Open your Bibles to Mark chapter 12 for our reading this morning. Mark chapter 12. We'll pick up reading in verse 13. Chapter 12, the gospel according to Mark, beginning in verse 13. We'll notice here in the reading a series of three questions from three groups of people as they come to Christ. And then we will see Christ answer each of them more than sufficiently. And then he turns the tables and asks them a question, which gets into our specific text for this morning. Then they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus in order to trap him in a statement. They came and said to him, teacher, we know that you are truthful and defer to no one, for you are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay a poll tax to Caesar or not? Shall we pay or shall we not pay? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius to look at. They brought one. And he said to them, whose likeness and inscription is this? And they said to him, Caesar's. And Jesus said to them, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's. And they were amazed at him. Some Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and began questioning him, saying, Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves behind a wife and leaves no child, his brother should marry the wife and raise up children to his brother. There were seven brothers. And the first took a wife and died, leaving no children. The second one married her and died, leaving no children. And the third likewise. So all seven left no children. Last of all, the woman died also. In the resurrection, when they rise again, which one's wife will she be? For all seven had married her. Jesus said to them, is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the scriptures or the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. But regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him saying, I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are greatly mistaken. One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that he had answered them well, asked him, what commandment is the foremost of all? Jesus answered, the foremost is, hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. The scribe said to him, Right, teacher, you have truly stated that he is one and there is no one else besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength and to love one's neighbor as himself is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, he said to him, you are not far from the kingdom of God. After that, no one would venture to ask him any more questions. And Jesus began to say, as he taught in the temple, how is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself said in the Holy Spirit, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies beneath your feet. David himself calls him Lord. So in what sense is he his son? And the large crowd enjoyed listening to him. In his teaching, he was saying, Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and like respectful greetings in the marketplaces and chief seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets, who devour widows' houses and for appearances sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation. And he sat down opposite the treasury and began observing how people were putting money into the treasury, and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling his disciples to him, he said to them, truly, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury, for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all that she owned. all she had to live on. The grass withers, the flower fades, but this, the word of our God, stands forever. Well, not much has changed over the past several weeks, potentially even a couple of months now, with regard to the day of the week and the life of our Lord. It's Tuesday afternoon. going into Tuesday evening. A lot has happened on this Tuesday, the last week of Christ's earthly life. But here on this afternoon, this evening, he has a message for those who are at the temple. Not just for those who are at the temple, but I trust for those of us who are here this morning as well. And it's a message of more. A message that the one who would be coming from David, this Messiah who was promised, was more than a mere son. He wasn't just David's offspring. He was also David's sovereign, David's Lord. It's a message of more, that those who pretend in religion will incur more condemnation. And it's a message of more with regard to us contributing to the Lord's work. Much more was contributed by the poor widow because she gave herself. So as we come to verse 35 to the end of the chapter, we'll look at a large portion this morning together. We began our reading in verse 12 so that we could see again and be reminded of how Jesus mopped the floor with these three groups of individuals and people coming to trap him. And now that he has dealt with their questions and put them in their place, the last sentence in verse 34 says, after that, no one would venture to ask him any more questions. and we all understand why. We too, being in that setting, would be very slow to ask him a question after seeing how he has so wonderfully dealt with those who were inquiring of him, seeking to trap him. But that wasn't the end of the day or the end of Jesus's ministry, just because they weren't asking any questions didn't mean he didn't have a few questions to ask, so he makes what is for us a last public statement from the temple. It's a parting shot from the temple treasury, if you will, a closing argument from the lips of our Lord dealing with true heart religion. Jesus began his ministry in the temple, if you remember, by flipping tables. in condemnation of their empty efforts to worship him. And he closes out his public ministry in the temple, not with condemnation, but with commendation of a poor widow who gave all that she had. Condemnation from Christ, commendation from Christ, One of those will be our final word from him. Every single one of us. The last