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."

 

- Matthew 23:13-26 

 

In our current reading, Jesus is in Jerusalem, and it is Holy Week.  Yesterday we began reading Matthew's chapter 23, which constitutes Jesus' final public sermon, an indictment of the hypocritical practices of the scribes and Pharisees.  Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying:  "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.  Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.  For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.  But all their works they do to be seen by men.  They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.  They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'  But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.  Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.  And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.  But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

 

 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells on it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it."  My study Bible comments on this passage that because the example of a leader can be so influential, leaders who do not love God can hinder others from finding God as well.  So, therefore, leaders are held to a higher standard (James 3:1).  Here, Jesus calls these leaders "blind guides."

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."  My study Bible comments that the warnings here (a passage which will be continued in tomorrow's reading) are especially important for Orthodox Christians.  The Church has maintained ancient practices of tithing (these you ought to have done); sacred vessels; holy rites; and following the tradition handed down from the Patristic era.  These practices, it notes, can be expressions of deep faith, lead a person to deeper commitment to God, and safeguard our life in Christ -- or they can be observed without ever taking them to heart and lead to condemnation.  "Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!"  My study Bible explains this comment as referring to a practice in which the Pharisees would attach strainers to the mouths of decanters in order to avoid accidentally consuming a ritually unclean substance.

 

 The practices of the Church can clearly be used for good or for ill, depending upon how they are used.  If we are truly seeking God, and a deeper communion with God, they are used to build, strengthen, deepen, and shore up our faith, giving us a "recharge" when we need it, and helping to remind us of Christ's presence always at hand.  Additionally, within the ancient practices of the Church such as the veneration of saints, we are assured that we are a part of a communion that is both visible and invisible to us, "a great cloud of witnesses" that is not barred by time, nor place, nor death, but lives -- For God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.  So, therefore, this final public sermon by Christ serves us all in the Church by reminding us of what is important, and how badly even the things blessed and given by God can be misused and corrupted because of hearts that are far from God.  It is a hard thing to write, but it is unfortunately true, and Christ's words are given to us in order for us to be clearly and concisely aware of just what bad things can happen even within a God-given institution.  For, if we are blind to the potential for corruption in our world, then we are no longer the intelligent sheep which Christ asks us to be.  In the history of the Church, we are given repeated Councils naming specific heresies for the same purpose -- so that we are aware of false and misleading teachings, the things which can lead us astray.  We do not want to become blind followers of the blind (Matthew 15:14).  No doubt that Christ has given us in today's reading these scathing criticisms and specific instructions as to conduct in order to protect us against this.  He tells the apostles as they are sent out on their first mission, "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves" (Matthew 10:16).  We are taught to be discerning and wise, as each one of us -- as St. Paul reminds us -- is a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).  We seek not the "wisdom of this age," which is easily persuaded by crafted appearances, manipulation, word-play, and coercive power, but rather that in which we can trust; that is, allegiance not to personalities, but to the One who laid down His life for us (1 Corinthians 3:18-23).  As St. Paul's language suggests in this latter citation, let us be "fools for Christ" that we may be wise to the world, to the hypocrisy Jesus names here, false leaders who would mislead and make us stumble.  For Christ's insight remains true:  to follow down a false path makes one "twice the son of hell" as the bad teacher.  Jesus has a remedy for this, offered when He teaches, "Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."  We start with the "inside," which Christ teaches us to cleanse.  As always, repentance and humility remain the weapons of endurance and vigilance.  Let us remember continually where and to whom our hearts belong, and the wisdom Christ wants for us always!

 

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

 

 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 reasoning together with the Pharisees, Herodians and Sadducees, 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 comments that Christ asks this question in order to lead the religious leaders to the only logical conclusion:  that He is God incarnate.  (In Matthew's Gospel, He directs this question to the Pharisees, with whom, of course, the scribes were closely associated.)   My study Bible further explains that they supposed the Messiah to be a mere man, and therefore the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David.  But David, as the king of Israel, could not and would not possibly address anyone as "Lord,: except God.  Here Jesus quotes from Psalm 110, in which David refers to the Messiah (in verse 1) as "Lord."  So, therefore, the Messiah must be God.  The only possible conclusion is that the Messiah is a descendant of David only according to the flesh, but is also truly divine, and sharing Lordship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.  Note that the text tells us the common people heard Him gladly.  Christ's following remarks tell us something about why they did so.

