Jesus and Noticing Details

As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.
"Truly I tell you," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."
Luke 21v1-4 [TNIV]

Depending on what your motives are for doing good, it can be rather unnerving or encouraging that Jesus notices the details of our hearts and actions. Crowds of people are not sufficient distraction for Jesus to miss the significance of your decision. There is nowhere to hide from the observant glance of Jesus - he will notice everything. Again, this can be a refreshing reminder or another cause for guilt.

The Temple served as a bank as well as a worship center. Because it was believed that the Presence of God dwelled in the Holy of Holies - a closed off, small room in the back of the worship area, it was believed that the Temple was also the safest place for valuables - like money. There is only one Temple of YHWH, thus one central bank. So people would go to the Temple to deposit money, or to make an offering to God. It was probably pretty easy for some confusion to ensue about what made the Temple valuable.

Jesus spent a lot of time at the Temple once he arrived in Jerusalem - teaching, healing, being with people. It didn't take long to see patterns emerge - what kind of people showing up at what time of day saying/doing certain kinds of things, depositing/offering various amounts of money. I'm sure Jesus recognized some of the people - many who may have encountered him as he traveled from Galilee south to the Holy City. And in this little story, Jesus reveals that he knows much more than others realize he knows. And that Jesus notices far more than others notice. And so must God...

Don't judge how valuable your gift is to God and others; don't ponder how valuable you think someone else's gift is. Only God knows how generous and sacrificial and significant is each gift, for only God knows our hearts and motives. Don't delay or deny yourself the opportunity to serve, give, offer, be with someone just because you feel like it's not "big" enough. And don't go patting yourself on the back when you make what you think is a big contribution to something... you might be surprised at how overinflated your sense of value is to the project.

Jesus notices the widow - a woman likely enmeshed in a life of harsh survival, daily scraping by, and yet she exudes a trust in the provision of God. Jesus notices a landowner - a man likely pursuing an extravagant life of social-climbing and honor-seeking. And his gift is a calculated one - out of all his wealth he gives in accordance with his strategy to ascend the ladder of power within the city.

His gift is all about him. Her gift is all she had. What about your gifts?

What would Jesus notice about your gifts? What would he say about your motives?
What details would he notice about your choices?

Jesus The Brilliant, Savvy, Wise Teacher

One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him.

"Tell us by what authority you are doing these things," they said. "Who gave you this authority?"

He replied, "I will also ask you a question. Tell me, John's baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?"

They discussed it among themselves and said, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Why didn't you believe him?'
But if we say, 'Of human origin,' all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet."

So they answered, "We don't know where it was from."

Jesus said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."
Luke 20v1-8 [TNIV]

Here's the scenario - Jesus is in the Temple Courts, a popular gathering area for people from around the nation, even the world. The Temple is the central religious and banking facility for the whole nation. This, obviously, makes it not only popular but very valuable and important. Jesus, by teaching in the Temple Courts, is in the presence of the priests who run both the religious rituals of the Temple, but also the economic tasks of the Temple. The priests - especially the Chief Priests - are going to pay very careful attention to the teachings of Jesus. No surprise that they are offended by Him.

But not only does Jesus offend the chief priests, he also annoys the Teachers of the Law. Technically they are the ones to be teaching Torah to people, but not many people flock to hear them expound. The message of Jesus as he expounds on Torah is called "good news"; doubt if the traditional Torah-teachers ever got that kind of favorable description. So maybe some jealousy is infusing their opposition of Jesus, but there is also resistance to the new understanding of Torah that Jesus is introducing. Jesus is wrecking the credibility of the teachers of the law, he's tainting their character, he's undermining their career. No wonder they resist Him.

Lastly, the Elders are irritated with Jesus. The Elders of a city, a village, a tribe, a family held authority and responsibility. It was the Elders who were final arbiters dealing with life situations that arose in the local regions. The Elders were the wise ones who helped people move forward in life. And here's Jesus coming along with better wisdom, more compassion, fantastic miracles, and he keeps calling people to follow him - leave their home, their families, their traditional jobs behind to become disciples of the Nazareth-man. Surprise surprise that the Elders - upholders of tradition - were positioned against Jesus.

