Introductory remarks:
We see the religious rulers continuing in this chapter to try and get Jesus to say something that would turn the people against Him, but in every case they fail. This chapter may be outlined as follows: The parable of the vineyard and the tenants vv. 1-12; paying taxes to Caesar vv. 13-17; the question about the resurrection vv. 18-27; the great commission vv. 28-34; the question about David's Son vv. 35-37; the denouncing of the scribes vv. 38-40; the widow's offering vv 41-44.
The Parable of the Vineyard and the Tenants
(Matt. 21:33-46; Luke 20:9-19)
I will not go into detail on this parable because it was covered in Matthew's account, and I would be redundant here if I did; so I will try and cover it briefly noting some peculiarities to Mark. I would strongly advise you to place my study of Matthew's account alongside Mark's to get a full picture they present.
Verse 1, "And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the vinevat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country."
LGT "And He began to speak to them in parables, A man planted a vineyard, and placed a fence around [it], and dug a wine-vat, and built a tower and let it out to a husbandman, and left the country."
"And he began to speak unto them by parables."
This does not mean that this is the first time that Christ spoke to them in parables, just that on this occasion He spoke thus.
"A certain man planted a vineyard,"
Matthew's account: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard. The householder was the head of the house or of the affairs of the house.
"And set an hedge about it,"
Matthew's account: And hedged it round about. Mark's account is the more literal, "Possibly an hedge of thorny wild aloe, common in the East" (Vincent).
"And digged a place for the winevat,"
Matthew's account: And digged a winepress in it. In Mark the winevat was placed under the winepress to catch the juice of the grapes.
"And built a tower,"
Matthew's account is the same. This tower was for the watchman.
"And let it out to husbandmen,"
Matthew's account the same. The husbandman leased the land from the householder, and returned a certain portion of fruits in their season to him.
"And went into a far country."
Matthew's account the same. The householder went abroad, to leave them freedom, and also give them time, for the newly planted vines would not bear fruit for two or three years (EGNT).
Verse 2, "And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard."
LGT "And he sent to the husbandmen at the season [of fruit] a servant, in order from the husbandmen he might receive the fruit of the vineyard."
Matthew's account: And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. The householder sent his servants to collect the agreed upon fruits that were legally his for the lease of the field.
Verse 3, "And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty."
LGT "And having taken him, beat and sent him away empty."
Matthew's account: And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. This is the point of the parable; the way the religious leaders of Israel treated the prophets of God.
Verse 4, "And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled."
LGT "And again he sent to them another servant: and him they struck on the head and dishonored."
Matthew's account: Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them like wise. In Marks account he adds: and sent him away shamefully handled. One can only conjecture how they dishonored the servants. But we know how Israel treated the prophets of old.
Verse 5, "And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some."
LGT "And he sent another: and him they killed, and many others, beating some, and killing others."
Matthew's account included this verse in the last verse.
Verse 6, "Having yet therefore one son, his well-beloved, he sent him also last unto them saying, They will reverence my son."
LGT "Yet having one beloved son: he sent him to them last, saying, They will have respect for my son."
Matthew's account: But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, they will reverence my son. "Mark adds that this was an only son, greatly beloved. This beautifully and most tenderly exhibits the love of God in sending His only Son, Jesus Christ into the world to die for men" (Barnes).
Verse 7, "But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours."
LGT "But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours."
Matthew's account: But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance." They reasoned among themselves that if they killed Christ, they would be the leaders forever.
Verse 8, "And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard."
LGT "And having taken him, they killed [him], and cast him forth outside of the vineyard."
Matthew's account: And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard." They crucified the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 9, "What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others."
LGT "What [therefore] will the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard to others."
Matthew's account: When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen. They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits of their seasons. Jesus allows these Jews to pronounce judgment upon themselves.
Verses 10, 11, "And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?"
LGT "Did ye not even read this Scripture, [The] stone which those who build rejected, this has become [the] Head of [the] corner: This was from [the] Lord, and it is wondrous in our eyes."
Mathew's account: Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the Scriptures, the stone which the builder rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes? This is a quotation from Psalm 118:22,23.
Verse 12, "And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way."
LGT "And they sought to lay hold of Him, and they feared the crowd, for they knew that He speaks the parable against them. And leaving Him, they went away."