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."  Christ points out the hypocrisy of the scribes, who put on a show of piety, grasp their positions of authority, and yet harm the powerless.  For a full expression of Christ's condemnation of this hypocrisy, see Matthew 23, and Christ's grand critique of the scribes and Pharisees.

 

 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 comments that according to patristic understanding, the Lord accounts the value of a gift not by how much is given, but by how much is kept back.  Therefore, this poor widow is accounted to have given a very great gift, for she kept nothing for herself.  Those who give out of their abundance, but who keep plenty for themselves have not given as much as she.  In the conversion of Cornelius, my study Bible adds, we learn that God takes note of our giving (Acts 10:4).  

The poor widow is an important contrast to the authority and show of piety and honor so coveted by the scribes.  She is powerless.  In this society, she has likely no protector, no one who is going to fight for her if she needs a judgment or rectification of a harm done to her.  Neither has she the means to hire someone to do so.  Christ's noticing of her generosity, her obviously whole-hearted giving, is an image for us of the God who sees (Genesis 16:13), the same God who cares for the widow and the orphan (Psalms 68:5, 146:9).  He is the same Lord who commands us to "learn to do good":  to "seek justice, rebuke the oppressor"; to "defend the fatherless," and to "plead for the widow" (Isaiah 1:16:18).  Here Jesus Himself sets the example, in that He is pleading for the widow before His disciples in the treasury, and to all of us who read or hear the Gospel.  This is a clear example of what is frequently called God's condescension, an example of His compassion.  But it is more than an example, He actually does what He commands us to do; He pleads for the widow.  His action here stands in absolute contrast to the things for which He condemns the scribes.  They, on the other hand, desire to go around in long robes (signifying their place and piety), love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts (signifying their standing in the community), who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. They are antithetical to the image of the poor widow who puts all she has in the treasury (note how in Christ's observation of their behavior, there is no mention of donations or gifts, only accrual by devious means from the powerless).  What we find in their hypocrisy is not only their lack of a sense of justice and of "doing good" in this sense, but of a heart not truly devoted to God.  It is for this they receive their condemnation.  There is a sense in which the real fruits they bear (or lack of them) show who they truly are, whereas the widow's gift is weighed very heavily in the sight of God.  It's not that we're just supposed to "feel" things in our hearts, but rather that both action and faith go hand in hand.  We're meant to be "faithful"; that is, we're meant to really live our faith, not just believe or feel something.  To be whole-hearted is to bear the fruits of who we claim to be.  This is not so for the judgment of others, but it is God telling us the judgment of God here.  If we live only for the judgment of others, this is the very definition of what is commonly called "pharisaism," meaning to behave in accordance with Jesus' description of hypocritical practice.  In John's Gospel we read, "Nevertheless 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).  That loving "the praise of men more than the praise of God" is what hypocrisy is all about.  In that specific example from John's Gospel, let us note they believed what was correct about Christ in their hearts, but nonetheless, they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God, and therefore put their trust in the former, and lived out that particular placement of trust.  In Mark's 8th chapter, Jesus says, "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels" (Mark 8:38).  This goes directly to which one of these things we love more.  In Christ's repeated warnings about the final judgment, He tells us about living our faith, acting in accordance with it.  This is particularly clear in the parable of judgment, that of the Sheep and the Goats, found in Matthew 25:31-46.  There He names specific actions taken in accordance with compassion, not the mere feeling of such, and therefore a lived faith.  Some might call it a "faithful faith."  But what might always trip us up is the difference between the scribes, as described here, and the poor widow -- and that is in how much we care about making an appearance before others, how much we love the praise of men more than the praise of God.  Jesus says, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24).  It seems that mammon can be understood not simply as wealth or treasure, but even a purely materialistic perspective on life, which naturally translates into a life lived for accumulation and competition, whether that be for clout, power, any form of wealth, or indeed the "praise of men" as a form of currency which displaces God in priority.  Let us remember once again that the whole of the Old Testament, and Christ's most common emphasis and teaching, is the creation of community, and what a community centered around God is supposed to be and to reflect.  The God who sees does not ask us to live in a community where social hierarchy is the only thing that matters, not to emphasize merely the "praise of men," or what looks good to everybody else and gets us social merits.  Christ asks us to live in accordance with putting God first, the God who sees the widow and all that she gives, and asks us to live in accordance with that way of seeing.  Let us consider what it means to be made in the image of that God, and to grow in accordance with that image.

