Text: This week we’re
covering Luke 20:45-47 and Luke
21:1-4 where Jesus calls out the scribes for o seeking personal honor and
advantage at the expense of widows in contrast to the offering of the widow’s
two mites.
Other passages to read: We encourage you to read "horizontally"
in these passages that are parallel or provide background information to our
text from Luke 20:
- This whole passage is
paralleled : Matthew 24:1-51; Mark 13:1-3
- Widow’s Gift: Mark
12:41-44; 2 Kings 12:9 (origin of offering box)
- Other Giving passages Referenced: Malachi 1:6-10; 2 Corinthians 8-9
Points to ponder: In
your study this week, you might want to think about one of these questions:
- Why was Jesus warning the people about the scribes
at this point?
- What was wrong with the scribes giving? What made it
wrong?
- What does Jesus mean by “greater condemnation”?
- What does this short pericope about the widow’s gift
teach us about giving?
- Why does Luke place this pericope about giving here?
We try to answer these questions on the
Jesus4Everyone blog in the next week’s post.
Questions to ask ourselves: The
following questions are intended to help us move towards greater personal
application of what we learn about Jesus as we ask them of ourselves…
- Is there something I do
because I like the recognition I get as a result?
- How do I seek places of
honor in my life?
- Is there some way that I
take advantage of others for my own gain? If so, then what steps will we
take to change our behavior this week?
- How do I approach my
giving to the Lord? It is a duty, a burden, an after-thought, a special
occasion only, or is it a vital part of my worship?
- Why might Jesus look up at my giving?
Pastor Randy’s Sermon Notes: "What
Jesus Saw"
- Read Luke 20:46-47
- Read Luke 21:1-4
1. Jesus see’s the plight of
the widow
- Oppressing widows and devouring their homes is an egregious
offense in the sight of God.
- “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” (James 1:27)
2. Jesus
See’s Our Giving
Five Things You
Can Do With Your Money:
·
Spend it à me
·
Repay debt à me
·
Pay taxes à America/we
·
Save it à me
·
Give it à God & Others
Four
Ways to Give:
·
Tip
·
Tithe
·
Spirit Prompted Offerings
·
Sacrificially
Three
Step Financial Plan:
·
Give
·
Save
·
Live
3. Jesus
See’s the Heart Behind our Giving
·
Read Luke 12:31-34
·
Where is our heart?
Quotes and Commentary:
Here are a few
observations I have made from this story of the Widow’s Offering:
o Their giving was motivated by an external appearance of righteousness.
o Her giving was motivated from an internal reality of worship and trust.
o She gave all she had
o They gave more, but less, for it was out of their abundance.
o Their offerings literally adorned the outside walls of the temple (the
golden vine) which would be destroyed in 70 ad.
o Her offering adorned the temple of her heart for God’s eternal pleasure.
N.T. Wright comments,
The scribes measure their own value by the length
of their robes, the flattering greetings in public, and the places of honor at
worship or at dinner. They are living by one scale, but God will measure them
by the true one. Privately, they are using their legal skills to acquire
legacies from widows who have nobody to speak up for them. Their religion is a
sham, and God sees it. By contrast — another time when the scale of measurement
works the opposite way to what people would expect — the poor widow who gave
all she had into God’s treasury had given more than the rich people who gave
what they could easily afford…
Because God’s way of measuring reality is not our
way — because it was always his intention that David’s Lord should become
David’s son — it is also his desire that the same attention be given to the
questions of human behavior and integrity, on large and small scales, as we
give to the questions of defining and defending the faith. (Wright, Luke for Everyone, [WJK, 2004] 249)
Here is a note about the ornamentation on the front of the Temple, that
came from the offerings of the rich.
The Herodian Temple was decorated with the national
symbol of Israel…a huge golden vine. According to the Mishna, the
doorway of the temple was flanked by two square-shaped pillars each formed of
ten cubes measuring four cubits on the sides. On these two pillars rested …five
oaken beams, separated from each other by square stones set on a line with the
pillars. It was a reproduction of the triumphal arches then so common in the
east. Upon the immense trellis, or grille, stretched a golden vine, of which
the grapes, according to Josephus, were of the height of a man. He adds that it
extended almost [40 feet across the top] (from north to south) and that its top
was [100 feet] from the ground. Tacitus also speaks of this vine.
And as Jesus so sat on these steps, looking out on
the ever-shifting panorama, His gaze was riveted by a solitary figure. The
simple words of St. Mark sketch a story of singular pathos. 'It was one pauper
widow.' We can see her coming alone, as if ashamed to mingle with the crowd of
rich givers; ashamed to have her offering seen; ashamed, perhaps, to bring it;
a 'widow,' in the garb of a desolate mourner; her condition, appearance, and
bearing that of a 'pauper.' He observed her closely and read her truly. She
held in her hand only the smallest coins, 'two Perutahs,' and it should be
known that it was not lawful to contribute a less amount. Together
these two Perutahs made a guadrans, which was the ninety-sixth part of a
denar, itself of the value of about sevenpence. But it was 'all her
living,' perhaps all that she had been able to save out of her scanty
housekeeping; more probably, all that she had to live upon for that day and
till she wrought for more. And of this she now made humble offering unto God.
