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by Sandy Shaw
We have been reading these opening verses of Luke Chapter 21 and we have taken time to consider the significance of this dear woman giving everything she had, and Jesus Christ noticed it and commented.
We are not told her name, but we are reading about her. Perhaps she never knew what Jesus Christ saw in her as she gave so liberally. Jesus uses her devotion, and remarks upon her giving.
Sometimes we might never know how Jesus uses what we do, nor how He might use the words we speak.
O, it can be nice to know now and again, and encouraging, to realise that people have been helped and blessed, but in many situations we may never know.
After all that has been going on in the Temple, you can hear Jesus calling the attention of the disciples. "Come here 'til I tell you about that widow." And, Jesus comments on this incident to the disciples who had been listening to people giving Jesus a rough time.
Within a few days the central place of the Temple would be over, and yet there is almost this final beautiful act of Worship, before God the Father takes down the curtains, and the Son of God sees and observes and comments on what really matters. This is an important lesson for us all.
Here is Jesus in what had been intended to be the most holy setting, but it has been corrupted in all kinds of ways, and yet, the disciples are so taken up with the buildings.
They are so taken up with what is soon to be of no importance. They were unaware of this at this point. They are impressed by what has almost had its day.
They are so taken up with the building, the beauty of it, and it was beautiful, and many gifts adorned it, but its day was almost finished. What a lesson!
Can we even try to begin to imagine what this must have meant to the people of Israel? The Temple was vital at that time, given by God, and here is Jesus saying, "The day of the Temple is over."
Many have immense problems when man made things are challenged. But consider what this would have meant in the mind of the Jew. These words of Jesus must have sounded very strange indeed. All that you see will soon disappear, and it did.
They could not envisage the Kingdom without The Temple. Challenging a man made festival or institution or religious tradition, is nothing compared to what God was demolishing, closing down, doing away with, and Jesus has to explain what all this means.
They went on to link the demolition of the Temple with Jesus Coming Back as King, in power. (We are told this in Matthew Chapter 24 and verse 3.)
They believed Jesus, but they wanted to know WHEN. WHAT will happen? HOW will it happen? Spell out the signs. We too can be like that at times.
Jesus goes on to explain everything in detail, but His first word is "BEWARE". Watch out. Be very careful. Do not be deceived.
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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