Big Idea - How does Jesus see us? In this passage, we see Jesus evaluating the actions and motives of two different groups of people - the Scribes and those giving their offerings in the Temple. What the crowd and even the disciples see is very different from how Jesus sees what is happening. It is a powerful reminder that Jesus will judge the living and the dead one day! How will He see us? How will He evaluate our lives? Most importantly, how should we live knowing that we will one day give an account of our life before Him?
First, we see that Jesus is not impressed with outward appearances because He sees through our actions to the true motives of the heart. As it turns out, most of us are just putting on a show. We live for the praise and honor of men. Seeking glory is not necessarily bad since God created us for glory. The problem is that when we seek people's approval, we become actors who put on a great show, but it is not who we really are. When we perform for others, our motives are selfish, and our actions are fake. Jesus will judge us not on how we appear on the outside but based on who we are on the inside. He sees what we work so hard to keep hidden from others. He sees the real me! When our inward character does not match our outward actions, we only fool ourselves. The Scribes would be judged severely for their hypocrisy, and so will all who are only pretending to be good.
Secondly, we see that Jesus is impressed by things easily overlooked by everyone else because He understands the quality of our actions very differently than how we understand them. We are impressed by the impact, the size of the splash, and the quantity. We measure generosity by the size of the gift and what it can accomplish. But Jesus is not impressed with such things. For one, He knows that the real impact of anything we do is not dependent on how big our gift is but by how it is filled with His power. He doesn't need our help to make an impact! So, Jesus is not impressed by the size of the gift. Rather, He is impressed by the size of the sacrifice. You could say He is not looking at how much we give but at how much we keep for ourselves. That is the real measure of love. Not how much we give but how much we sacrifice. This principle is powerfully illustrated in the "Gift of the Magi." Does this mean we have to sacrifice all we have to worship God and show our love for Him? Not necessarily. But maybe that is not the point of the story. Instead, it is about what God has done to show His love for us. God has blessed us generously out of His infinite wealth by creating a world of such abundance! But that does not show the full extent of His love, only of His endless wealth. Instead, He showed the extent of His love for us by how much He was willing to sacrifice for us by sending His only Son to die for us. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice, giving up all He had, in fact, His very life for us. That is real love! How will we respond to that kind of gift and extravagant display of love? It should cause us to think hard about who we seek to please and where we seek honor and glory. If we put on a good show, we may gain the approval and praise of people, but they will never really love us. Ultimately, their praise is empty and fades like the early morning fog. But, the love and praise of God is eternal and unfading. We will all stand before Jesus, the judge of the living and the dead. How will we stand before Him? We will pass the fires of judgment only if we are clothed in His righteousness. But, we will receive the crown of glory only if we have lived to please Him because His great love has so moved us for us! The only people who can worship God by making great sacrifices for God are those who have been unraveled by the understanding of the great sacrifice God has already made for them!
