Presentation 41
Presentation 41
Introduction
There is a World War II film entitled 'The Longest Day‘.
It describes a day of intense conflict. As the artillery
barrages cease, wave upon wave of infantry vainly
attack the enemy positions. The futility of trench
warfare is exposed.
Our passage brings us to the end of Jesus 'longest day'.
His enemies had emptied their arsenals. They had
thrown everything they had at Jesus but to no avail.
Jesus had been attacked by those who professed to be
on God's side. Their hollow spirituality exposed and judged.
The spiritual trench warfare left him exhausted but he was revived by one
incident, the genuine, extravagant worship of a poor simple widow. Surely no
contrast in the Bible is more revealing than this.
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Jesus' Question
The religious leaders had failed to trap Jesus. The amazed
crowd were obviously delighted to see anyone take on the
establishment. Jesus then asked a question which proved
to be a knockout blow…. It concerned the identity of the
Messiah. How could David call one of his descendants his
Lord[Ps.110]? The Messiah, was not simply David's
successor, but his sovereign. David's successor could only
be his Lord if he was more than a mere man, existing
before him and well as after him. The answer to Jesus’
question would remain a mystery as long as the leaders
stubbornly rejected Jesus. Of course, Jesus knew the
answer: David's Lord was the eternal Son of God and
David's Lord became his 'son' when he was conceived in
the womb of Mary, a direct descendant of David.
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Jesus' Question
The real problem for the religious leaders, was that
by refusing to allow the Word of God to shape their
thinking, they had a distorted view of Jesus’ identity.
An inadequate view of Jesus will always produce,
unrest, tension and rejection in our hearts. He will
appear to be too demanding and too interfering!
Many people are deluded into thinking that the
universe is a vast democracy where they can choose
to offer their support to Jesus on condition that he
gives them what they want? If he fails to do so, or
begins to make what seem to be unreasonable
demands, then they simply vote him out of office.
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Jesus' Question
How foolish it to think that Jesus rules only
by our forbearance? To reject Jesus’ rule
doesn't displace him as ruler, but it does
deprives those who do so of the rich,
eternal and gracious blessing of God.
Now do you know what the amazing paradox is?
Those who do submit to Jesus’ rule discover that
it is not the impoverishing, demanding rule that
they feared, for his yoke is easy and his burden is
light [Matt. 11v30]. But these religious leaders
had closed the door on that discovery. They had
turned the key in the lock and bolted it fast!
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False Teachers Exposed
The abiding memory, of this day, for many in the
crowd was Jesus’ exposure of the shallowness of
the religious establishment.
First, these leaders were identified as men with
unhealthy ambitions. They craved honour. They
loved to project an image of themselves as being
pious and important. They were attracted to the
trappings of power. Their flowing robes gave them
a distinctive identity v38. They bathed in the praise
of men and loved being greeted in the market
place v38. Instead of encouraging those whom
they taught to pursue love, and serve God, they
placed themselves in the limelight.
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False Teachers Exposed
Contemporary rabbis wrote the following at
around this time:
“Your reverence for your teacher should border on
your reverence for God....If a man's father and
teacher are carrying burdens, he must first help his
teacher and afterwards his father....If his father and
teacher are in captivity he must first ransom his
teacher”.
Do you see, not only how self-preoccupied they
were, but their overweening clamour for honour,
praise and recognition? They longed for glory. But
then God does not share his glory with another,
Isa.42v8.
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False Teachers Exposed
A second characteristic of these leaders was their
consuming pride. They wanted recognition in both
the religious and the secular world v39... They saw
themselves in a kind of Religious Olympics, so that
whatever they did, they then looked around to see
what sort of scores the judges would hold up, surely
a perfect 10.
Significantly Jesus warned his disciples of the
danger of pride in Lk. 10v18 “I saw Satan fall like
lightning from heaven”. Satan’s great sin was pride
[Isa.14v14] and the disciples were in danger of
boasting of their spiritual successes, as if they were
the authors of the achievements.
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False Teachers Exposed
Thirdly, their greed is exposed, they preyed on wealthy
widows whose husbands once made all the decisions
and who now felt in need of guidance. As these men,
masquerading as the servants of God, visited their
homes it was not to comfort. They were there thinking,
'How much is she worth and how can I get it out of
her?' Jesus promised them severe punishment.
