Sermon notes from 6.13.10

If you don’t care to interpret the Bible, then why read it?

References for the sermon: Luke 20: 9-20, 20-26. Luke 19: 45-48. Luke 21:1-4.

How do you have this authority, they ask? Where does it come from? Why do you drive the people from the temple and teach them?

There were four different groups who tried to trap Christ. They all left being humiliated. After this, he warns the people of these groups and tells of their wrong-doing. (Look before for the context: Matthew 23:1-7, 13-17, 23-28, and 33-36) (Looking after for the context: Luke 21:5-27)

Luke 21 1-4: The pastor was pointing out in this sermon that there are typically many different lessons taken from this passage/story. But he was trying to point out to us the little things that you never would have noticed. I really enjoyed this sermon because he likes to take time to “stop and smell the roses.” He wants us to actually understand what is being said in a passage and so he picks it apart, piece by piece. Hate to say it, but I was actually a little glad that our normal pastor was out of town this week, because I got to hear a wonderful sermon. Speaking on the passage: He (Christ) never said that one group was bad (the two groups being the widow, and the teachers of the law). He never said that. It didn’t matter the attitude with which the money was given. It didn’t matter how much was left over afterwards or what the person’s income was (other than in this case one was poor and the others were rather rich). These are typical conclusions drawn from this small passage. He encouraged us to look beyond those and seek the real meaning of it all.

Side note: two copper coins at that time would have equaled about 1/8 of a penny today.

My guess before he told us the real meaning for the passage was that, the earthly things don’t matter and we should be willing to give everything for Him if he asks it of us. (I still don’t know why I guessed that)

The real reason is so very simple! If you read Luke 20:47, you will see it right away. Jesus was just pointing out how the teachers of the law, and the priests were stealing and robbing *everything* from the widows. Back then, they believed that if someone was a widow, it was for a reason. God was punishing her for something. Jesus was angry because these men were stealing from the widows…and the story of the widow was Jesus pointing out exactly how they were doing it! She was proof that they were thieves and robbers of the helpless. We are commanded to help the widows and orphans, and instead we turn around and steal every last penny of theirs. She had nothing left over.