Matthew's account: Matthew added quite a bit more on this account, but these are the verses (45,46) that are a synopsis of Mark: And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet. "This fear of the people was all that stayed the hands of the rabbis on this occasion. Murderous rage was in their hearts toward Jesus. People do not always grasp the application of sermons to themselves" (Robertson).
Shepherd describes this parable of Israel's rejection of Christ as Messiah:
" When Jesus had finished the story, which set forth so graphically, on the background of Isaiah's parable of the vineyard, the theocratic vineyard-privileges to Israel; the special advantages and opportunities that were given to the chosen seed through God's covenant with them; and the horrible treatment they dealt out to God's long line of prophets, from the time of Elijah to that of John the Baptist, to culminate now in three days in the crucifixion of the beloved Son at Calvary, He asked the question: When the Lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do unto those husbandmen? The people, who followed the story with intense interest, unwittingly responded: He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and let out the vineyard unto other husbandmen, who shall render him the fruits in their season. They did not perceive, in the drift of the parable, that they were pronouncing their own doom. Jesus repeated solemnly the sentence of doom on the people who had rejected the long line of prophets, and were now preparing to kill Him."
Paying taxes to Caesar
(Matt. 22:15-22; Luke 20:20-26)
Verse 13, "And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words."
LGT "And they send to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, in order that they might catch Him in discourse."
This is a strange mix; the Herodians with the Pharisees; the Herodians were the loyalist political party that accepted Herod's rule over Jerusalem; the Pharisees we know were the religious interpreters of the Law, and their hatred for Christ ran so deep that they aligned themselves up with the Herodians. The Pharisees and Herodians make a sport of trying to catch Christ in a mistake with words. These hypocrites are the hunting parting, and Christ is their prey; they try to get Him to say something they can catch Him at in order to kill him.
Verse 14, "And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar."
LGT "And having come, they say unto Him, Teacher, we know that You are true, and there is not care in You about no one [no one's person]: for You look not on [the] face [appearance] of men, but with truth teaching the way of God: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not? Should we give, or should we not give?"
What a sham of sincerity; they come to Christ saying, Teacher, we know You are true, and that You are not a respecter of a man's person; and that You do not care about the man, but only about the way of God. Christ saw through their insincerity from the start.
Verse 15, "Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? Bring me a penny, that I may see it."
LGT "But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, Why do you tempt Me? Bring Me a denarius, that I may see [it]."
Robertson wrote: "Each of these words throws a flashlight on the spirit and attitude of these young men [hypocrites]. They were sly, shrewd, slick, but they did not deceive Jesus with their pious palaver."
Edersheim notes:
"The plot, for such it was, was most cunningly concocted. The object was to spy out His inmost thoughts, and, if possible, entangle Him in His talk. For this purpose it was not the old Pharisees, whom He knew and would have distrusted, who came, but some of their disciples - apparently fresh, earnest, zealous, conscientious men. With them combined certain of the Herodians - of course, not a sect nor religious school, but a political party at the time. We know comparatively little of the deeper political movements in Judea; only so much as it has suited Josephus to record. But we cannot be greatly mistaken in regarding the Herodians as a party, which honestly accepted the House of Herod as occupants of the Jewish throne. Differing from the extreme section of the Pharisees, who hated Herod, and from the Nationalists, it might have been a middle or moderate Jewish party - semi-Roman and semi-Nationalist. We know that it was the ambition of Herod Antipas again to unite under his sway the whole of Palestine; but we know not what intrigues may have been carried on for that purpose, alike with the Pharisees and the Romans. Nor is it the first time in this history, that we find the Pharisees and the Herodians combined. Herod, may, indeed, have been unwilling to incur the unpopularity of personality proceeding against the Great Prophet of Nazareth, especially as he must have had so keen a remembrance of what the murder of John had cost him. Perhaps he would fain, if he could, have made use of Him, and played Him off as the popular Messiah against the popular leaders. But, as matters had gone, he must have been anxious to rid himself of what might be a formidable rival, while, at the same time, his party would be glad to join with the Pharisees in what would secure their gratitude and allegiance. Such, or similar, may have been the motives which brought about this strange alliance of Pharisees and Herodians."
Verse 16, "And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's."
LGT "And they brought [it]. And He says to them, Whose [is] this image and the inscription? And they said to Him, Caesar's."
Jesus would not allow them trapping Him; He asked for a coin and had them identify the inscription on the face of the coin.
Verse 17, "And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marveled at him."
