THE TEACHER AND THE DISCIPLES: “Have faith in God.” The practice of faith and the principle of faith are really inseparable. Faith, by its very nature, produces action. Doubts in the heart can paralyze a person and leave us timid and helpless rather than strong in faith and serving the Lord. Confidence, because of God’s evident dealings with us in the past, enables us to ask in confidence with the appropriate attitude of forgiveness and expectation.
It is not uncommon for mortal men to misunderstand God's mind. Most think they will find within their own intellect the answers to their life and purpose for living. Occasionally, someone will ask a question that seems so removed from faith that we scarcely know whether to answer them or how we should face their question. We can learn from the Lord by listening and watching how He responds to loaded questions. He didn't seem resentful to them or felt He was being put upon, but with insight He knew the reason such questions were being asked.
To look beyond the words is the responder to questions in the first task. Then it is right to give an answer, but avoid the argumentative way of answering by listening to what the question really means and then being careful as to what you say. Answer with honest clarity in as few words as you possibly can and perhaps the attitude and tone of voice will show up the obvious disparity.
Some answers can be illustrated by showing similar situations in life. Evil-intended questions deserve short answers that cut off the tendency to strife. Foolish, cynical questions can be exposed when we apply the scriptures to them. It is hard to argue against the written word even though they might give it a try. When a sincere question is asked, and we know the person's intent is to try and find the right answer as to the problem or the event, then take all the time that is needed to give the answer needed, and God can add His own blessing when the answer you gave is heeded.
MARK 12 Before the chief priests, scribes, and elders got away, the Lord Jesus Christ began telling a parable that would have been of interest to all of those people who had gathered around Him when He had been asked about His authority. Those men had come to challenge the authority of the Lord Jesus, and now He took the opportunity to make a challenge to them, as well as give them a warning. He told them a parable similar to the one Isaiah wrote about in Isaiah chapter five. The priests and scribes would have known that well, so as soon as the Lord began to tell it, they knew He was directing it to those men who were leaders of the people.
He first told the parable of the two sons, as we read in Matthew’s account of this event. In that parable, He laid the charge of insincerity against those men who were like the oldest son who said, “I go, sir,” and did not go. Those men had made a big point about their “reverence for God,” but they didn’t obey Him. They professed much, but they didn’t practice what they preached and professed.
The Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen, v.1-12 The Lord Jesus didn’t stop at telling the one parable but went on to tell the parable about the evil husbandmen that Mark wrote of and the judgment that would come upon them. He spoke plainly so there would be no misunderstanding among the people around who heard, as well as the leaders. They would all know what He meant, and the leaders would know they were the wicked husbandmen in the parable. The story was self-explanatory. Its meaning was that because of their wickedness in thoughts, words, and deeds, their faithlessness toward God, and their rejection of Christ their doom was coming. That happened forty years later when Titus, at the head of the Roman army, completely destroyed Jerusalem, the temple, and killed hundreds of thousands of Jews.
Isaiah pictured Israel as a vineyard, as did the Lord Jesus. Israel had been placed in a privileged place, on choice land, and separated from the idol-worshipping nations around them. The law of God was to regulate their lives in a way that would keep them safe, peaceful, and prosperous when they obeyed it. They could have had the best possible life if they had submitted themselves to the ordinances of God and the terms of the covenant He had made with them as a nation. They had a tower that made it possible to see when enemies approached. God intended that from that nation, there would be good spiritual, moral, and physical fruit that would come to Israel, and from them, glory would be brought to God. Blessings from them would benefit those around them when they were favorable to that nation. But Israel failed!
The owner of the vineyard in the parable is God. The husbandmen were the Jewish leaders, some standing in front of Jesus as He told the parable. God had given them the law, the teaching, and the ways to practice true faith in Him. He did all He could to enable them to keep and fulfill His intention for their blessing. But Israel failed to keep that which had been given to them and turned to other gods and worshipped idols. God had not received from them what He wanted when He chose them to be His earthly people.
By God’s grace, we have received all we need and more to live an abundant life of faith. It is of His mercies that we have been called and saved by His grace through faith in Christ. He has the right to expect spiritual fruit from us, which would include the fruit of the Spirit, the fruit of our lips, the fruit of our labor, the fruit of our thanksgiving, the fruit of our lives and ourselves. We have been chosen in Christ to bring forth praise and glory to His name and to represent Him here in this world. We are surrounded by all that is of the world, the flesh and the devil, and yet we are here to shine as lights in this world in the midst of a perverse and ungodly generation.
Many prophets were sent to Israel by God to guide and warn His people about what would happen if they continued on the course they were going. One after another, they were rejected, scorned, abused, and some were killed. They were persecuted, their messages were repudiated, and they were “shamefully entreated.” All of their reasoning and pleading fell on deaf ears. The whole history of Israel is full of wonderful opportunities that were spurned and neglected. They were given special privileges that they despised and betrayed that which had been entrusted to them. The prophets, the writers of the Psalms, and godly leaders sought to direct the people to faith in God, but they resisted and rebelled.