 

 

 

 

 

Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had

 

 And He said to them, "How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David?  Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms:

'The LORD said to my Lord,

"Sit at My right hand,

Till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'

"Therefore David calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"

Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, "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."

And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.  So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had."

 

- Luke 20:41-21:4 

 

 In our current readings, it is Holy Week, the final week of Jesus' life.  He has made His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, and has been questioned by the leadership in the readings of this past week.  Yesterday we read that some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife, and he dies without children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were seven brothers.  And the first took a wife, and died without children.  And the second took her as wife, and he died childless.  Then the third took her, and in like manner the seven also; and they left no children, and died.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife does she become?  For all seven had her as wife."  Jesus answered and said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage.  But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.  But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'  For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him."  Then some of the scribes answered and said, "Teacher, You have spoken well."  But after that they dared not question Him anymore.

 

And He said to them, "How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David?  Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms:  'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'  Therefore David calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"  Jesus poses an important Scriptural question, one that involves both the idea of Messiah or Christ, and also a question of authority (such as has been posed to Him in Monday's reading).  The passage He cites is from Psalm 110:1.  My study Bible tells us that, to understand this question, we must know that the first reference to the LORD applies to God the Father, while the term my Lord refers to Christ.  It says that the key to fully answering this question is that Christ is the Son of David in His humanity and David's Lord in His divinity.  

Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, "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."  In Matthew's Gospel, these statements are part of a longer narrative by Christ regarding the scribes and Pharisees, how they use their authority (Matthew 23:1-36), and particularly focuses on their hypocrisy in so doing.  Here we get the focus on hypocrisy of these teachers of the law to the people.  They treasure the signs of their authority and position:  the long robes, formal greetings in the marketplaces before the public, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, designating honor.  But as guardians of the Scripture and its meaning they fail to live what they preach, for they devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  The greater condemnation which Christ pronounces upon them comes as a result of their hypocrisy.  This passage is important for all of us who call ourselves Christians, because it is an emphasis on the power of faith motivating how we live and what is in our hearts.  In another context, Jesus has taught the disciples about being a light to the world.  He said to them, "For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light."  We can bring that statement to mind here as well.  (See in context Luke 8:16-18.)

And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.  So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had."  The example of this poor widow chosen by Jesus magnifies His teaching on hypocrisy, as He shines a light on her as an opposite example to the powerful who hold significant positions that allow them to use wealth and cover the condition of their hearts.  My study Bible comments that according to patristic commentary, the Lord accounts the value of a gift not by how much is given, but by how much is kept back.  In this light, the poor widow is counted to have given a great gift, having kept nothing for herself.  Those who give out of their abundance but keep plenty back for themselves are counted by God to have given very little.  

