Tag Archives: Mark12:41

Poor In Spirit – Mon – 21-08-16

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“Blessed are the poor in spirit,” said Jesus. To understand this phrase, we start with the word poor. In ancient Israel, the society could be divided into different economic groups. The wealthy lived in luxury, as they do today. Next was what might be called a “middle class,” although they were certainly poorer than the middle class today. These people owned property and ran businesses, but did not live in luxury.

But when it came to the poor, there were two groups. We know this by studying different words translated as “poor.” The first group did not own property, but they were able-bodied and worked as day laborers. The second group were the truly destitute. They were not able to earn any wages and were beggars. They were often physically disabled or blind. Sometimes they were victims of circumstance, like a widow without children. In their society, widows did not own property and were unable to inherit.

This word for the destitute poor is used in Mark 12:41-42, which reads, “Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.”(NIV) It goes on to say this was all she had to live on.

This is the word poor Jesus used in the Beatitude. Now that we understand the word poor, tomorrow we’ll look at the word spirit.

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Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.

Widow’s Example – Tue – 21-03-30

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On Tuesday of Jesus’ final week before his death, while he spent time in the temple teaching, his enemies challenged him with questions. Jesus answered them so well, they eventually stopped asking. Then came a break in the action. Mark 12:41 tells us that Jesus sat down near the place people placed their monetary offerings. He and his disciples must have watched for a while. For it says many rich people threw in large amounts. I like those words “threw in” for the rich were tossing large numbers of coins into a container. It was probably a bit noisy as all the coins rattled around!

Then a poor widow deposited two small coins worth practically nothing. They barely made a clink as they fell in. But Jesus was impressed. He motioned his disciple to gather to him and said this: “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything — all she had to live on.”

Isn’t it great, that Jesus measures the heart with which we give, not the amount? This widow had the faith to give everything in the midst of her poverty. You and I may never accomplish great things for God. We may not give millions of dollars. What matters isn’t the amount we accomplish or give. The important thing is when we give our all, no matter how small, Jesus is pleased.

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Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.