Consequently, judgments fell on the nation. They recovered temporarily when they repented and called on the name of the Lord, but they did not learn nor practice the lessons of real repentance and faith. It was to this fact that the Lord Jesus Christ directed the final outcome of the parable to those who heard Him that day. God had expected the fruit of faith in Christ from them, but they had refused Him. Like their forebearers, they turned to their own way. Idols of man’s making or religions of man’s choosing had control of their minds and hearts. The pleasures of sin and coveting what others had were in their hearts then and in the hearts of people now. God expects us to use what He gives us for His glory and the eternal welfare of others around us rather than indulge ourselves in whatever we want. When that which should be given to God is absent, not only are we depriving God of what is rightfully His and others of that which can benefit them, but sin gets progressively worse as time passes.
The wicked husbandmen began by beating servants and ended their awful deeds by killing the owner’s son. The actual fact took place later that same week when those same leaders arranged for the death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross on Calvary. The coming of the Son of God, His Perfect Servant, revealed the hearts of sinful people. In our day, there are educators who deliberately set about to take away from the children that Bible-believing parents have taught them. The truth of God and the necessity of personal faith in Christ are mocked, and children are made to be ashamed in front of their peers who have not been taught the same truths. Politicians want to keep God out of government completely. Modernists want God removed from religion and faith to be whatever a person chooses to believe. Church life is being replaced by social workers and social reformers who have an agenda and want to remove children from homes where the Bible is read. They claim it is “hate literature,” even though they haven’t read it for themselves. Atheists and agnostics want God removed from creation and human experience, and evolution and all its false claims to be taught and believed by everyone.
God has been patient with faithless people, governments, and religions, but when judgment comes, there will be no escaping the consequences of rejecting Christ. To not reverence the Son of God will not be overlooked forever by the Righteous Judge of the universe. God has decreed that “every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”
The priests, scribes, and elders knew that the Lord Jesus was referring to them as wicked husbandmen. They were so jealous and concerned about their positions of leadership and what they claimed was their authority that they ignored the needs of those they were supposed to bring to God. They frustrated the reason for the special position of Israel among the nations and were willing to kill those who wanted the nations to return to God, including our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Stop! Let us labor together so that we all might enjoy the fruits of our labor together. I have planted a vineyard, built protection, and prepared everything! Your labor is needed – your participation is all I ask to give you abundant blessing. We will share in these blessings – we will enjoy them – and we all will benefit. What have you done? He was my servant. I sent him to bring my portion to Me My. Do you not understand what I expect from My vineyard? I expect profit – benefits. The servants I sent provided you an opportunity to repent – and you abused them. Again and again, My servants came, and you killed some – My expectations are dashed. This is My Son – My well -Beloved Son – I am well pleased with Him! Show Him reverence – show Him honor – let Him bring Me what is due Me. “I called, and you refused.” You killed Him! This charge is laid against you. There are consequences. Your fear will come. Recompense is sure. Justice will prevail!”
Authority belongs to the Lord Jesus then, and it still does today. In nations, churches, homes, and individuals, Christ is the One who has authority over everything. He is the Sovereign God. He sheds His Light on this world of sin. Our consciences respond to His authority. His word is the last and final word of everything. He is God’s Beloved Son, incarnate in flesh and without blemish or spot. In Him, we live and move and have our being.
We are to listen to and truly hear Him and all He says in His word. It is our responsibility to obey Him. His authority is righteous and holy, and we are to bow to that authority. It is expected that we trust Him without reservation or equivocation. The stupidity of the experts of the law and the builders of the nation led them to reject the Cornerstone of the whole nation/building. The Headstone of the building is not gone, and He will be seen in time to come, by the repentant remnant. He will be “marvelous” in their eyes, as He is in the eyes of all those who love Him today.
The parable pricked the conscience of those men, but their hearts were hardened and unreached by what our Lord said. Their anger was so great that they wanted to arrest Him immediately, but “they feared the people.” To deliberately turn one’s back on the Lord Jesus Christ and go away from Him is to go beyond the “redemption point” to where there is no recovery.
“Look! This Stone here – among the other stones; it is the right size and shape. Its texture is solid. It can stand the weight and start the walls of the house properly. Why look anywhere else? Can you not see this One stands out among the whole pile? This Stone will not need the work of a hammer and chisel. It is perfect in itself. You other builders – come here and see! Scrutinize, examine, and test it for soundness. The fact that you can do nothing to improve it speaks for itself. It is perfect. What is wrong with you “expert builders?” Why would you ignore this Stone? Why would you pass this one by and reject it? Would you cast off what God made? You want your own handy-work to be seen by men – your own fleshly imprint that mars a stone and makes a work of your own sin-polluted hands – man’s work. Your cheap stonework will fail and fall when the pressure comes on your work. The Stone you rejected is the Corner-Stone of a massive work of God.”