LGT "And Jesus said to them, Render to Caesar the things of Caesar, and the things of God to God. And they stood there marveling at Him."
As Christians we are to pay our taxes; we don't have to like it, but we do have the responsibility to pay them; that is, if we want to remain free and out of jail. When it comes to God, we are to submit ourselves completely. These religious hypocrites stood there marveling at the fact that they were unable to trap Him; they were amazed at His wisdom.
The Question about the Resurrection
(Matt. 22:23-33; Luke 20:27-40)
Verse 18, "Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying,"
LGT "And [the] Sadducees come to Him, who say there is not a resurrection, and questioned Him, saying,"
Remember the Sadducees are the party of the Sanhedrim that reject the doctrine of the resurrection.
Verse 19, "Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother."
LGT "Teacher, Moses wrote for us, that if anyone's brother should die and leaving behind a wife, and leave not children, that his brother should take the wife and raise up seed to his brother."
These Sadducees knew the Law for they quoted it correctly; they were quoting Deuteronomy 25:5,6: If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry [outside the family] unto a stranger; her husband's brother shall go unto her, and take her to him as his wife, and perform the duty of an husband's brother unto her. And it shall be, that the first-born whom she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother who is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel. This was all done to perpetuate the family name.
Verses 20-22, "Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed. And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise. And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also."
LGT "There were seven brothers: and the first took a wife and dying left no seed: and the second took her and died, and left not behind seed; and the third likewise; and the seven left no seed. Last of all the woman died."
Here we have a ridiculous hypothetical question asked by the Sadducees, attempting to discredit the doctrine of the resurrection. McGee said that if you look at Hollywood today, maybe this question is quite as ridiculous as it seems.
Verse 23, "In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? For the seven had her to wife."
LGT "In the resurrection [when they shall arise], of which of them shall she be wife? For the seven had her as wife."
"This was designed to discredit the doctrine of resurrection and consequently the authority of Jesus as Teacher. Throughout His ministry Christ had performed miracles of restoration, revealing His power to raise the dead. He had promised men resurrection life (John 5:24). He had claimed to be The resurrection and the life (11:25). If the Sadducees could discredit the resurrection doctrine by reducing it to an absurdity, they would have disproved Christ's teaching and therefore His authority" (Pentecost).
Verse 24, "And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?"
LGT "Jesus answered them, Do ye not therefore err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God?"
"The Sadducees posed as men of superior intelligence and knowledge in opposition to the traditionalists among the Pharisees with their oral law. And yet on this very point they were ignorant of the Scriptures. How much error today is due to this same ignorance among the educated" (Robertson). How many times have I listened to men on T.V. quoting Scripture, and then applying it ignorantly, thinking they are substantiating their pet position?
Verse 25, "For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven."
LGT "For when they rise from among the dead, neither do they marry nor are given in marriage, but are as angels in the heavens."
"The Sadducees were not able to bring themselves to believe in the superior spiritual conditions of the resurrection-life. In the life to come, those who attain to the resurrection will not marry or be given in marriage, but will be like the angels. Incidentally, Jesus asserted the existence of spiritual beings in the future life, which doctrine the Sadducees did not accept. He did not mean that there would be to personal recognition in Heaven, or continuance of the spiritual relationships formed in the world. Such relationships will be immeasurably heightened and rendered infinitely more delightful and profitable. In this life, marriage is for the propagation of the race. No such necessity exists in Heaven" (Shepherd-The Christ).
Verse 26, "And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?"
LGT "But concerning the dead, that they rise, have ye not read in the Book of Moses, in the place concerning the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and [the] God of Isaac, and [the] God of Jacob?"
Here Christ gives proof of the resurrection in pronouncing to the Sadducees that God is now the God of the Patriarchs; He is not only alive, but so are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Verse 27, "He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err."
LGT "He is not the God of the dead, but of the living: you err much."
"They do not know the power of God. Abraham is not dead; Isaac is not dead, Jacob is not dead. There bodies were buried there in Hebron, but they are not dead. They have gone to be with Him, and that is where Christians are today that die in the Lord, friend. He is devastating in His answers to these religious rulers. Now we have another person coming to our Lord, after hearing the discussion with the Sadducees" (McGee).
The Great Commandment
(Matt. 22:34-40; Luke 10:25-28)
Verse 28, "And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?"
LGT "And having come up, one of the scribes, having heard them reasoning together, perceiving He answered them beautifully, questioned Him, Which commandment is first of all?"
