Gospel of Mark/Chapter 12:35-44/Commentary

The Gospel of Mark Chapter 12:35-44 12:35 “And Jesus answering began to say, as He taught in the temple”: Jesus is still in the temple area and now He asks a question to those who had asked Him many questions. “They had questioned Him seeking to expose His lack of wisdom, but the question of Jesus was devoid of retaliation. It was asked to teach a most important lesson” (McGarvey p. 605). Many people ask questions of God, “Why does suffering exist?” and so on, but what people need to realize is that God asks some questions of us. Such as, “What will a man give in exchange for his soul” or, “Who do you say that I am?” “How it is that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?”: The Messiah is the Son of David, yet Jesus will be seeking to get them to understand something else about the Messiah.

12:36 “David himself said in the Holy Spirit”: Jesus clearly teaches here that David when writing the Psalms spoke “in the Spirit”, that is, David was moved by the Holy Spirit to write (2 Peter 1:20-21). “The Lord said to my Lord”: Jesus quotes Psalm 110:1. The context here shows that the Jewish leaders of the day accepted this Psalm as written by David, and as referring to the Messiah.

McGarvey notes that “since then the Jews have denied that the Psalm is Messianic in meaning” (p. 605). “That the ancient Hebrews recognized both the inspired, Davidic authorship and Messianic nature of this Psalm is evidenced in the Jews’ 1

tactic acceptance of Jesus’ statement of the case here. Otherwise, with the selfassurance of modern critics, they could have retorted, ‘But the Psalm is neither Messianic nor Davidic’” (Fowler p. 271). Psalm 110 is also quoted in Acts 2:34; Hebrews 1:13.

Jesus’ question is since David says, “The Lord (God) said to my (David’s) Lord (that is the Messiah), how can a descendant of David be superior to David? In addition the term “Lord” is used in reference to Deity and is used of God in Psalm 110:5.

“This Psalm speaks of the Messiah as the Lord of David, and other Scriptures call him David’s son. So also the Scriptures describe Christ as conquering yet suffering, as divine yet human, as dying yet living, as judged yet judging. The Jewish rulers seem able to grasp only one side of the character of Christ as revealed either in His life or in the Scriptures, and hence they stumbled” (McGarvey pp. 605-606).

12:36 “Sit at My right hand”: This verse pictures the glorious, heavenly reign of the Messiah sharing God’s throne (Hebrews 1:3; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; Acts 5:31; 7:55; Ephesians 1:20). This also harmonizes with Daniel 7:9-14. At the right hand is the highest place of honor, and to be invited to sit there by the King of heaven implies that the Messiah shares His favor, His sovereignty, and His power. Here especially it implies God’s satisfaction with the Messiah after He has fulfilled His mission on the earth. Please note that the Messiah does not rule on the earth, rather, the Messiah rules with the Father in heaven. “His preeminent glory and power cannot be debased by restriction to a small, nationalistic throne on earth in some ancient city, be it even Jerusalem in Palestine. The term “sit” does not imply a period of inactivity and idleness. On this throne He rules the nations and intercedes for His people (Psalm 110:4).

12:36 “Until I put Thine enemies beneath Thy feet”: Jesus rules while He has enemies. This is contrary to the claims of Premillennialists who contend that He only will rule after all His enemies are destroyed. Anyone who stands opposed to Christ will be defeated. The expression “beneath Thy feet” pictures His opponents’ public, humiliating subjection and that leaves Him undisputed, universal Ruler. Compare this with 1 Corinthians 15:24ff.

12:37 “David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; and so in what sense is He his son?”: 2

The Pharisees rejected Jesus because of His lowly appearance, yet the above Psalm implies that the Messiah would be both human and divine. The genealogy placed Jesus within the legal family of David (Matthew 1:1-17), and the miracles demonstrated that Jesus was God’s Son (Acts 2:22; John 3:2; 12:42). Jesus does not answer this question; rather the Jewish leaders and the people are left to research this question for themselves. “If this prophecy means anything, the true Messiah, when He appears, must necessarily claim to be both human and divine.

Consequently, when anyone appeared on the scene making the claims that Jesus made, the Jews must objectively test his statements to determine whether this person is objectively the predicted Messiah” (Fowler p. 276).

12:37 “And the great crowd enjoyed listening to Him”: At this point Matthew says, Matthew 22:46 “No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question”: In attacking Jesus, the Jewish rulers had only succeeded in exposing their own ignorance. On the other hand they had involuntarily enhanced the standing of Jesus as a Teacher. “Jesus was not merely a worker of miracles or a mover of the masses. He was also a scholarly Teacher who could meet them on their own ground and defeat them with a simple question founded on their own beliefs, their own method of interpretation, and their own Bible. His genius left them baffled, disarmed, and embarrassed, and yet the calmness and power of His manners left them nothing to criticize” (McGarvey, Matthew/Mark p. 194f). “By all their questionings, the Jews had not been able to weaken public confidence in Christ” (Fourfold, p. 606).