Pay what is due, v.13-17 The chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders of the people had been humiliated in their debate with the Lord and made the object lesson of the parable the Lord Jesus Christ had told to all those who had gathered to hear the debate. Those men turned their backs on the Lord and went away from Him but with a determination in their hearts to carry out their plot to kill the “Prince of Life.” The bitterness of malicious intent is never satisfied in a sinful soul. The only cure for such deep-seated hostility against God by “the soul that sins” is death. When people repent of their sins, they face the fact they are dead to God the way they are, and they change their minds about themselves and the Lord. When that person puts their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior from sin, they have died in the Person of their Substitute. New life comes from that death, and when they put their faith in Him who died for them, they are also raised with Him, who was “raised again for our justification.”
Likely, the Pharisees and Herodians, who were historically opposed to each other but, in this incident, were joined together in common purpose to trap Jesus, were younger men sent by their older leaders. Perhaps they thought young men would seem more sincere and their flattery more acceptable to the Lord. Those evil flatterers against our Lord Jesus Christ brought two opposing opinions together for a common evil purpose. Pharisees resisted Roman rule and resented paying taxes to their oppressors to whom they were subject. They were ritualists who thought they were even above the Romans because they were God’s chosen people by a covenant relationship with the nation. They wanted supremacy, not just independence.
The Herodians profited from the Roman rule because they were connected to the various people called “Herod,” who ruled in different provinces of that country as under-rulers for the Romans. They wanted stability in the provinces they feared would be upset by the Messiah coming and being recognized by the people. The Pharisees wanted a military conquering Messiah who would defeat Rome, not the “meek and lowly Jesus.” Such an unlikely union of opposition came to the Lord Jesus and appeared to appeal to Him as an arbitrator of their differences of opinion.
That flattering approach to Him is a typical hypocritical way of seeking a favorable hearing. Their question was obviously a concocted combination, which they thought would trap the Lord no matter how He answered their question. What a foolish act to unite in hate against the personification of goodness and grace. Neither goodness nor grace negates holiness and justice. Those deceptive men gave a wonderful testimony about who the Lord Jesus is, whether they believed that or not. Everything about our Lord Jesus was open to scrutiny, and nothing against Him could ever be found. So, they confessed Him to be a well-known Teacher with integrity and truth. He was known to be just and impartial whenever He taught or was challenged. He was known to be unable to be manipulated by people and was committed to God and His word. He was not representing any religious, political, or social party but was openly committed to “the way of God.”
By its very nature, flattery depends upon good qualities that can already be seen to have any effect. Flattery then exaggerates those qualities that already exist. To flatter a person by saying he has qualities he knows he does not have is insulting to a person and makes a fool out of the one who tries to flatter him. We read of the witness of some of the enemies of Jesus, and it is easy to see He was beyond anything that people could say negatively about Him. “Never man spoke like this Man.” “He saved others; Himself He cannot save.” “Certainly, this was a righteous Man; this was the Son of God.” No matter what people might say about our Lord, He rises above any comparison as greater, wiser, and holier than anyone who lived in this world.
Those who came to Jesus with flattering words didn’t come with an interest in giving Him praise and honor, but they used true words as a design for trickery. They intended to produce a dilemma that could not avoid a bad answer that would snare the Lord Jesus. To try to deceive the Lord is a losing proposition. He is never deceived, and God is not mocked. He knows the hearts of all people. Nothing that people think, say, or do is hidden from Him. “His eyes, your secret thoughts, behold!”
Roman money was used to buy and sell in business, pay for labor, pay taxes, and handle the normal affairs of life. The temple tax was paid for in temple money. The Jews used Roman currency in business and their regular routines; therefore, they accepted the authority of the Roman government over their lives, business, and labor. Pharisees and Herodians both accepted the obligations and advantages of Roman rule. They used Roman coins as those subject to Roman rule, so they had to pay Roman tribute. The Roman soldiers kept order, and travel was on Roman roads, so it was only right to pay for what they used, which was kept up by the government of the day and place. “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.”
Then the Lord Jesus added, “Render unto God the things that are God’s.” How do we pay for life and light? How much are air and water worth? What is the cost of living from the fullness of God’s earth that abundantly supplies our food? How much are all the blessings that come to us from God’s creation worth to any and all of us? How do we pay God for His grace, mercy, and long-suffering toward us? With all we have received and constantly receive from our Gracious God, I can only respond by giving “my heart, my life, my all.” We are not repaying God for what He gives us from His abundant storehouse. That is the best, and really only way, to render anything to Him.
We can understand our duties to the “powers that be.” We live here, so we owe what the civil government charges us. To accept the privileges of living in a given location means we must pay the just demands of that government. The Lord Jesus was not an anarchist. He knew and ordained governments and recognized their need and uses for the benefit of the citizens of that place. When we accept the advantages of living where we do, we are bound to meet the obligations placed on those who live here.