One of the Pharisees, observing the dialogue between Christ and the Sadducees, and being more in line with Christ's teachings, saw that He answered them 'well' (kalos), that is, beautifully, with a masterful touch of wisdom concerning the resurrection, seeing how the Pharisees believed in life after death, asked Him a legitimate question. This Pharisees perceived that Christ "answered with wisdom, and with a proper understanding of the law. In this case the opinion of the Savior corresponded with that of the Pharisees; and the question, which this scribe put to Him, now seems to have been one of the very few candid inquiries of Him by the Jews for the purpose of obtaining information. Jesus answered it in the spirit of kindness, and commended the conduct of the man" (Barnes).
Pentecost adds:
"The Pharisees had codified the law into 248 commandments and 365 prohibitions. These 613 precepts were imposed by the Pharisees on their followers as their obligation (this is why I have refused to use the word 'obligation' as we live under grace; I have replace this word 'obligation' with word privilege). When a Jew tried to fulfill the requirements of the law so codified, it sometimes appeared to that person as though one law came into conflict with another law. It was necessary then to determine which of the two took precedence so that if a law had to be violated because of the conflict, one would violate the lesser and not the more important law. There was constant argument among the Pharisees concerning which commandment took precedence over the other. The Pharisees had not been able to solve the problem or further reduce their codification of the law to assist their disciples in this observance. The Pharisees were testing Christ to see whether He had greater insight into the law than they had."
Verse 29, "And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord:"
LGT "Jesus answered that the first is: Hear, Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord,"
"This monotheistic [one Lord] preface to the great commandment is not given in Matthew. Possibly Mark has added it by way of making the quotation complete, but more probably Jesus Himself quoted it [Deut. 6:4,5] to suggest that duty, like God, was one, in opposition to the prevailing habit of viewing duty as consisting in isolated precepts" (The Expositor's Greek Testament).
Verse 30, "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment."
LGT "And you shall love [the] Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength."
Christ summarizes all the law with these two principles; the first is found in this verse, the second in the next. The first principle is that of Love toward God. To love God in this way described by Christ, leaves no room for any other.
Verse 31, "And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."
LGT "A second is, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is not a greater commandment than these."
Here we have the law in these two commandments; not only do we have the law, we have the principle for the Christian life under grace; if we love God as Christ describes, and we love our Christian brothers and sisters as ourselves, we should not have a great deal of trouble living as God intended, as "Paul affirmed the wisdom of this summary, saying, Love is the fulfillment of the law (Rom. 13:10)" (Pentecost).
Verse 32, "And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:"
LGT "And the scribe said to Him, Beautiful, Teacher, according to the truth You have said that one God is and not another beside Him:"
The scribe admits that Christ has answered beautifully the truth.
Verses 33, 34, "And to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question."
LGT "And to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love the neighbor as yourself, is over and above all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. And Jesus seeing [him] that he answered intelligently, said to him, You are not far from the kingdom of God. And no one any more dared to question Him."
This scribe repeats what Jesus had just said in affirmation to Christ. Christ responds with commending him, and saying that he was not far from the kingdom. "The one who so properly understood the requirements of the law must have realized that no person could fulfill those requirements. Surely that one would consequently come to Christ to receive the salvation offered. Thus Christ avoided the trap of the priests and elders who came with a question about authority, the trap of the Herodians who came with their political question, the trap of the Sadducees who came with their theological question concerning resurrection, and the trap of the Pharisees who came concerning matters pertaining to the law" (Pentecost).
The Question about David's Son
(Matt. 22:41-46; Luke 20:41-44)
Verse 35, "And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the son of David?"
LGT "And Jesus answering said, teaching in the temple, How say the scribes that the Christ is [the] Son of David?"
This question was designed to get the Pharisees to admit that He was not only the Son of David, but that He also was the Son of God, that is, He was King, and He was God.
Verse 36, "For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool."
LGT "David himself said by the Holy Spirit, The Lord said to My Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I place Your enemies [as] a footstool for Your feet."
Christ is quoting Psalm 110; Here David was proclaiming Christ not only to be the Messiah, but the Son of God.
Verse 37, "David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly."
LGT "David himself calls Him Lord, and whence is He his Son? And [the] great crowd heard Him gladly."