word will be one of condemnation. Depart from me. I never knew you. Or one of commendation. Well done. Into the joy of your master. What will we hear? What will you hear? Let's walk through the text and consider it together. The first point I want to consider, I've titled Interrogating Inquiries, verses 35, 36, and 37. To connect this with the title, matters of motive. There's motive to know in the scribes here. There's a motive to know. The second point, avoiding appearances. There's a motive to appear a certain way. among the religious elites. So interrogating inquiries, avoiding appearances, that's 38, 39, and 40. And then finally, 41 through 44, motivating matters. There is a motive to be seen as giving. A motive to know, a motive to appear, a motive to be seen in a certain way. Back to verse 35, Jesus began to say, as he taught in the temple, I mentioned already, this is where he turns the tables, he's done taking questions, and now he is the interrogator. He's the one asking the questions. How is it, he says, how is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? How is that possible? Because David himself said in the Holy Spirit, the Lord said to my Lord, we heard it read from Psalm 110 earlier, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies beneath your feet. David himself calls him Lord. So in what sense is he his son? And the large crowd enjoyed listening to him. So there's an assumption that Jesus makes. that everybody's on the same page about, and that is that the Messiah who was promised is the Son of David, that the Christ would be in the line of David. The prophets prophesied this, Isaiah 9, 7, there will be no end to the increase of his government or of peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom. They very much expected the Messiah to be in the line of David. Or Jeremiah 23, 5, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch. There's a branch coming from the line of David. So they expected this. David was the most illustrious king of Israel. He was a shepherd and a poet and a warrior. All of the Jews were aware of this famous king of days gone by. In fact, his reign was regarded as the golden age of Israel. When his son Solomon took over, things were not the same. And a generation after that, we see the kingdom is divided between Jeroboam and Rehoboam. And the golden age is long gone as corruption spreads through both the northern and southern kingdoms. And so people long for this regime of David to return. And God had promised that David's house would be restored and that it would last forever. And so the people of God are anticipating that and expecting that. They assume that the Messiah is the son of David, and rightly so. But with that assumption comes something that's also overlooked, or something that's overlooked as well. How can David's son be David's Lord? The scribes, in all their study, in all their attempt to know, in their expertise, they have missed something crucial about the Messiah. We can see again, we've seen already throughout the book of Mark this expectation that Jesus actually is in the line of David. There hasn't been a question on that. You remember believing Bartimaeus in chapter 10, verse 47, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Or at the triumphant entry, three, four days earlier, blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David. The crowds were clamoring as he entered in to the holy city for this Passover week. And here Jesus is saying to them on Tuesday afternoon in the temple, look at what David said about his son, the son that you are expecting as your Messiah. Do you see what he's saying? And he backs up what he's saying to say, this is not just David's idea. It's not just my idea. Jesus's view of scripture is detailed here. David himself said, verse 36, in the Holy Spirit. Jesus is completely convinced it's not just David saying this, but God has said this. His view of scripture is one of divine inspiration. It's why we say in our catechism to the question, who wrote the Bible? Can we get any of the children to answer? This is very difficult. I always ask my kids, why don't you answer? There's just so few of us. Who wrote the Bible? Is it holy men who were taught by the Holy Spirit? Yes, that's the answer. One of these times I'm gonna have all of the children stand up, that way we get an answer out of them. Who wrote the Bible? Holy men who were taught by the Holy Spirit. That's Jesus's view of the scriptures. He recognizes, he says, David himself said, but he also realizes that it was under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Lord said to my Lord, the Lord said to my Lord, literally Yahweh, God said to Adonai, the Lord. Oh, we can hear it this way. The father said to the son. When David says in the Holy Spirit, the Lord said to my Lord, this is not someone talking to himself. Who is David's Lord? When he says the Lord said to my Lord, this is part of what Jesus is inquiring of the scribes here. You are experts, he says. Tell me, what is David talking about? And he continues, sit at my right hand, the highest place of authority. Who is David talking about that is going to be seated at the right hand of God? Who is going to have this place of high authority? Who is it that's being told to sit there? Sit there until I put your enemies beneath your feet. This is a conquering king that David is referring to, a king that is actively ruling, a king that's reigning even now for our benefit as God's people. So Jesus says, David himself calls him Lord. So in what sense is he his son? If or better, because he is David's Lord, how can he be David's son? In Jewish society, sons are always, always subordinate to their father. So how can this son who comes way down the line in David's line also be his Lord? How is it possible? In Jewish society, sons are never greater than the father. It's an impossibility. So how can he be both David's son and David's sovereign? How is it possible? That's Jesus's question for the scribes. How