Our duties and obligations to the authorities are plain. Yet, we are not commanded to limitless obedience because some things may be imposed on people that are contradictory to the will of God. We are to “render unto God the things that are God’s.” When conflicts arise between the extent of human government and God’s sovereign authority, our highest obligation is to God, despite the consequences that might follow. There are times when the governments of men go beyond their rights, and we have the right to resist and disobey. Our allegiance to God is higher than to the state. We render to God our hearts. His name is impressed on our hearts and minds. We dare not defraud God by withholding from Him that which is His right to have from us.
The question that faces us and brings the whole matter of obligation to a conclusion is, “Does God have my heart, my life, my all? Have I given to Him what is His?” His claims are the prior claim. He gives life, breath, and all things to us. He has given eternal life to those who trust Christ as their Savior. When I have rendered to God the things that are His, then I will be guided by Him as to what I owe “Caesar.” When my honest obligations to God and Caesar are met, my life will be balanced appropriately as to what is fair, orderly, and necessary. We owe everything in life to God, and within our lives, we have areas of responsibility to meet. We are also responsible to the government, to the assembly of which I am a part, to my family, and my spouse. When I render what is right to them, I am also rendering what is His to God.
“Listen! The murmurs of the hypocrites speaking behind their hands to each other – something sinister is going on there when their backs are toward the Lord. They are voting – picking out certain ones they think are the “best,” They are sending unscrupulous men to deceive and catch the Lord in a bind. Interesting, isn’t it? Those who hate the government and those who love the government have united together against the One whose words are always true and right. Their sly and simpering words belie their intent – they want to put Him in a box. How wise is the Lord when calling their bluff, He asks them for a penny! Pharisees, you hate the government but use its money – you give Caesar his tax. Herodians, you love the Romans and drink at its trough. Put your money there. Jesus is from a Higher Government – and gives God what God has a right to expect. Now you two – do the same – it is time to give God what you owe Him.”
Relationships in Heaven, v.18-27 Quite likely, the Sadducees were glad the Pharisees and Herodians could not trap the Lord Jesus with their questions because the Sadducees were basically in opposition to their doctrine. Sadducees were the upper class of society and religious leadership. The high priest was a Sadducee, so when the other chief priests had been humiliated by their failure to snare the Lord Jesus, the Sadducees set out to do what the others could not do. They came to the Lord with insolence and confidence that what they had to say would demonstrate what they considered the absurd belief in life after death.
Sadducees only accepted the Bible's first five books as being God's word. There are no specific statements in those books that directly relate to the resurrection of the body. Their idea of life after death was to have children to carry on the family name and heritage. This mindset prompted the imaginary illustration they presented to the Lord Jesus. To be childless was a terrible thing to a Sadducee because it meant his sense of immortality through his family would not be perpetuated. His name would soon be forgotten, and it would be as if he had never lived. The custom that was called “levirate law” allowed family members to intermarry to perpetuate the family identity. This was what was behind the “loaded” question about the resurrection.
Many people today make the same mistake by considering life after the resurrection to be no more than a continuation of life as we know it now. People do not know the scriptures or the power of God and so make the same mistakes as the Sadducees did. They don’t read the Bible as it is written and, consequently, do not know what the scriptures mean. Their second mistake is thinking that God will not do anything differently than He has during our lifetime. They don’t know “the power of God.” Most people don’t take time to consider that God is infinite in every way, and there are no limits to what He can and will do to reveal Himself and His will. Every part of His being is infinite, and He is also infinite in His doing.
Ignorance of the power of God is where the Lord began His explanation of the seemingly ridiculous question of the Sadducees. The Lord did not dismiss their question out of hand, even though He knew the intent behind the question was to trap and condemn Him. Other people were there listening, so for their sake and the disciples and the deceitful Sadducees, He gave an answer that clarified a question that sincere seekers might have. Most people have no real instinct or allowance for God’s power to be more than we know it to be now, or perhaps to a greater extent than it is now. Our limitations of mind and wisdom make it difficult to conceive of what we cannot experience with our senses.
The imaginary case the Sadducees raised, hoping it would show the impossibility and absurdity of the resurrection, opened the door for the Lord Jesus to teach those who listened with opened minds and hearts, the Source of all power. God has all power, so rather than the resurrection being impossible, it is a stated fact. The apostle Paul wrote that the body is sown in weakness and is raised in power. It is sown as a natural body and raised as a spiritual body. Resurrected bodies will be far beyond what they were like when death occurred. The new bodies of God’s people will be as God pleases and suited to His plans for us. What a terrible tragedy the resurrection of the unjust to everlasting destruction will be. The Sadducees didn’t know the power of God and had chosen to reject what they did not want to believe. That left them in ignorance.
It is similar now to people who are comfortable and well-off in places of authority and leadership. They refuse to accept that the future will be different from what they now have and want to keep it as it is. When people “know the power of God” is real, they will accept that with God, “all things are possible.” If God had no power, resurrection would be impossible, but the power of God has raised Christ, and we also will be raised and changed to be what our Gracious God wants us to be in the future.