So when the Chief Priests AND the Teachers of the Law AND the Elders confront Jesus on where he gets his authority from, this is an impressive array of opposition, meant to dismay Jesus and hopefully result in a cessation of "good news" proclamation. But Jesus is way to brilliant, savvy and wise for this weak attempt at confrontation. Jesus returns their grasping question with a very direct and probing question. Jesus isn't trying to trick them, at the deepest level Jesus is trying to rescue them from their folly, their rebellion, their pride.

The response of the Three reveals that they give a calculated answer, it's misleading. They know that Jesus is from God - there is no other way to account for what he has accomplished. But that answer will mess everything up for them. If they give the answer they want to give - that Jesus is not a prophet of God, just a mere man, the people will stone the Three.

Clever Jesus, he asks a question about John the Baptist whom everyone recognized as a prophet - the one Malachai prophesied would come as the Second Elijah (which, if you know anything about the original Elijah, this would be a very cool thing to have happen!). In asking the question about John, Jesus is able to accomplish two things: get them to reveal what they believe about John and what they believe about Jesus.

Jesus wisely distangles himself from the deceitful attempts by the Three to discredit and undermine his proclamations of the good news. His question in response to their question gets to the real heart of the issue, and protects him from their evil intentions. For all the attempts we make to Follow Jesus, we don't consider often enough how He asked questions. Life is about people, it's about relationships, it's about influence, it's about reconciliation, it's about love, it's about power, it's about sacrifice, it's about joy.

Navigating your way through relationships is tricky and often a murky experience - hence the power of questions. Questions allow you to learn, they allow you to clarify, they allow you to reveal, they allow you to teach. When confronted with people who are mean, abusive, unthoughtful, or rude, being able to ask pointed questions is often the only response left outside of violence - verbally, physically, or emotionally.

Jesus also makes it clear that everything he does and says - including his questions - are rooted in his life under God. Jesus is under the authority of God - it's by this authority that he proclaims good news, that he heals and restores, that he teaches with wisdom and truth. The Chief Priests, the Teachers of the Law, the Elders were not willing to be under the authority of God in the same way as Jesus.

How about you - will be like the Three? Resisting truth and grace? Resisting transformation and healing? Resisting the Way of God which brings about reconciliation of All Things? Or will you continually choose to be under the authority of God - so that you can daily live out the Way of Jesus.

Jesus and the Parable of the Coming Kingdom

While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once.
He said: "A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. 'Put this money to work,' he said, 'until I come back.'
"But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, 'We don't want this man to be our king.'
"He was made king, however, and returned home.
Luke 19v11-15a [TNIV]

What kind of difference do you want Jesus to make in the world? Do you have high expectations for Jesus? Do you find yourself a bit confused about the bold claims Jesus declares when you consider the mess the world is in? People had their own expectations for Jesus when he was walking and healing his way towards Jerusalem - and we have our own today as we await his return.

So what did Jesus do with all these expectations? He certainly didn't ignore them. In this case, he tells a somewhat confusing parable to help explain what it will look like when the kingdom appears. People thought that God would appear all at once, his Reign would break in immediately and forcibly, decidedly, instantaneously crush the wicked rulers of the world. That's what they wanted him to do, anyway. Which made for a big problem when Jesus tries to explain to them how God is REALLY going to come to them to begin his reign on earth. Jesus' insistence on his version of reality got him killed.

Jesus was what the kingdom of God looked like, and Jesus' way was how the kingdom was going to appear. Jesus, apparently, was planning for the coming of the kingdom to take a very, very, very long time.

In this story, Jesus seems to be indicating that when the kingdom of God comes completely, a lot of us will be shocked at what comes next. We're to be working hard until the kingdom comes in all it's fullness. We're to stay loyal to the king while he is gone, so that when the king returns he has before him many loyal, productive servants to welcome him. Not only that, but the kingdom is that much more greater for all the work the servants did while the king was gone.

Application: Jesus shows up as the king of Israel, and he doesn't find many loyal servants who acknowledge his authority. He also doesn't find many servants being very productive with their work. The country is rotted with greedy leaders and corrupt officials, it's withering through neglect of the widows and abuse of the orphans, it's a stench in the nostrils of surrounding nations for it's arrogance and stubbornness. This is the kind of country that kills its king when he returns to announce the way of peace.

But the resurrection reminds us that the Way of Peace will prevail. It will overcome violence someday. When the king returns, will he find loyal servants working hard at the productive way of peace, or will we be sucked into the swirling vortex of vengeance and bitterness?