v 45And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, 46"Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 47 who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation." 1Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, 2and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. 3And he said, "Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. 4For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."
v Jesus is in the temple, the center of Jewish life, and he is speaking to his disciples *in the hearing of all the people. What do we learn from this? Jesus does not hold back publically what he is thinking privately. This guy is not afraid to teach the truth no matter where he is or who is around. We also need to realize that Jesus, God incarnate, is physically there, in the temple, literally describing what he sees taking place right before his very eyes.
v Have you ever wondered, “Does God see everything?” Well he does, and right now Jesus is describing to his disciples what he has seen and what he is about to see. Simply stated, God himself is the narrator, and the audience in this passage. Just like in our lives – he’s the narrator and the audience. He writes our story and has a front seat to see it all come about. The question we have to ask ourselves concerning this passage is, when Jesus narrates our lives, does describe the self-serving scribe or does he describe the sacrificial widow? When Jesus watches our story come about, will he use us as an example for what it means to be self-serving, or what it means to be God-serving?
v Jesus says to his disciples, “Beware of the scribes.” Who are the scribes? Well, they were learned teachers and authoritative leaders who transcribed and protected the law. They were buddy-buddy with the Pharisees, and they enjoyed the authority of leadership in Israel given to them primarily because of their knowledge. They were advisors to the same high-priests who would very soon beg the Roman government to crucify Jesus. Anytime you see “teachers of the law” mentioned in scripture, scribes were part of this group. Summing it all up, they made it their job to protect the Jewish faith and message against imposters like Jesus Christ. Preserving Judaism was their purpose and mission in life, hence their hatred for Jesus.
v Jesus however throws his more-than-two-cents into play here, when he describes the Scribes like this: They “like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 47 who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers.” These guys were self-serving. Let’s just dissect this here. First and foremost, it says they “like to walk around in long robes.” These guys only did what they liked to do. Don’t ask these guys to give you a ride. Don’t ask these guys to help you out with your homework. Don’t ask these guys to vacuum the Church or take out the trash. That wouldn’t benefit them in every way, so forget it. So what do the Scribes like to do? They like “walking around in long robes”. When is the last time you did anything productive walking around in a long robe? They were totally oblivious to the needs of others, however at the same time, totally oblivious to how hypocritical and self-serving they had become. Darrell Bock, who wrote my commentary on Luke, says this: “What is subtle about pride is that it develops at such unconscious levels in the mind that it is often unnoticed by the person who has it.”
v Then Jesus goes on to say, they “love greetings in the marketplaces.” They like looking good, but they especially love praise from people. They want all the encouragement and affirmation without doing any of the hard work to deserve it. To be in the marketplace was to be in the center of attention. These aren’t the guys who are at church hours early making sure everything is in order and ready for service. These are the guys that show up when the party gets started and demand attention and praise.
v Jesus goes on to say that these guys love “the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts.” What a surprise – these guys love to sit. They aren’t washing anybodies feet; they’re getting their feet washed. These are the guys that walk into the church expecting to be entertained, pampered and fed. They aren’t there to serve – they’re there to be served. For them, they were the narrators and the audience of their own glorious story. To make matters worse, they took the places of honor at feasts. What did these guys do that was worthy of any honor? Yet they felt it was their place to be honored among all the people.
v They were misguided, misinformed, and mistaken, that they were what all the fuss was about. And the Oscar goes to…the scribes. Now let’s feast for them, because they know a lot of stuff, and everybody at the top of the Jew chain knows them and loves them.
v People like this typically have a few skeletons in their closet and it usually has something to do with the way they treat other people. The same is true for the Scribes. Darrell Bock says it this way: “Pride leads further to an elevation of the self that ends up seeing others (such as widows) as inferior and capable of being used as pawns.” They’re personable – they’re exciting – their outwardly inspiring in every way. But they’re *robbing the poor, and their stealing from the broken, and they’re prospering at the expense of widows. The same is true in the church today – the poor and the broken work the hardest so that the scribes can came enjoy themselves, make a mess and leave it for the widows to clean up. At the end of the day, the people who did the most work and made the biggest sacrifice often go unnoticed, while the people who have the most knowledge, leadership and authority receive all the fame and appreciation even though they didn’t earn it.
v Lastly, Jesus says that the Scribes “for a pretense make long prayers.” Not only do these guys steal from widows and take advantage of people who work hard, but they’re actually super holy, and they prove it by praying for a really, really long time. And it says they do it “for a pretense”. Meaning, these guys aren’t actually praying to God and for God, they’re actually praying to themselves and for themselves. It’s a big show. It’s all fake. They play the part of the super-spiritual person on the outside without actually being one on the inside. The best part is, Jesus sees them for who they really are and says, “They will receive the greater condemnation.”
v Let’s go back to the point I made at the beginning of my sermon. Jesus sees. People might see it differently – but Jesus sees it, knows it, and describes it to his disciples at this very moment. How does Jesus see you? How does Jesus describe you? At the end of the day, are you scribish? Are you serving or are you served? Are you sacrificing for others, or are others sacrificing for you? In your mind, make a list of how you would describe yourself, then, make a list of how you think other people would describe you, and then make a list of how you think Jesus would describe you. If those three lists are vastly different than one another – you might need to do some self-reflection and pray that God reveals to you your pride.