The scriptures never say that the relationships of earth between people will be continued in heaven. We will not be raised as husband and wife, parents and children, or employer and employee. We will not become angels, but like them, we will be free from earthly limitations and earthbound relationships that are limiting by their very nature. There will not be sadness at the loss of such relationships because those in the future will be with our Lord, and those with others will surpass what we have known on earth in the limitations in which we are presently found.
Marital love and family love certainly give us joy now. Without love, life is not worth very much. There is no reason to think that in heaven, such love as we have had on earth will be taken away, but it will be purified, cleansed, and glorified so that it far surpasses what we have now. Love will continue without any sense of defilement or limitations we experience now. Time, distance, and physical inability that we have now that interfere with love will not be hindrances there. The little glimpses of “heaven on earth” will be real and lasting when we are finally at “home” with the Lord where we belong.
The poor Sadducees in those days, and the skeptics now, are losing out on life that can be lived far more satisfyingly when “the just live by faith.” To live without faith, hope, and love is a barren, fruitless, and unsatisfactory way to exist. It will be far worse for unbelievers when they die as they lived – “without God, without Christ, and hope” in this world. Those who are ignorant of the scriptures think of God as dealing with people only while they are alive in the flesh. They can’t seem to conceive of life more abundantly in the future and the present.
The Lord Jesus Christ clarified that misconception to the Sadducees and to all who were listening to Him by saying that when God spoke to Moses at the burning bush, He told him that He was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – not that He was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Those ancient men are still alive. Like modern-day Sadducees, clever people who think they are superior, cultured, and better educated look down on people they consider to be simple in mind and heart because they have a simple faith. Scorn and a patronizing attitude only exalt that person in their own eyes. Everyone else can see through the façade of a supercilious smirk to the uncertain mind of a person who has chosen to live with their own doubts. They seek to cover their doubts outwardly but have to live with them inwardly and will likely die with them. What an awful awakening they will have! It is the “pure in heart” who are blessed!
“Think! Can it be the Sadducees are so uninformed that they ask stupid questions? They are so tripped up and blinded by their own philosophy that they don’t reason correctly. Foolish questions usually get foolish answers or sarcasm, but not this time. They know how to read but don’t read – they know how to reason but don’t reason. Their illustration to support their belief is so off the wall that most would walk away. The Lord’s quiet reply as a question indicates their dilemma may have been genuine. The scriptures are plain – there is life after death, but not the same as life is here. The power of God is not limited – He who creates life at the beginning of life can fully restore that life back into a new, incorruptible body like that of angels. The God of the Jews is the God of the Gentiles – the God of the Bible has not died. The brief glimpse of our future state indicates personality is there – a place is there. The answer to the dilemma of the ignorant is in the scriptures of truth – unchanging!”
God has chosen to allow those who choose spiritual blindness to live that way rather than to remove their free will and make them believe in Him. Faith without love, or a trustworthy Person, is a deceiver. Putting one’s faith in an idea of one’s own making has no more validity than trusting in one’s ability to give life out of nothing. In His divine wisdom, God has allowed things to be hidden from “the wise and prudent” and to be “revealed unto babes.” A person can read the scriptures well but still not know them. To many Jews, the words of Isaiah 53 are well-known, but they do not understand them. The truths taught in that chapter are missed entirely because it does not fit their narrative or say what they want them to say.
It is possible to memorize scripture passages, talk about them, and even study them with others, yet you never know the light it gives. When we are unwilling to do what the word of God teaches and do not honestly ask God to reveal what it means, we don’t know what it means. Wisdom and guidance that leads to understanding come from the Holy Spirit to an honest seeker.
The Lord Jesus quoted from the Pentateuch, which the Sadducees believed, and pointed out that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were living souls. The deceptive Sadducees had nothing to say. The doctrine of immortality was clearly stated. God is immortal, and Abraham, His friend, as well as Isaac and Jacob, who had the covenant promised to Abraham, passed on to them, were living persons. God had entered into a covenant relationship with them that still continued after they had physically left their bodies. Death did not rob God of His friendship with Abraham. Death is not the lord of the world.
God the Father was listening when our Lord Jesus Christ said, “Father, into Thy hands, I commend My spirit.” Job knew he would see his Redeemer. Paul was persuaded that nothing, including death, would separate him from the love of God in Christ Jesus his Lord. The resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ ensures us that the future is secure for those who are in Christ. “Because He lives, we shall live also.”
What wonders and added dimensions to our lives we will experience in the future after we die! They are hidden from us now for the most part, but we know enough about them from reading the scriptures that our relationship with Him will remain. Our relationships with our loved ones will surpass the blessings we have enjoyed with them here. Our limitations because of our bodies of sinful flesh will be gone. We will find new experiences beyond what we have seen or heard and beyond what our imaginations have even dreamed of. In this present condition of being, our minds and hearts can’t conceive of all God has “in store for those who love Him.” Our intellect, emotional responses, and physical capabilities will likely be far beyond anything we have ever known or thought of. We will live again in resurrected bodies, on resurrection ground, and enjoy God's promises to a far greater extent than we have ever imagined.
