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Mark 11-13

10/13/2015

5 Comments

 
​The Widows gift (12:41-44)
41 The “treasury” appears to have been located in the court of women and appears to have consisted of thirteen trumpet-shaped receptacles for both the temple tax and money given voluntarily for various purposes.
42 The “two very small copper coins” were two lepta (so the Greek text). The lepton was the smallest coin in circulation in Palestine and was worth 1/64 of a denarius, a day’s wages for a common laborer. It was not in circulation in the western part of the Roman Empire, where Mark apparently wrote. Therefore he explained that two lepta had the same value as a kodrantēs, the Greek transliteration of the Latin quadrans, which was a coin familiar to his readers/hearers. (The statement “which is a quadrans” is obscured by the NIV’s “worth only a fraction of a penny.” A similar obfuscation appears in most translations because most modern readers have no knowledge of ancient coins or their values.)
43–44 Jesus indicated that the thing of most importance is not how much is given but the extent to which the gift is a sacrificial one. Or to put it another way, the most significant thing is not how much is given but how much is left for one’s personal use after the gift. A major element of Jesus’ teaching is that attitude is more important than action. The widow’s total giving demonstrates an attitude of absolute trust in God.
Quite different is the interpretation that claims the widow was guilty of imprudence and that Jesus could not have commended her. Rather he condemned a system that permitted widows to be destitute and perhaps even made them destitute by pressuring them to give all they had. The same kind of extravagance, however, is commended in 14:6. There was so much poverty in ancient Palestine that the authorities could do little about it. The commendation of the widow does not imply that every disciple should give away everything.
The expression “calling his disciples to him” indicates that the teaching was intended for them and for all subsequent disciples. They too were to be generous in the extreme but without any ostentatiousness. In various ways they were to give their all as the widow did. But there is an additional lesson in the account. The sacrificial gift of the widow points to the sacrificial gift of Jesus. She gave her entire livelihood; he gave his very life. As Paul put it, “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9). Therefore the account functions as a transition to the passion narrative in chaps. 14–15. With this beautiful story Mark ended his account of Jesus’ public ministry.
5 Comments
Tammy
10/14/2015 03:17:32 am

chapter 12:28-31....Jesus said the two greatest commandments is to love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength...and love your neighbor as yourself. The two greatest things we can do in this life is to love God and love others. Everything we do should stem from these 2 commands. Seems so simple....yet so hard at the same time. Again...I'm seeing all aspects of this life comes down to a heart issue. Our hearts deceive us and we need the constant support and reminders of His love for us even when we don't feel worthy. Amen for His word and his constant presence in our life!

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Bruce
10/15/2015 08:38:26 am

Thanks pastor for letting us know about the ancient coins and i temple tax. I did know that they had to pay a tax to worship in a temple.

I have been talking with some family and friends that are having some issues in their daily lives. I find myself talking with them about the word of God and have used the teachings of Jesus, about his command to love others. As well as pastors teachings of not putting ourselves and the material things we have or want first. I tell them to pray and that even though they may being going through a hard time now, that if they continue to concentrate on God and the teachings of Jesus, their problems won't matter, as they can be happy forever in heaven. Then i pray for them. I like using the word of God to try to help people instead of my hardened heart as i would have in the past. This truly has to be God working in my life. Thank you God!!!!

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Tammy
10/15/2015 12:59:36 pm

bruce....thank you...I needed to hear those exact words today. And always remember that no matter how hard life gets we can still have joy. Joy is not dependent on circumstances and the joy we have can only come from our God. It's a peace in knowing that all this is temporary and no one can take our salvation away. Thank you for your encouraging words today. :)

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Bruce
10/15/2015 03:14:32 pm

Tammy, I am glad i said something that you needed to hear. Again that is our God at work... It's that amazing how he works. I have also been using his word in my life as well. When i feel daily life is getting to me. I open the bible or i have been saying the lords prayer, if the bible is not handy. Although, i still have to deal with whatever issue has come up, it helps take the edge off. I still get upset and fail some days, but again, i take my small victories when i can.

PS: you also have helped me with your encouraging words as well. I wish we could get others to join us with blogging, it really does help me!!

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Tammy
10/16/2015 04:34:43 am

Amen!
I agree that God is at work...all over. I carry my Bible to my work, and there have been lots of times I've got it out to reference something for someone in need or just to read myself. Most don't understand what or why I have it, but that's ok. God know and uses that situation as an open door for me to talk about Him......as most of the time that is not comfortable for me as we talked about before. I could share a lot on this. We could talk about it one day. I grow through the comments on here as well. There are a lot of mature Christians in our church that we can ask questions to as well.
Thank you for allowing our God to use you....you are growing and helping more people see Him than you realize.

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