Jesus' example of the poor widow magnifies the problem of hypocrisy for us, shines a light on it in terms of how we view public appearance.  We can contrast the hypocrisy of the scribes noted just before by Jesus, and look at the poor widow as she puts her two mites into the treasury.  The word translated as "mite" is λεπτον/lepton in the Greek of the text.  It was the smallest currency at that time.  According to one analysis, at roughly the time of the writing of the Gospels, it was worth 1/64 of a denarius. A denarius was a day's wage for a common worker.  In terms of today's money in a modern economy, these two "mites" constitute a tiny amount of money, a fraction of a single cent or smallest unit of currency.  But as my study Bible points out, the amount of money is not what is important here.  What is important is the contrast between the hypocrisy of the scribes which Jesus points out, and the thorough heartfelt gift of this poor widow, who gives literally all she has.  What this teaches us about is how God looks at gifts and giving.  When Samuel the prophet was sent to anoint a king, a son of Jesse, the youngest son David was not the one he expected God would choose.  But Samuel was told that "the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).  What Jesus shows us about this widow is what the view is from the heart, that she gave all she had.  While we may not all be expected to hear this story and donate all our livelihood to the Church, we are expected nonetheless to give our all to God.  That is, if we really follow the teachings of Christ, we know that He has taught that the two greatest commandments, that sum up all the Law and the Prophets are as follows:  "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and 'your neighbor as yourself'" (Luke 10:27, in which Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18).  This widow shows that her love of the Lord is complete in the sense that the commandment gives, with all her heart, soul, strength, and mind.  Moreover, to love like that is to give as she gives, and there are many ways to give our all.  Can we help a neighbor?  Do we turn to someone in distress and ask if we can help?  Most of all, it seems to me, we can set aside our time to help others in all kinds of ways, whatever ways we have resources and skills to do.  We can donate our care, our skill, our concern.  A simple phone call might make all the difference to one person, a prayer may be what we can give for another.  And of course there are many ways to donate our wealth.  Sometimes an apology is a great gift, as is repentance and forgiveness.  We should note that the text points out many wealthy people giving money to the treasury, and Jesus contrasts those people with this poor widow.  As we often cite in our commentary, we should remember Christ's parable of the sheep and the goats, and the byword of compassion that constitutes the kind of giving favored in judgment (see Matthew 25:31-46).  That parable of judgment is all about giving, but it is a particular kind of giving, one that comes from the compassion to fill a need, to restore, to truly help.  So let us look around in our world and consider what we can give and how we can give.  God gives us minds creative enough to consider how to give in ways that make a difference, to do so even with subtlety if necessary that will not embarrass or shame those in need, and the sensitivity to truly observe as Christ does, even simply to listen and look and pay attention to a hurt or address a form of suffering.  In whatever way we can give, let it be first understood as a gift to God, wholly and freely given, for this is also what Christ teaches in the parable of judgment in Matthew 25, cited above.   For what we give to God first with our whole heart can then be shared with others, asking God's blessing to know where and how we're needed, and where and how God calls us to those in whom we may behold the face of Christ -- for this is what it truly means to give (Matthew 18:10, 25:40).

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

 

 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells on it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.  

 

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."

 

- Matthew 23:13-26 

 

Yesterday we read the beginning of Jesus' final sermon, which He spoke in the temple in Jerusalem.  This event takes place during what we know as Holy Week, the final week of Jesus' earthly life.   Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying:  "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.  Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.  For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.  But all their works they do to be seen by men.  They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.  They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'  But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.  Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.  And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.  But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

 

  "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells on it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it."  Here Jesus begins an eight-fold indictment of the scribes and Pharisees.  My study Bible comments that He charges them with inverting God's values and with being mean-spirited, judgmental, greedy, ambitious, absorbed in externals, and blindly self-righteous.  It says that while these charges were directed against the Jewish leaders of the day, every word applies equally to those in the Church who behave in this way.  Moreover, it adds that because the example of a leader can be so influential, leaders who do not love God can actually hinder others from finding God as well.  Therefore leaders are held to a higher standard (James 3:1).  Let us note the emphasis on material wealth over the power of the presence of God -- the value of the gold or gift on the altar over the value of that which sanctifies, the presence of God.

 

 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone."  My study Bible (which is the Orthodox Study Bible) comments that the warnings given here (and in the continuation we will find in tomorrow's reading) are especially important to Orthodox Christians.   This is true because the Church has maintained the ancient practices of tithing ("These you ought to have done"); sacred vessels; holy rites; and following the tradition handed down through the patristic period.  Therefore, we note, this is true for not just the Orthodox but many denominations.  These practices, my study Bible comments, can be expressions of deep faith, lead a person to deeper commitment to God, and safeguard our life in Christ -- or they can be observed without ever taking them to heart and lead to condemnation.  Let us also note the emphasis here once again on the appearance of sanctity over the state of the internal life, and also the lack of value on the "weightier matters of the law" which Jesus names as justice and mercy and faith.  Keep in mind that at that time, money was measured in weight value of precious metal, so Jesus' analogy is to the true weight of the law of God over material values prized by these leaders.