The Greatest Commandment, v.28-34 There was one scribe listening to the Lord Jesus’ answers to the questions asked of Him with evil intent. According to Matthew’s account of this event, this scribe began his question hoping he could tempt Jesus. It seems like in Peter’s understanding of this same event, as it is written in Mark’s Gospel, the scribe goes beyond his prejudice to admire the Lord’s answers to the challenging questions. He apparently got past his hostility to ask a sincere and honest question.
The Lord Jesus Christ easily perceives openness and honesty on the part of any person. When any person, favorable or unfavorable to the Lord, has a real desire to know what is right in the eyes of God, He hears them. What they do with the answers He gives from His word, or in any other obvious way, is up to them. Acknowledging one’s need for the Lord and the salvation He offers will likely lead that person to put their faith in Him. If they hear what God says in His word and neglect or reject that, they will be lost, despite their desire to know the truth. To not accept at the time what we know to be true is to reject it. Knowing what is right and admitting what should be done is very different from putting full trust in the right person, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The scribe, who understood the wisdom of the Lord’s answers and could discern the depth of what He said, recognized the answers were not just because of skill and dexterity in dealing with people on the part of the Lord Jesus Christ. He wondered at the insight of the Lord, who firmly stated what was right without being prejudiced Himself against His deceptive accusers. It was obvious to the scribe that Jesus “answered them well.” He seemed to have had an honest desire to know which of the six hundred and thirteen laws the Jews had was most important. He asked the Lord his question with a genuine concern for what was right. He was not looking for a numerical order but for the first order as to the fundamental principles of the law. Was the ceremonial practice of the law first important, followed by the moral obligations, or was it the other way around?
The answer of the Lord Jesus was in no way ambiguous. He saw into the man’s heart and read it like an open book. When a person truly wants to know the truth, they will come to know it. If they believe it and act upon it, “the truth will make you free indeed.” External practices of religion and the forms people follow as habits do not bring rest to a soul or meaning to life. The words the Lord spoke in Deuteronomy summarize what is important to God. Love for God and for others are the basic premises of biblical Christianity. It was the same in Judaism, but the “religionists” had changed that to ceremonial practices without the sincerity of heart the Lord could see in the scribe.
The scribe got the answer he needed and got the message for himself. He could see beyond the offerings and sacrifices they were making to the point of faith for which they were intended. What he did with what he learned is not stated in the narrative. He learned that a consecrated heart and love for God and others is important. It is of great interest that the Lord said nothing about the ceremonial practices of the law in one way or another. He didn’t even bring them up or mention that was what the rabbis thought was important. External things, such as mechanical and ceremonial obligations, were not even mentioned in His answer.
To emphasize what is right and positive is of far greater value and importance than to condemn or dismiss as useless those things that are wrong. By not commenting on any kind regarding what the religious people do, but by giving God’s view of things; takes away all of the argumentative points people have when we talk about God’s truth. Focusing on what God says and wants and leaving our thoughts about what is wrong and unsaid; removes obstacles to effective dialogue. It opens the door to meaningful consideration of the solution to the problem instead of passing judgment on what is wrong. There will likely come a time for that, and we will know because God will make that responsibility plain to us.
One wonders what the scribe did with what he heard when the Lord Jesus told him he was not far from the kingdom of God. His question had been answered, and he understood the answer completely. If he had accepted the truth he had heard and applied it to himself, he would have put his trust in the Lord and been saved. If he stopped short and would go no further, as all of the other scribes apparently did, and remained speechless, he would have been as lost as the openly antagonistic Pharisees, scribes, and elders.
Some things we do as believers in assemblies are habitual and, perhaps to a certain extent, considered ceremonial. When we gather together as a called-out company of believers in Christ and gather to Him in His name alone, there is some value in maintaining order and form of public practices. We have to keep our objectives for coming together in focus, whether it is in preaching the Gospel, teaching believers, children’s work, public prayer, or the Lord’s Supper. But, emphasizing ceremony is as much of a problem as deemphasizing it. The practices we repeat need to keep our moral and spiritual objectives before us.
Speaking one at a time avoids confusion. To have respectful silence by all except the one praying out loud on behalf of us all shows a respectful fellowship between us, which is reinforced when we say, “Amen” at the end of his prayer. “Singing and making melody in our hearts unto the Lord” unify our praise in harmonious sound that edifies ourselves and others. Keeping order through the practice of singing with a tune makes what could be a lot of discordant sounds into something beautiful. To admire and appreciate what happens as good and great is far different from obedience and faith in Christ. Knowing what is right and appreciating it is very different from loving God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength and loving others. That clear statement stopped all questions from then on by those who were hostile to the Lord.