Ever since His Triumphal Entry, the great mass of the people were drawn to Christ, and this will be a great distraction to the Pharisees in their work of disproving who Christ is, and then charging him with disloyalty to Caesar. Jesus states that David spoke; inspired by the Holy Spirit, and that he spoke of Christ as being the Messiah. The Scribes and Pharisees have been a colossal failure in their attempt to discredit the Lord.
The Denouncing of the Scribes
(Matt. 23:1-36; Luke 20:45-47)
Verse 38, "And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces,"
LGT "And He said to them in His teaching, Beware of the scribes, the ones who desire to walk around in robes, and salutations in the marketplaces,"
"The scribes were the teachers of Judaism and were all nearly all Pharisees" (Robertson). They would walk around in their priestly "royal" robes, and revel in the salutations from passers by in the marketplace. Mark only gives a brief account of Christ's denunciation of these hypocrites; see my exposition on Matthew 23 for a detailed account.
Verse 39, "And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the upper most rooms at feasts:"
LGT "And the first seats in the synagogues, and the chief couches at the suppers:"
They desired the front row, of course to be noticed, and they desired the chief couches at all the public dinners. This is what the Lord denounced the disciples for when they desired the chief seats in the Kingdom.
Verse 40, "Which devour widow's houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation."
LGT "These are the ones who devour the houses of widows, and as a pretext pray at great lengths: these will receive abundant judgment."
"Which devour widow's houses,"
"People often left their whole fortune to the temple, and a good deal of the temple-money went, in the end, to the Scribes and Pharisees. The Scribes were universally employed in making wills and conveyances of property. They may have abused their influence with widows" (Vincent).
"Terrible pictures of civil wrong by graft grabbing the homes of helpless widows. They inveigled [tricked] widows into giving their homes to the temple and took it for themselves" (Robertson).
"And for pretence make long prayers:"
While they were doing these acts of trickery, they made pretence of long prayers, putting on the façade of religiosity.
"These shall receive greater damnation."
"No wonder our Savior denounced them! If there is any sin of peculiar enormity, it is that of taking advantage of the circumstances of the poor, the needy, and the helpless, to wrong them out of the pittance on which they depend for the support of their families; and as God is the friend of the widow and the fatherless, it may be expected that such will be visited with heavy condemnation" (Barnes).
The Widow's Offering
(Luke 21:1-4)
Verse 41, "And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much."
LGT "And having sat down opposite the treasury, He saw how the crowd cast money into the treasury. And many rich were casting [in] much."
Christ was sitting opposite the treasury and observing the people pass by casting in their coins. "In the Court of the Women, which covered a space of two hundred feet square. All around it ran a colonnade, and within it, the wall, were the thirteen chests or trumpets for charitable contributions. These chests were narrow at the mouth and wide at the bottom, shaped like trumpets, whence the name. Their specific objects were carefully marked on them. Nine were for the receipt of what was legally due by worshippers, the other four for strictly voluntary gifts" (Edersheim).
Verse 42, "And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing."
LGT "And a poor widow having come, cast in two mites, which is a farthing."
Christ watched the rich cast in their coppers, and then this widow cast in her mite, which was equal to two fifths of a cent. Too most that wasn't equal to the snap of a finger, but to Christ it was golden.
Verses 43, 44, And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living."
LGT "And having called to [Him] His disciples He says to them, Verily I say to you, This poor widow has cast [in] more than all of the ones casting into the treasury: For all cast [in] what was abounding to them, but she out of her destitution, cast [in] all, as much as she had, cast in her whole livelihood."
"His gaze was riveted by a solitary figure. The simple words of Mark sketch a story of singular pathos. It was one pauper widow. We can see her coming alone, as if ashamed to mingle with the crowd of rich givers; ashamed to have her offering seen; ashamed, perhaps, to bring it; a widow, in the garb of a desolate mourner, her appearance, and bearing that of a pauper. He observed her closely and read her truly. She held in her hand only the smallest coins and it should be known that it was not lawful to contribute a less amount . . . .But it was all her living. . . ., perhaps all that she had been able to save out of her scanty housekeeping; more probably, all that she had to live upon for that day, and till she wrought for more. And of this she now made humble offering unto God" (Edersheim).
The lesson Christ taught His disciple was that they were to give as the widow, that is, in dependence on God, that He will provide; the rich give out of their abundance, but they have plenty left for tomorrow, for they do not have to wait on God. It is not what you give, but what you have left over after you give that is counted.
In the next chapter we will begin to study the Olivet Discourse.
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