can Christ merely be David's son? That's assumed. How can he only be that? Because David calls him Lord, his Lord. It's possible because this man, this Christ, this Jesus is the God-man. Listen to the way that the apostle Paul introduces his letter to the church at Rome concerning his son, who was born a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead according to the spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord. In this one man, There are two natures. He is both God and man. He is David's Lord and he is the Messiah, the promised one. There are truths being asserted by Jesus in the midst of his temple teaching on this Tuesday afternoon. Some of them are absolute triumph over every foe is guaranteed. He's reminding them of that. From Psalm 110, until I put your enemies beneath your feet, all your enemies will be crushed. Absolute triumph over every foe. And as I mentioned already, it is the Holy Spirit that is the author of this Psalm. Jesus is not defaulting to some mere man in David. It's also a Messianic Psalm. That's clear from what Jesus says here, but we can go to Peter in Acts 2, or Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, or the writer of Hebrews in chapter one, verse 13, and see that all over the New Testament, Psalm 110 is clearly referring to this God-man, to the Messiah, to Christ, to Jesus. Another truth asserted by Christ here is this distinction made between persons of the Godhead. The father is speaking to the mediator. God the father is speaking to his son. So we're able to see that Messiah is the root and the offspring of David. He is the sovereign of David and he is the son of David. Now, When we consider what's happening here, all that's happened in Jesus's life and what he has revealed and hasn't revealed about himself, it's remarkable to see how close Christ comes to revealing his identity here. He's never come this close. Most of what we've seen thus far in the Gospel of Mark, we've referred to as the messianic secret, where Jesus would accomplish some healing and then tell people to keep quiet about it. It wasn't yet his time. But here he is, the Christ himself, pointing to these Old Testament promises that he himself is fulfilling right before these so-called experts in the text. And the large crowd that had gathered, verse 37, enjoyed listening to him. They were glad to hear it, which we must point out that we should not assume that their enjoyment was a positive response. It isn't as if they heard what Jesus was saying and thought, aha, he is the God man. This is the Messiah. This is the one who came to save us from our sins. This is the one who is the creator of all things, who is the king of the world. Well, that's not it at all. In fact, that exact phrase, they enjoyed listening to him. It's not the first time it showed up, even in the gospel of Mark. Chapter six, verse 20. Herod was afraid of John the Baptist. knowing that he was a righteous and holy man and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed, but he used to enjoy listening to him. Herod's enjoyment did not keep him from beheading the bold prophet. And this large crowd that is enjoying Listening to Jesus' teaching will soon join the cry of others for Him to be crucified by the end of the week. Enjoying a sermon, enjoying a song, enjoying a book or an article is not the same as being spiritually benefited by it. How is it, Jesus inquires, how is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? How is it that David himself calls him Lord? How then can he also be his son? Not only were the scribes and others finished asking questions, it appears that they also don't have the capacity to answer any questions because they don't offer an answer to Jesus. And so Jesus proceeds to expose them practically. Having dealt with their doctrine and exposing their lack of understanding with regard to the Messiah and who he is, he proceeds to expose them practically. When we think wrongly about God and what he says in his word, it will lead to us living wrongly before him. Matters of motive. There is motive to know in the scribes, but not to do. They just want to know more, but not to do. They are hearers of the word. only rather than doers. So let's see how Jesus exposes them practically. Point two, avoiding appearances or avoiding mere appearances. Verses 38 through 40, in Jesus's teaching he was saying, beware of the scribes. Right, remember these scribes are standing there. They're not the only ones standing there, but they are there. Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and like respectful greetings in the marketplaces and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets who devour widows houses and for appearances sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation. We can think of these scribes as facade in the front and fraudulent to the core. They were putting on a good face. But they had a lot of hallmarks of hypocrisy. There was an obsession with appearance. In fact, their appearance was an augmented authority. They had no real authority, so what did they do? They put on these resplendent white gowns. Common people back then mostly wore bright colors. They wore something completely opposite in order to stand out because they were worried about how those people saw them. And we can fall into this trap. We can have an obsession with appearing a certain way, being more consumed with how people see us rather than how God sees us. So they would wear these long, white, flowing robes. Sounds rather popish. We'll just let that lie. Hallmarks of hypocrisy. Not just an obsession with appearance, but there was a passion for status. There was an inward fight in them to be first. We can fall into this trap too. Do you get a buzz from being admired by the masses? It's tempting. It's a hallmark of hypocrisy. Another one is false spirituality. Jesus points out here, their insincerity was despicable. And again, we're prone to fall into this, pretending to be what we're not, by the