In v40 we see that Jesus last words of public ministry
were directed to those who had hardened their hearts
irreversibly against him… Whenever a person refuses to
live their lives in submission to Christ's Lordship then
their lives are always going to be selfishly self-centred
rather than God-centred.
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A Genuine Worshipper Uncovered
At the close of day, Jesus is exhausted and seated on the temple steps next to the
treasury. Before him were 13 collection boxes shaped like upturned trumpets. Into
which many of the 200,000 + pilgrims were placing their gifts. It was the practice of
some to call out the size of their gift. '500 gold coins, 100 gold coins, 250 pieces of
silver, 10 pieces of silver'.
Jesus watched several people put in large sums. Then a poor widow shuffled
forwards. Did she waited until there were few people around? The noise of her two
small copper coins was hardly
audible as they slipped in.
Her gift was so small, that if the
wealthy dropped this amount
on the pavement, they ‘d
probably leave it there.
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A Genuine Worshipper Uncovered
Some around Jesus may have wondered what he
thought of the enormous gifts given by the fabulously
rich. But it is to this poor widow that he points and says,
'I tell you the truth this widow has put more into the
treasury than all the others' v43.
The disciples must have thought, 'Come on Jesus we
might not have university degrees but our maths isn't
that bad! Gold coins are worth much more that
throwaway copper by anybody's reckoning'.
Oh really, but not by God's reckoning for the arithmetic
of heaven is quite different and Jesus explains why this
is so. God doesn't count the amount, he counts the
proportion and he measures the attitude of our hearts.
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A Genuine Worshipper Uncovered
The others had given out of their plenty, she had
given all she had. The gifts of the rich had not
cost them much. The women's gift cost her
everything she had.
The rich had no doubt given, having first
calculated how much they could afford; after
they'd bought the Persian carpet they'd
promised themselves, and that large box of
Turkish Delight, and that bale of Damascus silk,
which would make them the envy of the
neighbourhood. Their giving did not hurt them .
They had given a token of their plenty, she had
given the total of her poverty.
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A Genuine Worshipper Uncovered
A gift should reflect our love. When we show we are
prepared work doubly hard, or to do without
something, in order to make it we reveal our love.
How few of us aspire to this woman’s extravagance!
This woman made a greater impression on Jesus
than anyone else he had met that day. How
refreshingly different this simple worshipper was
from the religious leaders who hogged the limelight.
She came to God captivated by his love for her and
with little thought of herself. By her act was saying,
'Dear God I owe you everything'. Very often it is the
poorest people who have the largest bank accounts
in heaven.
Presentation 41
A Genuine Worshipper Uncovered
You might ask, ‘Was she not being reckless? Where was her next meal coming
from?’ Her gift was probably that days wages for some menial work. It was 'all she
had to live on!' v44. There is a recklessness in love, it gladly gives to the one we love
believing that they will help us in our need. Well God is no man's debtor. Jesus saw
not only the sacrifice and consecration of this woman's life but the amazing trust
she placed in her heavenly Father - for having given
all that she had to him she had become
totally dependant upon him to provide
for her. If the religious leaders had
grieved Jesus by their greedy grasping
hand this woman had delighted his
heart because of her open-handedness
and generosity of spirit.
Presentation 41
A Genuine Worshipper Uncovered
Unlike the religious leaders this woman did
not want to draw attention to herself. She did
not cry out in a martyr’s voice, 'Lord its all I
have but I am giving it to you.' She did not
milk the crowd for applause at what for her
was a very real sacrifice.
The religious leaders would have seized upon
the photo-call opportunity to draw to
themselves praise and adulation. She slipped
quietly in and out of the temple. She had
given, in the sight of Jesus and it is his
estimate of us and not that of men that is
ultimately all important.
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Conclusion
Without knowing it , this simple woman’s actions
encouraged Jesus on the last day of his public
ministry. All day long he had experienced a barrage
of questions from a spiritually bankrupt religious
establishment but a woman stirred the admiration
of his heart and the applause of heaven. Did Jesus
carry this picture of sacrificial love in his mind as he
moved towards the cross. There Jesus would empty
more than his wallet. He would pour out his life in
sacrifice, saying to a sinful world, 'I love you'. Our
giving, no matter how apparently insignificant in the
eyes of men, can capture God's attention and thrill
his heart. Only he can see the sacrificial nature of
our gift which says, 'I love you Lord'.
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