March 29 - Mark 12

Verses 1-12 Parable of the Tenants
As you might have guessed the son is Jesus. The tenants are the religious leaders that have been there all along and it is illustrating how they are trying to find a way to get Jesus in trouble. They don't believe and they'll prevent others from believing if they have to. They are stuck in their ways and will not change

Verses 13-40 demonstrate the religious leaders' attempts at trying to find a reason to accuse Jesus. Jesus correctly responds to each test... These powerful religious leaders are demonstrating their power to control and destroy.

Yet, the chapter concludes with the account of the widow's offering. The temple was known as a place where the rich and powerful could demonstrate their power with their offerings. Yet Jesus was more impressed by this widow that gave a really small offering. Why? Because she understood what offering really was - to demonstrate her faith in God, not human beings - by giving everything she had. The "treasury" is not necessarily a treasury of gold coins and money -- imagine it being a treasury of faith.

If churches today were really measured not by the number of members or by the amount of offering received -- but rather by the treasury of faith, how would our church do?