Here we learn “If some Bible statement seems to contradict another, the fault does not lie in Scripture, but in the shallow understanding and limited information of the fallible, human interpreter. Rather than discard Scripture or hold to one verse and reject or ignore another, let us let God be true and trust Him to know what He is saying and patiently ponder the meaning of all He says” (Fowler p.

280).

A Warning

3

12:38 “And in His teaching He was saying”: Matthew will spend an entire chapter on this particular subject (Matthew 23). “Beware”: Be careful, be on your guard against.

We are still in the Temple courts. Mark notes that this section immediately followed Jesus’ interaction with the Jewish leaders, “Beware of the scribes” (Mark 12:38). “It was to the assembled crowds who had just witnessed the scribes’ inability to answer a plain question that they, of all people, must know, to whom Jesus directed this warning. The crowds had already begun to sense their leader’s theological incompetence. They must now also learn of their hypocrisy and wickedness” (Fowler p. 285).

Just as we need to hear the Sermon on the Mount to describe what a Christian should be like, so we need to hear about the opposite of a Christian, that is, a hypocrite. Religious pretense is so dangerous, because it can assume a very respectful appearance and lead many astray.

Some allege that Jesus failed to be true to His own ethic by failing to love His enemies and by exposing the Pharisees and scribes to this scathing denunciation, but such people forget that love involves exposing sin (1 Corinthians 13:6). It would not have been the loving thing to simply allow the Pharisees to go on without any challenge to their wickedness and in addition, the souls of others were on the line as well, that is, those that the Pharisees were leading astray. We need to remember that to love the truth is to hate sin (Psalm 119:105). For months the enemies of Jesus had attempted to expose Him as a fake. Now, Jesus exposes the true impostors.

12:38 “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes”: “This robe was a professional dress, and marked as that worn by priests and kings. It showed that its wearer was professionally religious” (McGarvey p. 607). They love to wear a religious uniform. “And like respectful greetings in the market places”: The marketplace was not only the place where commerce was carried on, but was also the place of public concourse where public meetings assembled. Hence to receive these greetings in the market place was to be viewed as somebody important.

“For him that is taught in the word to give respect to him that teaches is commendable enough in him that gives it; but for him that teaches to love it, and 4

demand it, and affect it, to be puffed up with it and to be displeased if it be omitted, is sinful and abominable; and, instead of teaching, he has need to learn the first lesson in the school of Christ, which is humility” (Fowler p. 301).

12:39 “And chief seats in the synagogues”: This seat was located near the end of the building where the scrolls of the Law were kept in a chest called the Holy Ark. These seats faced the congregation and were occupied by its leadership. In this verse we see that the Pharisees and scribes were bent on gaining power for themselves. Their lives were spent in manipulating circumstances and others for the sake of gaining power and importance for themselves. “Their resentment, when others were honored above them, accurately gauged how real and deep this self-worship was. This is no harmless pastime, because Jesus must expose this love of eminence and foolish pride of those whose ego-feeding depended on it (Luke 14:7-11)” (Fowler p. 300). Even the disciples were not immune from this attitude (Matthew 20:20-28; Luke 22:24). In that place of prominence they could be seen by all the other worshippers.

12:39 “And places of honor at banquets”: The chief place signified importance at those meals where guests would be invited. So, to be ushered to the best place meant recognition as someone of importance. See Luke 11:43 and contrast with John 13:4, 12-17.

12:40 “Who devour widow’s houses”: Apparently these leaders plotted with the children of widowed mothers to gain the estate. At the same time, they hid their greedy nature by remaining long in prayer. Some say these prayers would last for three hours (Matthew, Boles, p. 446). “The scribes and Pharisees had peculiar facilities for obtaining property under false pretenses. The scribes, on account of their knowledge of the law, were often consulted on property questions; and the Pharisees, by reason of their supposed piety, exercised great influence over the people. Those who were inexperienced in business entrusted their property to these men for safe keeping, and many lost it” (Manners and Customs, Freeman, p.

369).

In like manner, there are religious people today who gain the trust of unsuspecting souls and fleece them financially in the process. “The longer they continued their hypocritical prayers, the greater was their condemnation” (Boles, p. 447).

5

The religious leaders of the time were not allowed to be paid, therefore they were dependent upon gifts. Wealthy widows were especially targets.

12:40 “And for appearance’s sake”: That is, the motivation behind their long public prayers, was not a love for communing with God, but rather, they like people to see them praying. They loved the praise of men. They wanted to look spiritual. “These will receive greater condemnation”: This “greater condemnation” is especially seen in Matthew’s account about all the righteous blood shed on the earth from the Creation falling upon this particular generation (Matthew 23:35).

The Widow’s Mite 12:41 “And He sat down opposite the treasury”: Jesus is still in the Temple courts on Tuesday. He is for the moment sitting and observing, rather than teaching.