He spake not to her words of encouragement, for she walked by faith; He offered
not promise of return, for her reward was in heaven. She knew not that any had
seen it - for the knowledge of eyes turned on her, even His, would have flushed
with shame the pure cheek of her love; and any word, conscious notice, or
promise would have married and turned aside the rising incense of her
sacrifice. But to all time has it remained in the Church, like the
perfume of Mary's alabaster that filled the house, this deed of self-denying
sacrifice. More, far more, than the great gifts of their 'superfluity,' which
the rich cast in, was, and is to all time, the gift of absolute self-surrender
and sacrifice, tremblingly offered by the solitary mourner. And though He spake
not to her, yet the sunshine of his words must have fallen into the dark
desolateness of her heart; and, though perhaps she knew not why, it must have been
a happy day, a day of rich feast in the heart, that when she gave up 'her whole
living' unto God. And so, perhaps, is every sacrifice for God all the more
blessed, when we know not of its blessedness. (Edersheim, Life and Times of
Jesus the Messiah, 741-742)
Previously on Ponderables: In
your study the last couple of weeks, you might have thought about and answered
these questions that were posed. Here are some of my answers to these
questions:
·
What
“things” were the priests concerned about, what was prompting them challenge
Jesus authority? You should have been able to find at least three “things”:
His Triumphal entry (19:28-39); the subsequent driving out the merchants from
the temple (19:45-46), and teaching the people daily in the temple (19:47). He
has set up shop in the temple as though it was his house. Hmmm.
·
In
what ways is Jesus’ parable in vv 9-16 similar to Isaiah 5:1-6 and in what ways
is it different? I answered this to
some extent on the SOAP journaling blog. “This parable is a close parallel to
Isaiah 5:1-6 and would have been a parable that Jesus’ listener would have been
very familiar with. They would have understood right from the beginning that
the vineyard was a symbol that represented Israel and that the ending of the
story in Jesus’ telling boded badly for them… We see here in Jesus’ expansion
of the Song of the vineyard he has the noble owner of the vineyard not only
sending servants (can we see the OT prophets?) repeatedly demonstrating great
patience with his renters, but he sends his Son. But after his rejection and
death, the renters will be destroyed and the vineyard given to others.” Here is
a comparison chart from Kenneth E. Bailey’s Jesus
Through Middle Eastern Eyes, page 414.
Elements
|
Isaiah’s Song of the Vineyard
(and its allegorical symbols)
|
Jesus’ Parable
(and its allegorical Symbols)
|
Owner
|
the Lord of hosts
|
God
|
Vineyard
|
house of Israel
|
Israel
|
Vines
|
men of Judah
|
--
|
Benefits
anticipated from:
|
the vineyard
|
the renters
|
Expectations
|
good grapes
|
part of the crop
|
Consist
of:
|
justice and righteousness
|
??
|
Yield
|
wild grapes
(bloodshed and cry of pain)
|
no share given to the owner
and there are beatings, insults, and bloodshed.
|
Result
|
vineyard is to be destroyed
|
vinedressers to be replaced.
|
·
Why
does the vineyard owner show such patience? The
key is not the wicked tenants as most editorial comments title this section but
on the character and claim of the Noble Vineyard owner. Especially in light of
Isaiah 5 where God asks the people to judge between him and his vineyard and
asks the question, “What more could I have done?” Well in light of the NT our
answer to the question in Isaiah 5 would be that God could have sent his son.
·
Why
does he send his son? Is he naive or does he know what will happen ahead of
time? Oh, he knows, and knows that it is the only hope. As
Bailey says so well, “the vineyard owner's hope is
that the violent men in the vineyard will sense the indescribable nobility of
the owner who sends his beloved son alone and unarmed into the vineyard in
response to the violent acts they had committed against the owner's servants.”
(p. 418) And later he summarizes this concept, “The
reprocessing of anger into grace. The vineyard owner does not respond to the
renters with force or violence. Rather he chooses incarnation with its total
vulnerability. To do this he must reprocess his anger into a costly
demonstration of unexpected love/grace. That incarnation implies forgiveness
for those who accept his offer of love.” (p. 425)
·
What
might be a better title for this parable?
“Parable of the Noble Vineyard Owner”
·
When
those listening say, “Surely not!” in v. 16, to what are they referring? The reaction from those listening was emphatically
opposed to such an ending. Were they denying that they would kill the Son, or
rejecting the idea that the land of Israel could pass to others? Perhaps both
depending on who was answering. Sadly, like Peter’s denial of Jesus’ mission to
go to the cross, those that denied this message’s fulfillment would see it come
to pass not 40 years later.
·
In v.
18 what is Jesus talking about? Jesus
answered them with a parable based on Psalm 118:19-28 and Isaiah 8:14, a passage
the Jewish leaders would have been very familiar with. Is
it somehow better to be broken than to be crushed? Yes it is. The idea
is the brokenness of humble repentance as opposed to the crushing weight of
final judgment. We can humble ourselves or be humbled and the first option is
much to be preferred!
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