 

"Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."   The Pharisees would attach strainers to the mouths of decanters in order to avoid accidentally consuming a ritually unclean substance; hence "strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!"  Note again the emphasis on the appearance of being cleansed, while inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.

 

Jesus' examples compare values, how people measure things.  They are specific examples of how the religious leaders -- despite their efforts at an outward show to the contrary -- value material wealth more than they value the true measure of all things:  God and God's sanctifying power.  He begins with the scribes, whom He says, "devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers."  The law of God, in which they are supposed to be experts who teach others, specifically makes provisions for the care of widows and orphans, but Jesus emphasizes their hungrily greedy efforts for material wealth.  He points out the great effort they make to "travel land and sea to win one proselyte," but "when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves."  In other words, their example only sets forth the opposite of the intent of God's law given to Moses, and so instead of bringing people closer to God the next generation of religious leaders are worse in their continuation down this path.  Jesus then uses the example of swearing by the gold or the gift on the altar over the altar itself -- evidence of a failure to value that which sits on the altar which actually sanctifies the gift or the gold:  God and all the things of God, God's throne and heaven also.  What is missing from the picture is holiness itself, a valuing of that action and power of sanctification, a blindness to the true substance and reality and action of God.  And, in every generation, as my study Bible emphasizes, we are subject to the same blindness, the same lack of consciousness of the power and holiness of God working in our lives and sanctifying what we do and who we are in the world.  Jesus then goes on to their outward practices of fastidiousness, straining out liquid to avoid a tiny animal that is ritually unclean (a gnat), and the ritually cleansed cup and dish for eating, but they are still those who devour widows' houses, and are full of extortion and self-indulgence."   To first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish is entirely consistent with Jesus' (and also John the Baptist's) of the good tree that bears good fruit, of the branches that need to be pruned in order to keep the tree good and bearing the good fruit (see Matthew 3:10, 7:17-19, 12:33).  We can also understand this as compatible to Christ's analogy of "amputation" of that which would cause sin, especially against the "little ones" in their flocks to the disciples, as they quarreled over who would be greatest in Christ's Kingdom (see Matthew 18:1-9).  Jesus also gives this same analogy to all disciples -- and therefore to all believers -- in the Sermon on the Mount when He speaks about adultery with the image of an eye that gazes with covetousness, a hand that reaches out to trespass where it does not belong (Matthew 5:29-30).  In all ways, Jesus' emphasis on the state of the soul which must first inform outward action still applies to us.  It is still true that we must cleanse the inside to make clean the outside, to make the tree good so that its fruit will be good.  The emphasis on outward appearance leads so easily to hypocrisy, to forgetting that the "first and greatest commandment" Jesus gives is "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind" (see Saturday's reading).   It is this commandment that informs the rest, that teaches us how to love our neighbor as ourselves.  It is in this depth of internal relationship to God that we find how to love, and the rootedness we need to bear good fruit in our outward actions.  The great deal of emphasis placed on outward action through our social media today makes this all the more difficult, placing so much emphasis on appearance over an inner substance, and a depth of love within us as commitment.  For that is how the practice of compassion eludes us.  It is all too easy to judge according to appearance and not with righteous judgment (John 7:34).  Let us do our part by cultivating the "weightier matters" of righteousness Jesus teaches, and avoid the hypocrisy He condemns that is blind to the things of God.

 

 

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

 

 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, as Jesus was disputing with the various members of the Council in the temple, one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that Jesus 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 to lead the Pharisees to the only logical conclusion:  that He is God incarnate.  They supposed the Messiah would be a mere man, and therefore reply that the Messiah would be a Son of David.   In Jesus' quotation from Psalm 110:1, my study Bible explains, the first reference to the LORD applies to God the Father, while the term my Lord refers to Christ.  David therefore refers to the Messiah as "Lord."  But David, as king of Israel, could not and would not address anyone as "Lord" except God.  Therefore, the Messiah must be God.  The one possible conclusion is that the Messiah is a descendant of David only according to the flesh, yet is also truly divine, sharing His Lordship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.  In Matthew's report of this event, the Pharisees cannot answer, as they realize the implications and are afraid to confess Jesus to be the Son of God (Matthew 22:41-46).  Indeed, this puts an end to their questioning.  Mark gives us the perspective of the common people who listen to these disputes in the temple, who 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."  Matthew reports an extensive final public sermon by Jesus, a grand critique of the ways of the scribes and Pharisees (see Matthew 23:1-39).  Here in Mark, these words are reported, which are at the heart of the teaching.  Whichever Gospel we read, at this point, Jesus has gone on the offensive, with His teachings before the common people a critique of the ways of the leadership, and especially their hypocrisy, their desire for superior places in the society, love of money, and lack of sympathy for the poor.