v People with true character and integrity do what is right in the eyes of God in the marketplaces and in the privacy of their own dorm, apartment or bedroom. People with true character and integrity do what is right in the eyes of God, not for worship and appreciation from others, but out of worship and appreciation for God. People with true character and integrity are rarely seen and heard – they’re the ones up at 8am while everyone else is asleep reading and studying God’s word. They’re here at 11pm praying for someone. They’re out between classes sharing the gospel. They’re here on Thursday night’s after service starting meaningful conversations with people they barely know. They’re doing your dishes downstairs. They’re throwing your garbage away. They’re planning the events you can’t afford to go because you’re spending your money on stuff you don’t need. They’re picking up your slack, with barely enough time to take care of themselves, and all along the way praying that you’d wake up to your selfishness.
v Jesus is saying to us today, “Analyze whether the encouragement and affirmation you demand from others is really deserved, and whether it’s even necessary in light of the encouragement and affirmation you should be seeking from God.”
v “1Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, 2and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins.”
v Jesus has his eyes open, and he looks up and sees the rich, most likely Scribes or Pharisees or other people of that nature, lavishing their gifts on the temple of the Lord. It’s no surprise that they’re doing this during the middle of the day when large crowds have gathered and everyone can see them. I envision it being like the wise-men lavishing gold, myrrh, and frankincense on the baby Jesus in the manger, except it didn’t demand them to travel hundreds of miles to do so, in the thick of the night, comprising their reputation, their freedom, and their safety. The contributions made by the rich were extremely generous but at very little actual cost to them. It was like loose change in their pocket and it took little to no sacrifice to give it.
v Jesus then “saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins”. These were the smallest coins made – each of them worth 1/100th of a denarius, which was the equivalent of 5 minutes of work at minimum wage. Yet the scripture says that it was *“all she had to live on.” Widows were the poorest of the poor, on the fringe of society, barely making it by, always on the brink of losing their residence if they even had a residence, which was probably falling apart and extremely unsanitary. They usually had multiple children and even multiple grandchildren, and they struggled on a day-to-day basis just to provide food and all the necessities to the people they were taking care of. The ironic part is, the widows were supposed to be the most taken care of by the same pious men who were stealing from them. In the law the Scribes knew so well after re-writing it so many times, it says in Exodus 22:22, “You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. 23If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, 24and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.”
v Deuteronomy 10:17 says, “17For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. 18 He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.” David says in Psalm 68 that God is the “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows.”
v While the rich gave out of their excess, this woman gave out of her poverty. She gives what little she has, even though she needs it to live on. Jesus calls this real giving. He says in verse 3, “3"Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. 4For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."
v Jesus doesn’t count – he weighs. He doesn’t look at how much; he looks at how much it cost you. In our culture, we tend to appreciate the amount of a gift, not necessarily the sacrifice that went into giving it. A seemingly poor gift can actually be rich in what it costs and represents. The question Jesus poses is this: How do you measure giving? He’s not just talking about money. Every one of us in this room needs to fill in the blank on this statement: “I will do what God wants when I have enough __________ to do so.” Is it money? Is it time? Is it energy? Is it patience? Is it knowledge? Is it motivation? Is it sleep? Is it comfort? Is it safety? Whatever it is, it’s probably never going to happen. What if everyone in the Church waited for the same thing you do in order to obey the Lord? What would the Church look like? Would it be broke? Would the doors close because there is no one to do the dirty work? Would the church lawn be out of control? Would the church kitchen be a mess? Would there be no one out there reaching the lost? Would the worship services be dull and repetitive? Would missionaries be starving? Would widows be robbed and hopeless?
v Don’t wait to give your money, your time, your gifts, and your energy, until you have an excess of it. That’s not really giving at all. That’s giving God your leftovers.
v Giving out of abundance is appreciated, but it costs little. Giving out of what you need to live, shows trust in God and love towards people.
v The truth is, Jesus is opposite of those scribes. Jesus took the worst possible seat in his suffering on the cross. He was greatest “non-for-profit” that ever existed. No one knew better than Jesus, that the more special you make yourself, the less special God becomes.
v Philippians 2:6-11 says of Jesus, “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
v Pride comes before destruction, and humility comes before exaltation. Who else can say that their name is above every name, that every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that they are the Lord?
v An even more important question might be, who in hell made themselves nothing, taking the form of a servant, humbling themselves by becoming obedient to the point of death for the benefit of others?
v Jesus was homeless. Some scholars predict that Jesus walked over 3,000 miles during his 3 years of public ministry. He climbed mountains to be with God. He slept in boats during storms. Thousands followed him and demanded his attention and care 24-7. The longest mile Jesus ever walked was the last mile to Calvary where He was crucified on a Cross for you and for me. He walked the last mile for you.
v Jesus shows us that no one is too poor in anything to give. The issue is not the amount but the participation. As we love to say here at Emmaus, it’s not about success, it’s about obedience. Ask the Lord to reveal where you’re being a scribe, and where you’re making excuses in order to stand in marketplaces and sit in synagogues while others are in dire need of your attention and care. Let’s pray.
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