Great David’s, Greater Son, v.35-37 The chief priests, scribes and elders, followed by Pharisees and Herodians, had been humiliated by the simple questions of depth and honesty that were asked of them by the Lord Jesus Christ. The Sadducees also had been given a sensible answer to their ridiculous question. His answer came in a polite dignified way of not only giving the answer to their question, but also pointing out their mistaken ideas. Even the scribe who the Lord quoted the “Shema,” was made to think seriously about his own personal condition before God.
All of these clever, cultivated people who considered Jesus to be an uneducated, uncultivated carpenter/teacher from Nazareth, who hadn’t been brought under their authority, had to face the fact they were in a hopeless contest. The depth and wisdom of the answers the Lord Jesus gave, was filled with divine wisdom; not trivialities like they were focused on. The people around knew the scribes were not able to speak with authority, but the Lord Jesus Christ did. He laid down the great principles of truth which they all recognized was far beyond what they had heard or knew.
Eternal truth gives a whole new understanding of life and faith. Living in the light of eternity changes everything we do to something of importance. The hopelessness of trying to defeat eternal truths will end in a person either repenting of their sins and putting faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, or rejecting Him and even hating Him for telling the obvious truth about us. Truth exposes sin and evil within the heart of natural man. To even try to demean the reality of biblical teaching, will make a sensible person feel exposed to the bright light of the holiness and righteousness of God. Obvious truth exposes obvious false teaching.
Inevitably, as a result of observing the Lord Jesus Christ and thinking seriously about what He taught, one has to say, “Who is He? What gives Him such incomparable wisdom and understanding?” People who think they are clever may make foolish comments, but inwardly, Light and Truth cast their glow on even the darkest soul. That is when an individual is compelled to say, “What shall I do then with Jesus?” We who know Him, confess openly that “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself,” but He was refused by the world system. We who believe in Him, know that all the reassures of wisdom and knowledge are in Him.
People in the temple had heard His teaching, and listened to His answers to questioners. Then He tested them with His question. Basically, He asked publicly what He had asked His disciples. “What do you think of Christ? What do you know about Him? Whose son, is He?” The short thoughtless answer was just like answering a question in the catechism. Jesus then challenged their false understanding of who Christ is. He is far more than a mere son of David. They thought of the Messiah as a coming military leader who would lead an army to victory over their enemies.
When dealing with people regarding spiritual things that have eternal life or death as the consequence of what we believe, we must use the authority of the scriptures, and apply them in the way God intends, and is suited to the situation. The Pharisees had their own minds made up that the Messiah was a mere human descendant of David. They based what they believed on their own interpretation of the word of God, not on what it really said and meant. Opinions of people about what the scriptures say are valueless if they are not what the passage actually means. Partial, imperfect knowledge of the word of God, can lead people astray from the truth of God.
One-sided reading of the Bible in which we pick out things we want to believe and reject the things that convict us can lead a soul to hell. The same word of God that assures us of God’s love for the world and the value of the sacrifice of Christ, tells us of the holiness of God and His righteous wrath that abides on all who do not believe in Him. We have no right to pick and choose what we want to believe in the Bible. The whole word of God contains the counsel of God, whether they are warnings about the future or teaching about the present. We need to submit to the truth that is taught whether it makes us submit to it truth, or convicts us.
Christ was David’s “Son,” after the flesh, but He was infinitely greater than David because He was David’s Lord. The One who is Lord is God, and He is the Messiah. All the miracles of Christ when He was here, were proofs of the fact that He is God. He forgave sins, and that was a testimony to Him as God. The words He spoke were such that some who tried to trap Him, said, “Never man spoke like this Man.” Those words were proofs of His Deity. He is more than merely human. David’s Son is David’s Lord. Jesus Christ is Lord. He is the Mighty God, the Father of Eternity, the Prince of Peace, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Common people” do not complicate what is obvious, and are not self-limiting in making what they believe, to what they have experienced. Opened ears, opened eyes and an opened mouth to call on the name of the Lord, result in an opened heart to receive the Savior. We confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, and we believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead. We know that God has made Him both Lord and Christ. Those are words of common people whom God saves and brings into His family.
The Negative and the Positive, v. 38-44 Scribes and Pharisees were hostile toward the Lord Jesus from the very beginning of His ministry because His teaching was obviously more sincere and real to the people than what they were teaching and practicing. They tried to hinder His work and humiliate Him in the eyes of the people. With malice and hatred, they opposed the Lord from Galilee to Judea. In the last days before He was crucified, their false accusations and counterfeit religious activities moved the Lord Jesus to warn the common people openly with words that described the false teachers exactly as they were known. There was holy indignation against the pretensions of those who had cheapened that which was supposed to be holy but had become ostentation, pride, and hypocrisy.