 

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 comments that, according to the patristic tradition, the Lord accounts the value of a gift not by how much is given, but by how much is kept back.  Therefore the poor widow is counted to have given a great gift, having kept nothing for herself.  It says that those who give out of their abundance, but keep plenty back for themselves, are counted by God to have given very little.  In the conversion of Cornelius (Acts 10:4), we learn that God takes note of our giving.  But, it appears to me, Christ's noting of the poor widow is an important and essential marked contrast to the religious leadership, whom He's just criticized for their love of money and social superiority.   Once again, He is teaching the disciples an important lesson about humility, and clearly this episode is one they will remember for their own leadership as bishops and stewards of His Church.

Jesus' notable teaching regarding the poor widow is a remarkable contrast to the conduct of the scribes He describes and criticizes.  We can assume that this kind of conduct was "normal" and even acceptable, to be expected.  After all, it is not so strange to us in our own time, and even from our own history of the Church, regardless of which kind of experience we have had.  But it is a significant and important contrast historically for important reasons we should recognize about our faith.  According to a professor of history, who specializes particularly in the first millennium after Christ and Byzantine history, the one thing that Christianity brought into the ancient world that no other faith emphasized was humility.  For the ancient world, a "great" man was one who dominated and conquered.  To put this in context, Caesar's claim to greatness was in open bragging about how many he had killed and enslaved, how much he had conquered.  In the early centuries of Christianity, it was derided as a religion "of women and slaves."  There is nowhere else in all the philosophies and ways of life the ancient world offered where humility was praised as a virtue.  And yet, Christ keeps coming back over and over again to this for His disciples.  It is the way they must conduct their Church, and the way they must see themselves as "great."  (See, for example, this reading, among others.)   In Jesus' responses over the course of this week, we see how the notions of community established within Judaism contain within them the seeds of Christ's teachings, especially in His combination of the two great commandments of which He spoke in yesterday's reading, and the clear comprehension of the scribe who questioned Him, and to whom He responded, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."  But possibly the greatest gift that Jesus gives us in today's reading is the gift of God's vision of people.  We understand that God looks at the heart, and that would include how we give even when we haven't much to give.  Moreover, what is clear from the illustration about this woman is just how much she loves God, and how dependent upon God she really is.  Under an image of her, we might really use the inscription "heartfelt," because that is truly what Jesus describes here.  Because, in the end, it is a mistake to simply see this woman as having made a generous monetary donation.  The true donation here is the gift of herself, of all of her heart and soul and mind and strength.  It is she who lives fully up to the words of the Shema' (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) which Jesus quoted as the first and greatest commandment in yesterday's reading, and coupled it with Leviticus 19:18.  For although her monetary gift is exceptionally generous, and we must count it so, one also must consider the other gifts she must give in service to God every day of heart and sympathy and prayers.  The great gift to us is that Jesus holds her up as the epitome of generosity, and in so doing, He teaches us about how God sees each of us, and what God sees about each of us.  Again, the seeds of this understanding are already present in the history of Jewish spiritual tradition, awaiting the fulfillment in Christ.  As Isaiah writes, "'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' says the Lord.  'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9).   These lines from Isaiah are found just before He cites God's words regarding giving "seeds to the sower" (who is Christ) and bread to the eater (also given by Christ), and God's word (who is also Christ the Logos) -- see Isaiah 55:10-11.  Combined with all of the other teachings we receive from Christ, this picture of the widow, indelible now in the minds of the apostles, is the greatest gift we have as to how God thinks of us and what God wants from us.  Let us endeavor to think like God, to look at others in the ways we know that God does, and to fulfill His commands and the vision He gives to us by honoring what God honors.

 

 

 

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?