The immediate context that surrounds this passage is Jesus’ warning concerning how the scribes and Pharisees are greedy and devour widow’s houses (Mark 12:40), even though they offer long prayers. Now one of these widows appears and gives her last cent. “And began observing how the multitude were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums”: “It is said that in the court of the women there were cloisters or porticos, and under the shelter of these were placed thirteen chests with trumpet-shaped mouths into which offerings might be dropped. The money cast in was for the benefit of the temple. An inscription on each chest showed to which one of the thirteen special items of cost or expenditure the contents would be devoted; as, for the purchase of wood, or gold, or frankincense, etc..” (McGarvey p. 611). “We should remember this calm inspection of our Lord when we are about to make an offering to His work. He is by no means indifferent as to our actions” (pp. 611612).

12:42 “And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent”: The term “poor” means “beggarly”. Many people probably overlooked this woman on this day. The coins that she offered were called lepta, which means, “the thin one”. They were worth about a fourth or a fifth of a cent in value. People often complain there is nothing one can buy for a penny any more, yet that is what this widow contributed. The coins that she put in there the smallest coins in circulation. They were our “pennies”.

6

The widow rejected the various excuses that are often offered by the wisdom of this world. She did not keep one coin for herself. Neither did she reason that she needed the coins far more than the temple did. Many people might have looked at all the gifts that were being offered this day and reasoned that the temple had enough money. Neither did she think that God did not except her to give in view of her poverty.

12:43 “And 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’”: This surely caught the attention of the disciples, especially in view of all the gifts that were being offered that day. The word “truly” stresses the fact that Jesus’ view of the situation is the correct view. Jesus does not compare the widow’s gift with that of any one rich giver, but with all the gifts of all the rich who gave that day. In Jesus’ estimation, the widow’s two thin coins amounted to more than the combined sum of all these wealthy givers. We are not left wondering, “How could that be?”

Jesus now explains how her gift excelled them all. “The disciples may well have looked at Jesus with questioning eyes and wondered what made Him rate the widow’s gift so highly” (Lenski p. 1007).

12:44 “For they all put in our of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on”: That is, the wealthy and probably many in the crowd were giving what was left over after all their physical needs were met.

Many people today give in the same manner. After they have paid all their bills, bought what they wanted, made their investments, provided for their future, and so on, a percentage of the surplus is given. It should be very clear that God is not impressed with “surplus giving”. “Whoever therefore, imagines that he is giving in the right spirit but only makes a small contribution from his abundance is deceiving himself” (Geldenhuys p. 521).

Observations  Do we give from the perspective that it is God who provides for our needs (Matthew 6:24-34), or do we think that we must depend entirely upon ourselves? Do we trust far more in our own ability to make money than in God who provides for all the creatures great and small?

7

 Poverty does not exempt one from giving.  Are we surplus givers (God gets His after all our needs are met), or do we give to God first, and then trust that God will provide?  The widow did not give all her money every day, for obviously she needed some for food, but she gave all she had in her pocket this day. Everything she had to live on this day, she gave. Too often we are so worried about tomorrow that we do not give what we should today.  Do we temper our giving depending upon what the bills are? That is, does God’s work have to sacrifice for our spending habits?  “Jesus set forth the principle that it is not how much a person gives to God, but how much he keeps for himself, which furnishes the actual test of generosity and devotion. The sacrificial giving of this godly woman is a bright light shining amid the darkness and bitter hatred and murderous plots” (Foster p. 1180).  Is our giving sacrificial? Does it cost us something? “Giving does not begin to be giving until it hurts. A gift only shows our love when we ourselves have had to do without something” (Barclay p. 266).  Note that Jesus did not immediately go to this widow and improve her financial situation. Lean times are not a necessary evil. This woman was extremely rich, despite her poverty. While many of the people that gave that day were worried about holding on to their wealth, this widow was completely free.  Giving that comes from an unwilling or grudging heart does not count for anything. “The only real gift is the gift which is the inevitable outflow of the loving heart” (Barclay p. 266). See 2 Corinthians 8-9.  Do we shrewdly calculate our giving to make sure we are not giving too much?  “Someone drew a picture of a man in church, singing, ‘Where the whole realm of Nature mine that were an offering too small; love so amazing, so divine demands my life, my soul, my all’, while, all the time, he is carefully feeling the coins in his pocket to make sure that it is a sixpence and not a shilling that he will put into the collection which is immediately to follow” (Barclay p. 266).This is probably one of the most convicting set of passages in the New Testament. “He is an insensate man who can read the story of the widow and her two mites without searching and humiliating self-examination” (Barclay p. 266).

8

“The brief record concerning the poor widow stirs many questions we cannot answer. Now that she had given her all to God, where and how did she live until her further toil could earn means of living? She was sure God would see to that.

Had she listened enthralled to the hours of fiery debate (between Jesus and various Jewish groups)? Was this gift her own personal answer to the grand emphasis she had just heard Jesus place upon loving God with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength?� (Foster p. 1180).

9