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Mark 12:38–44 (ESV)
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.”
41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
How can you measure someone’s engagement in worship? Do you look for what you can see, such as raised hands, clapping to songs, nodding heads, hands folded, heads bowed, and eyes closed in prayer? Do you listen for signs of participation like an “amen”, a mummer of approval, or a voice lifted in song?
What about a person’s heart? How can we know that a person loves the Lord and is growing in their faith and relationship with Jesus? How do you measure progress and a deepening of relationship with Jesus along those lines?
We often measure people by the standards of our own choosing, but what we must remember is that God’s way of measuring is utterly different than ours.
That difference in measurement is something that Jesus focuses on in our passage as Jesus speaks to the crowd about the scribes and the widow’s offering.
One of the interesting things to note in all the Gospels is what the people and the religious leaders anticipated and expected the Messiah would be like. You see, the people were expecting the son of David, the Messiah, to be this military leader who would elevate the people of God and bring military victory over Israel’s enemies (remember Jesus’ question to the crowd in verses 35-37?).
A military leader and king like David is their expectation and is the measurement they use of true messiahship, but that’s never been the image of the Messiah in the Gospels. In fact, the Gospels give us a radically different image of the Messiah than what the people expected. In Mark’s Gospel, the Messiah is the one who brings healing to the whole world, the one who came not to serve but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10.45), and very soon we will see that key verse in Mark unfold as Jesus puts our greatest enemies under His feet; sin and death itself.
The people’s measure for the Messiah is radically limited and distorted compared to the Lord’s, and we see that in Jesus’ remarks concerning the scribes and this poor widow.
Jesus warns the crowd not to measure their worth by the standards of the scribes. The scribes love their position and status in the culture and abuse it for their own gain. But Jesus says that God sees and is measuring them by His scale, and the scribes are found wanting.
Also, by that same measurement, God sees the heart of the poor widow in her sacrifice and worship as she gives her two coins, “all she had to live on”. All others gave out of the abundance of what they could afford, but in faith and trust, this poor widow gives all she has.
I’m challenged by this passage in two ways. First, to simply be open to Jesus being bigger than my box. Far too often, I measure out a box and try to make Jesus fit into that box. Jesus’ presence and work in our lives is beyond our ability to measure, and we must be willing to follow Him past our ability to calculate the outcome.
Second, I’m challenged to measure my value and worth by God’s standards rather than those of the world. That’s something that is easy to say, but far too often we measure ourselves against others and against the expectations of our culture (including Christian culture).
How do you measure your value and worth, and that of others? Is it in comparison to others and to the values of the culture, or do you measure and value your worth and the worth of others by God’s love for you and for them?
It’s amazing how God’s standard of measurement changes our perceptions of others and the world around us.
Where is Jesus calling you to trust and follow Him beyond what you can measure?
God bless you, and know that you are constantly in my prayers!
Scott
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