City On A Hill

He had undoubtedly drawn a sizable crowd as clearly there had never been anyone like Him who said anything remotely like what He said. I know this time period was well before the advent of rock and roll, but I have to believe that Jesus, at the risk of trivializing who He is, was the first example of someone achieving super-rock star status. He invented rock stardom before rock existed. The good news for us is that He was interested in none of the perks that come with that status (not that I would personally know what any of those perks are), focusing solely on serving His Heavenly Father and fulfilling His will.

Jesus continues to box the leaders of the Jews into smaller and smaller places. He was relentless in exposing their hypocrisy, their double standards, their duplicity, and their self-serving interpretations and impositions of the law. They had less and less room to maneuver, and they knew they had to do something. The first four verses of the passage tells the famous story of the widow who gives her last two cents to the treasury in the Temple. Jesus tells the crowd that she has given more than all the rich people gave to the treasury in showy fashion so that all could see, for they gave out of their riches but she gave all that she had out of faith.

I think there are two or three lessons the Lord teaches here. One, of course, is faithful giving. The Lord sees and knows all, especially our hearts. He will provide for us according to our needs, and we are to be faithful in our giving to Him. A second lesson might be that giving should be done in private, and not in public for show. But most of all, in my opinion, is that giving should be done in faithful service with as pure a heart as we can muster, and a heart that expects nothing in return for our giving. Since His grace comes to us as a complete free gift, which we draw from again and again and again, our giving should in turn be completely free of any sense of debt on His part. How much more can He give us than what He already does?

The next fifteen verses are comprised of Christ’s prediction of the destruction of the Temple in verse 6. In verse 7 people in the crowd asked Him when this would occur, and by what sign they will know that the events are about to occur? Jesus’ response covers two events to come: the destruction of the Temple, and the tribulation days just prior to His second coming. Verses 8-19 and 25-28 relate particularly to the latter time, and vv. 20-24 refer to the former.(1) He describes many trials that believers will face, and here are the key verses in the passage of vv. 5-19: vv. 13-16. Christ tells us in verse 13 that amid all of the persecution, “it will lead to an opportunity for your testimony.” In v. 14 He tells us to make up our minds to be prepared beforehand, and in v. 15 He promises us that He will give us words and wisdom that will silence our opponents, rendering them speechless.

What a great confidence-building passage, and what promises does that passage hold for us even today? Even though we aren’t facing the trials described in the preceding verses, every day we have opportunity for our testimony. Have we decided beforehand to prepare to defend ourselves, to make an unapologetic stand for Him? Have we studied enough scripture, spent enough time in prayer, listened to Him enough for Him to equip us with the words and wisdom to silence our (His) opponents? If not, why not? What are we afraid of giving up? My prayer is that each of us searches our own hearts and minds to see if we’re preparing ourselves daily to take advantage of the opportunities for our testimony. What really do we have to lose?

Once again source of the idea I have footnoted is the Ryrie Study Bible, 1978, published by The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago.

Let me know your thoughts on what I’ve written; I’d love to hear other ideas.

In Him,
Ron