Sit Up and Take Notice: Daily Thoughts from Mark (Mark 12:41-44)

What gets your attention?  Nightly news knows that our attention is drawn to the difficult and scary things going on in our world, as well as the heartwarming things.  Maybe as glass-half-full kind of people we are drawn to the negative in people and situations.  As consumers we might be snagged by slashed-prices deals.

What grabbed Jesus’ attention?  Here, in Jerusalem, in the last days of his life, with much that is negative to carp on, something extraordinary reels him in.

And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44, ESV) 

Jesus is hours away from being arrested and killed.  He is facing opposition from the religious and even political leaders of Israel and pointing out how corrupt the system is.  But there are flashes of hope.  The common people love hearing him teach and confound the scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees and Herodians.  And here is an example of an Israelite who has understood the meaning of trusting God and serving Him only.

The widow’s tiny offering is all she has.  God means more to her than eating.  Jesus could be struck by the poverty and the need to do something for widows like her, and to be sure it mattered to him.  He could go on about how corrupt a system she is supporting with her offering.  But the most important thing to him right now is her devotion.

If I love the Lord I know that all I have is His and I trust that He is able to meet my needs and will do so.  But even as Jesus is about to sacrifice all, I too know that a relationship with Him is worth every sacrifice.  I must watch against a tendency to coast, to take my ease, to lose sight of what is most crucial.  Serving the One who purchased my life at the cost of his own is the most important priority in my life.

If serving Jesus is my most important priority it will be reflected in what makes me sit up and take notice.  The heart that people have for God will arrest me and confine me in a place of wonder and appreciation, seeking no release from such a jail.