Mark 12:35-44
Notes
Transcript
Handout
After Jesus has been asked all these questions...
Question of Authority (12:1-17)
A Question of about Eternity (12:18-27)
A Question of Priority (12:28-34)
Now it was now our Lord’s turn to ask questions, and He focused on the most important question of all...
Whose Son is the Christ? A Question of Identity.
Whose Son is the Christ? A Question of Identity.
35 And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared, “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.” ’ 37 David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?” And the great throng heard him gladly.
How many times have you heard Somebody use a term to describe somebody or a situation and you just think to yourself, that’s true… but what you are saying is just inadequate to fully explain who they are or what’s happening. The person is being too simplistic. OR, they do not fully understand what’s going on when they think they do.
WHO IS THE MESSIAH?
WHOSE SON IS HE?
This is a far more important question than the ones that the religious leaders have been asking Jesus.
For
If we are wrong about Jesus Christ, then we are wrong about salvation.
And for the Jews, if we are wrong about Jesus… some of it probably has to do with being wrong about the type of salvation that Jesus offers. The type of Messiah that He is...
You see, we know without a question that the Messiah from OT scripture was supposed to be of the line of David.
I can go down the list of OT and NT Scripture that affirms that.
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh
Jesus here is not trying to deny that He was in the line of King David. As far as His family. This is something that some may think.
What Jesus is trying to do here is elevate their conception of what the Messiah has come to do.
To Jesus, this term that had been used by the Israelites had become an inadequate term. An inadequate concept of the Messiah.
Mark has been leading up to this during his whole Gospel.
Jesus had not come as the type of Messiah as what people had though.
They thought was that the Messiah would come as this conquering King. This King in the line of David that did David like things in bringing glory to the nation of Israel. “Son of David.” This political power house of a King that acted, looked, killed, conquered like a King!
But Jesus says no this is wrong. And to prove His point He goes back to the OT.
Thru quoting Psalm 110:1 here, the point that Jesus is making is that in ancient Israelite society fathers did not refer to their sons or even more distant descendants as his Lord, he must be referring to someone who was more than a physical descendant.
(MORE THAN JUST A PHYSICAL DESCENDANT)
Jesus is correcting this common incorrect notion that the Messiah was to be this warrior-king like David.
The issue in the passage is not whether Jesus is in the line of David but what it means for Him to be in the line of David.
Jesus is more than the Son of David; He is the Son of Man. He’s the representative of all humanity and not just the Jews, who had to suffer and then be exalted at God’s right hand.
Still more important He is the Son of God!
The crowds were pleased because of Jesus putting the scribes to shame.
Beware of the Scribes. A Warning against Pride.
Beware of the Scribes. A Warning against Pride.
38 And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces 39 and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 40 who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
Jesus in the next two sections compares empty spirituality with true spirituality.
It is NOT what the world ever really portrays or thinks of.
FIRST… Beware, He says, of those who put on a religious show.
Beware of these people who like to look like they are very important, have the best places of honor wherever they sit and in whichever room they are in, who secretly take advantage of those who are less fortunate, and try to sound the most sophisticated.
This is an empty spirituality, and Jesus says these people will receive a great condemnation. Because of the reality that they are fake.
If a person is “important” only because of the uniform they wear, the title they bear, or the office they hold, then the “importance” is artificial.
The Widow’s Offering. A Warning against the Rich.
The Widow’s Offering. A Warning against the Rich.
41 Sitting across from the temple treasury, he watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury. Many rich people were putting in large sums. 42 Then a poor widow came and dropped in two tiny coins worth very little. 43 Summoning his disciples, he said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 For they all gave out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had—all she had to live on.”
It is character that makes a person valuable, and nobody can give you character: you must develop it yourself as you walk with God.
13 receptacles for women to put both tax and voluntary money in for offerings.
two small coin were lepta. Smallest in circulation at that time. Worth 1/64 of a denarius. (A days wage for a common worker)
He doesn’t condemn the people giving large amounts of money. But He looks at this lady and Highlights her attitude.
Because the widow put in all she had, she had to trust God for her life.
A major element to the teachings of Jesus is that attitude is more important than action. The widow’s total giving demonstrates at attitude of absolute trust in God.
An additional lesson here is still on the attitude that Jesus emphasizes all during His life.
This sacrificial gift of the widow points to the sacrificial gift of Jesus.
She gave her entire livelihood, He gave her very life.
As Paul puts it…
9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
This account acts as a transition to the passion narrative in chaps. 14-15. With this beautiful story Mark ends his account of the public ministry of Jesus.