way that we talk, by our prayers, seeking to be seen, rather than seeking to be known by God alone. Another hallmark of hypocrisy, the ruthless greed, such a disregard for the poor. They devour widows' houses. The most vulnerable in that society, a complete disregard in order to line their own pockets. It's helpful for us to consider what are the priorities of our investments, our investments of time and energy and resources? Hallmarks of hypocrisy, obsession with appearance, a passion for status, a false spirituality, a ruthless greed, seeking out lofty status, wanting the best seats to be reserved, symbols of honor being pursued. Surely we can look at this and notice that the most scathing indictment of all is that last one. The exploiting of the most vulnerable to devour widow's houses. It seems so much more extreme than the other things that are listed there. But the fact that it's in a list and listed last, and there's no reason for us to assume that Jesus is beginning with the small and going to the great, it's helpful for us to see that we ought to give the same measure of attention to avoiding these hallmarks of hypocrisy. Because we can probably all come to agreement that we're not very likely to devour widows' houses. But when it comes to false spirituality and a passion for status and obsession with appearance, it's a little closer to home. Jesus lists them all here, just right in a row. These are the dangers. Look at how they attempted to disguise their hypocrisy For appearance sake, those who devour widows' houses, for appearance sake, offer long prayers. Imagine that. It's really hard for us to grasp praying long prayers for the widows that they're praying on, seeking to hide their wickedness. Prophet Isaiah talks about this. Chapter 10, woe to those who enact evil statutes and to those who constantly record unjust decisions so as to deprive the needy of justice and rob the poor of their rights so that widows may be their spoil and that they may plunder the orphans. Listen to their response. Now, what will you do in the day of punishment? and in the devastation which will come from afar. To whom, Isaiah asked, to whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth? Nothing remains but to crouch among the captives or fall among the slain. In spite of this, his anger, God's anger does not turn away, and his hand is still stretched out, stretched out towards you who deprive the needy of justice, who rob the poor of their rights, who take the spoil from the widows and plunder the orphans. Isaiah warns that those who mistreat widows and orphans, the poor and the needy will be destroyed. He doesn't mince any words. Widows and orphans and the poor and the needy are incredibly important to God. We see it all throughout the scriptures. In fact, the first deacons were appointed as a result of widows being neglected. James, the brother of our Lord, tells us that one evidence of pure and undefiled religion is caring for widows and orphans. Jesus goes on to say here, these will receive greater condemnation. Remember, not just those who devour widows' houses, but those who have an obsession with appearance. those who have a passion for status, and those who have false spirituality, and those who are marked with ruthless greed. You will incur a heavier sentence. You will receive more severe punishment. Job 20 verse 5, that the triumphing of the wicked is short and the joy of the godless momentary. Your devouring, your greed, your false spirituality, your passion for status, your obsession for appearance, Jesus says, will turn to destruction soon. In fact, what Mark here says is so much of a summary of the full teaching of Jesus on that afternoon. I think it will benefit us to look at Matthew's version, which is far more full and even more scathing than what we've considered already. Matthew chapter 23. I'm sure every preaching book that exists says to not do this in a sermon. But I'm gonna read 33 verses. And you're gonna listen to them. Matthew 23. This is the same teaching recorded by a different disciple there on Tuesday afternoon. Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, All that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds, for they say things and do not do them. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men, for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by men. But do not be called rabbi, for one is your teacher. you are all brothers do not call anyone on earth your father for one is your father he who is in heaven do not be called leaders for one is your leader that is Christ but the greatest among you shall be your servant whoever exalts himself shall be humbled and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted but woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from your people, for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers, therefore you will receive greater condemnation. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselytite, proselyte, sorry, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. Woe to you, blind guides, who say, whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated. You fools and blind men. Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? And whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated. You blind men. Which is more important, the offering or the altar that sanctifies the offering? Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears by both the altar and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple, swears by both the temple and by him who dwells within it. And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you tithe mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law, justice and mercy and faithfulness. But these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish so that the outside of it may become clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. So you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous and say, If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets. So you testify against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up then the measure of the guilt of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? Jesus meant business on this Tuesday afternoon. Strong warnings from him to them and to us against the sinful craving to be somebody, to be prominent, to be honored by others. A strong rebuke from him to them and to us, rebuking all religious sham. A strong rebuke from him to them and to us, condemning the use of religion for gain. And a strong reminder from him to them and thus to us, that his all-penetrating eyes see all, always. They had a motive to appear, but not to be. Matters of motive. They had a motive to appear. They wanted to appear a certain way. No strong desire to be a certain way. Which brings us to the final point. Verse 41 and following. A sharp contrast is pointed out by Christ. It's like a live lesson in real time. Jesus has moved a little bit further to one of the outer areas of the temple where the giving of the offering took place. It was called the Court of Women. And he's people watching, right? Verse 41, he sat down opposite the treasury and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury. So he's people watching. Most of us have done that at some time, in some place, sitting in the airport, waiting for a flight. He's people watching. He's watching people who do not know that they're being watched. They especially don't know that they're being watched by the Son of God. But they are being watched. We know that they're being watched because we hear the commentary from Jesus to his disciples. But they're not the only ones being watched. We are too. And not just when we give. but always. This lesson that Christ offers is specifically with regard to giving. He was observing how the people were putting money into the treasury. Notice the words here. He was not noticing what they were putting. He knew what they were putting. He was noticing how. How over what? We'll come back to that. Giving to the Lord and giving to the Lord's work is a practice that was established soon after God brought his people out of bondage in Egypt. Exodus 25, the Lord spoke to Moses saying, tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for me from every man whose heart moves him. You shall raise my contribution. This is the contribution which you are to raise from them. Gold, silver, and bronze, blue, purple, scarlet material, fine linen, goat hair, ram skins, dyed red, porpoise skins, acacia wood, oil for lighting, spices for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense, onyx stones and setting stones for the ephod and for the breast piece. Let them construct a sanctuary for me, God says, that I may dwell with him. So Jesus has rescued his people from bondage and he says to Moses, through Moses to the people, raise a contribution from every man whose heart moves him. that I may dwell among them. So God has called his people out of bondage, he's calling them to himself and he is telling them this is how to establish an ongoing covenant with me. This is how we're going to meet and commune in the tabernacle and eventually the temple. He desires to dwell with his people. So here in this story where Jesus is, the temple has been constructed. And in the temple treasury, there were 13 boxes, right? We have one box. There were 13 options of basically different line items that you could give to, right? You could give your new temple dues, you could pay your old temple dues, if you were behind, I guess. If you wanted to give to wood that needed to be purchased or frankincense, six of them were free will offerings. But they were boxes and they were trumpet shaped, metal, and designed in such a way that when you put the coins in, it was audibly noticeable, right? Especially when large sums were put in. So you can imagine carrying a large load of coins in and dumping them in and all the racket around the whole court and how the attention, wow, look at that person and what they're putting in. That's the idea. And Jesus notes, many rich people were putting in large sums. How did he know? Because he was watching them. Now, there's no reason for us to assume, we're likely to read into this and assume that Jesus disapproved of these offerings. He doesn't say anything. He just says many rich people were putting in large sums. Many likely had noble and pure motivations. The comparison that Jesus is drawing here is not with cash contribution, but with the core of the contributors, with the heart, the motive, the devotion between those who are giving. Look how he continues here. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. So many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. And then Jesus calls his disciples over. to explain to them a few things about this most famous donation in history. Two small copper coins. Who would imagine that it would be the most famous donation in history? I mean, literally, the word here for these two small copper coins, small copper coins, three words in English, one word in the original, lepta, the idea is peeled, a little bit just shaven off. Another concept is thin or light. In fact, when I saw it and thinking about the definition of the word peeled, what came to my mind is even less than if you think about an orange, it's not so much the peeling of the orange, but maybe some of the zest off of it. It's that light. So much so then when it was dropped in, it was inaudible. against the numerous shuckles of the rich. The scribes really wanted to be noticed with their substantial gifts. But here we are, a couple of millennia later, discussing the poor widow's contribution. What about this particular widow? Has she been robbed by the religious frauds? I mean, Jesus just said that these religious leaders devour widows' houses, and then a widow comes in. Has everything else that she had been taken? I mean, just imagine, I'm reading into it, speculating a little bit, but imagine her having been defrauded by the leaders of the temple, and here she comes with wholehearted devotion to God, giving all that she had left, everything that wasn't taken. With nothing to spare, she gave what she could. And again, it's worth noting that it's not the money that Jesus valued or that he drew attention to, but devotion. Earlier in Jesus's ministry in the Sermon on the Mount, he talked to his disciples about giving. Beware, he said, of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them. Interesting that he said this early on in his ministry, and still the temple structure is such that it draws attention. People have the freedom of drawing attention to themselves in the way that they give. Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them, otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet. Interesting the word trumpet there. 13 offering boxes were trumpet shaped, right? Don't sound a trumpet. The sound was the money going into the trumpet in the temple. He's saying, don't sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites in the synagogues and in the streets so that they may be honored by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your giving will be in secret. And as your father sees, remember, he does see everything always. as your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. This poor widow is a perfect example of that. It is likely, first I'll say this, the final judgment and eternal rewards are still future for the entirety of God's people, for all of the church. That has not happened yet. It is likely that this widow still does not know the result of her gift. Because she was giving herself to God in giving it, wanted no attention, Jesus draws attention to his disciples. We're discussing her this morning. She will not receive her final eternal reward. and to the consummation of the kingdom. But it's an opportunity for us to consider, as individuals, is there any secret service of love to God that will be revealed in us on that day? Or have we found a way for every bit of our service to be exposed so that we receive our reward now? God is far more infinitely more concerned with how we give, over and above what we give. That's what Jesus was doing there in the temple. Back at the beginning of verse 41, he sat down, Jesus sat down, observing how the people were giving. Because how we give is what matters most. It's also worth noting that how we give does affect what we give. The two are not disconnected at all. But generosity is not the measuring stick that Jesus points out here. It is the heart motive alone that matters to God. God's not after our money. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He is after our hearts. We might call it the divine currency. He's after our all in all. And you may be arguing in your mind, yeah, but if everybody that day only gave these two copper coins, it would have been hard for them to continue the ministry. Can God really use something so insignificantly small? We can just turn our pages back and see what happened with five loaves and two fish. Or again, if we think about this passage, Imagine how many times this passage has been read or preached or taught or considered. Imagine the untold billions that these two minuscule coins have multiplied into since then and now. I think if I can summarize it in a couple of concise statements. If there is love with the giver, For God, there will be power in the gift. If there's love with the giver, there will be power in the gift. Or this way, when the heart is right with God, when our hearts are right before God, the size of the gift is also just right. But what matters is our love for God and our heart being right with Him. I mentioned a couple times that phrase from verse 43, calling his disciples to him. This is a interesting phrase. It happens a number of times throughout the gospel, but each time it is because Jesus has something important to share. In fact, it's the phrase that's used the first time he calls them for their initial appointment into ministry. It's the phrase that he used when he called them before sending them out in pairs. It's the phrase that he used when he called them together before the feeding of the 5,000. In chapter 8, verse 34, he summoned the crowd with his disciples, called them all and said, if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Or again, in chapter 10, he calls them to himself and ultimately says, even the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. And then here on Tuesday afternoon, in the final week of his life, he calls his disciples to him. He said, truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all the contributors to the treasury, for they put in out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on. With regard to matters of motive, There was a motive to be seen as a giver, but not to give all of who they were. What about for us? When it comes to our hearts, our motive, the why we do what we do. May God help us to avoid motives to appear, but not to be. Motives to know, but not to do, motives to be seen as serving or giving, but not serving or giving our all to him. Here in this passage, Jesus attacks their wrong doctrine, he exposes their corrupt practice, and he encourages his disciples to give him their all. It's my prayer that we will hear him and we'll respond accordingly. That we'll seek to know him in the way that he has described himself on the pages of his word. And we'll seek to do his word, not just learn truths about him or interesting things about him. But we might be doers of the word and not hearers only. And that we might be motivated to be what he's called us to be. to be salt and light in the world that he's put us in, and not just to appear, and that we might really give all of who we are in service to God, not just seeking to be seen as people who are sacrificing, but actually giving ourselves to him. May God help us that that will be true for each one of us and for us collectively as a church. Let's pray together.