Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.
At the end of Mark 12, Jesus teaches about the least, the great, and the greatest.
First, the greatest–Messiah. Jesus posed a riddle to the teachers of the law. “We know the Messiah will be a descendant of David,” he said, “but David called him ‘Lord’. We also know an ancestor is always greater than his descendants, so how can David’s son be greater than David?”
A buzz rippled through the crowd. They loved seeing hoity-toity teachers of the law get stumped.
Second, Jesus taught about the great–or at least, those who thought they were great.
He warned, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They dress in style with flowing robes. They take seats of honor at the synagogue and banquets. They make long and showy prayers. But watch out! They are peacocks in public but sharks in private. They rip off widows and vulnerable people.”
So what’s that all about?
It’s Jesus exposing the law teachers’ ignorance with riddles about the Messiah, exposing their false motives, their flowery and insincere prayers, and their bankrupt ethical standards.
Yes, that’s Jesus at street-level, Jesus the critic. Who’s next?
Jesus watched people giving money at the temple. Handfuls from the rich, hardly anything from the poor. Like that widow and her pennies.
Jesus said, “Who’s most generous? The rich? No. They only give if it doesn’t hurt. Consider the widow. She’s least in importance, last in social hierarchy, lowest in bank balance, invisible at the back of the synagogue. But she put in her grocery money. Everything! What will she live on now?”
True greatness is not a show you put on for God or people. It’s not the prayers you pray in public, the diplomas on the wall, or trophies in your man cave. True greatness is the widow, giving everything to God and not worrying what you will live on now or tomorrow.
Let’s pray.
O Jesus, like the rich people, I give handfuls of cash, but I’m careful not to let my giving hurt my lifestyle. I dress up for church and pray in turn. Am I like the peacock teachers you criticized?
In your presence, Jesus, I sense something hollow at the center of my life. What is missing in my commitment to you? What is untrue in my religious observance? What is self-serving in my public life? Or false in my life at home?
O Jesus, greater son of David, search my heart, cleanse my motives. Hear my prayer. Accept the money I donate and the prayers I offer.
Be the source and center of my life.
Amen.
I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.
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