Religious practices have degenerated into the same condition in the world today as it was when the Lord Jesus Christ was here. Long robes with unusual symbols on them, made from costly cloth, are worn by those who “officiate” at religious services. Deference is made when those who study religion, are given titles to designate them as different than the “rank and file” Christians. Those who are popular with the people and are successful in marketing “church activities” are paid a salary to do what was intended to be the privilege of all who name the name of Christ. Rituals and traditions have taken the place of sincerity, humility, and love for the Lord.
The Lord Jesus denounced the pride and public avarice of the scribes who enriched themselves at the expense of the poor. Instead of caring for the widows and defenseless people, they were doing whatever they could to further their own interests and finances. The prayers they made in public and what they were practicing under the guise of religion were spurious in the eyes of the Lord who sees beyond outward sham to inward hypocrisy.
Counterfeit Christianity is still alive and well in our day. People attend churches so they can interface with other people and create interest in the products and services with which they make their living. Church leaders often make an appeal for money, even though they meet in beautiful buildings that are beautifully furnished. Some who are the public leaders of large congregations still ask for the people to “give to the Lord” and use that same money to buy or build beautiful homes that are extravagant. Success is measured in some places by the number of people who attend the meetings of the church. Others measure success by how many converts they baptize each year. Cheap optimism has taken the place of “holiness becometh Thy house, O Lord, forever.”
True worship of the Lord is contrasted in Mark’s Gospel, between those who make open advertisements of their religious activities and a poor widow who gave all she had to God. God measures our worth by what we have left over, more than by the amount we give. In contrast to the brief inditing message of denunciation on the scribes and Pharisees, are the words of affirmation the Lord Jesus Christ made concerning a poor widow who gave all she had to God. No one was looking at her unreserved giving, but the Lord Himself saw it.
The condemnation of the Lord Jesus on the religious hypocrites was not from a vindicative spirit but from an honest and obvious appraisal of their actions. In the same place, the temple courtyard; He sat and watched the people and made an honest appraisal of what a poverty-stricken woman gave. Her love for God was not calculating; she wasn’t concerned about percentages or how much she needed for herself. Her love for God overcame all other considerations.
The spirit of giving cannot be calculated in dollars and cents. The attitude of a person toward the Lord and giving to Him from what He has given to us reflects on that person’s character. A calculating coldness doesn’t mean all that much, even though the actual amount of money given might be huge. Even the way a person puts their offering into a container reveals the thoughts of their heart toward God. To not let your left hand know what your right hand does, indicates that giving to God is deliberately for His eyes only; it is not to be seen by people. God knows what we have and what He means to us personally. The Lord knows when we want Him alone to know of our gratitude to Him for all He has done for us. His grace is given to us without great fanfare, and the grace of giving to God is meant to be done in the same way.
Perhaps that is why the widow shyly dropped all she had into the box and hurried away. She may have had tears in her eyes because it was so little, but the watching Lord knew what He really meant to her, and that gave value to what she gave. The real value of every offering we give to the Lord and the attitude behind that giving is known by the Lord, and that is all that matters. An offering given in true humility, with unintrusive and private sincerity, is what gives value to a gift in the eyes of God. Loud professions of our generosity and how much we have given to the Lord will certainly get God’s attention but will bring no reward from God in spite of all the honor it might bring from people. Even before he was saved, Cornelius’ giving caught God’s attention, and He arranged that Peter would come to that honest-hearted man with the Gospel so that he could be saved.
Value to God is measured by how much real self-sacrifice is involved. To give a large sum of money and yet hardly miss it is not a sacrifice. To go without something to give to the Lord changes the whole matter from an obligation to an offering. To go without a nicer car, better clothes, or more expensive food to assist in the work of the Lord puts value on what is given. Our offerings are not only counted as to the amount but are weighed as to the sacrifice made to be able to offer it. The sacrifice, not the amount, gives its real value.
The Lord never spoke to the woman; she never knew He was watching how much she put into that collection box. She may have been a bit ashamed of the amount but likely had inner contentment that “she hath done what she could.” The One who puts our names in the Lamb’s book of life knows all we do, why we do it, what we give, and why we give it. The motive behind all we do is what counts. It is enough for us to do what we do for the Lord and count it a privilege to do so. Payday is coming, and the real value will be plain to us. “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.”
“Come! There are those who really want to know: intellectuals, common people, and the poor. To the intellectual: the law of God is plain – forms do not fulfill the demands of the law. Love for God must come from the very essence of a man’s being – complete – real! To the common people: God is supreme – no king can compare with Him – no throne or dominion can share in the glory that belongs to God’s kingdom alone. No enemy can put down nor usurp God’s place – enemies will be the place for His feet. To the lovers of preeminence: their love for publicity will be their downfall. The adulation they long for will ultimately be a cause for their dire condemnation. Their demand for the possessions of others and prayers of pretense will damn them. To the poor: look at the widow with her love for God’s house and love for God. Learn from her – she has little and gives it all – her living is unimportant. God is the object of her love; her simple giving makes her the object of God’s love.”