Ryle on Mark 12:35-44

Imported boundary: J. C. Ryle's Expository Thoughts on Mark from the Internet Archive DjVu OCR for the 1858 Robert Carter St. Mark volume. Title pages, preface, contents, running heads, page numbers, OCR boilerplate, and indexes are not mirrored. The source includes Ryle's printed Scripture text and exposition; this scan-derived text remains needs-verification.

Primary passage: Mark 12:35-44.

Source Text

35 And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the Scrihes that Christ is the son of*David i 36 For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The Lop.o said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till 1 make thine enemies thy footstool. 37 David therefore himself calleth him Lord ; aud whence is he then, his son ? And the common people heard him gladly. 38 And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the Scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces, 39 And the chief scats in the syn- agogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts : 40 Which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers : these shall receive greater damnation. 41 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. 42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. _ 43 Aud he called unto him his dis- ciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury. 44 For all they did cast in of their abundance ; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living. 12 We have seen in the former part of this chapter, how the enemies of our Lord endeavored to " catch Him in His words." We have seen how the Pharisees, the Sad- ducees, and the Scribes successively propounded to Him hard questions - questions we can hardly fail to observe, more likely to minister strife than edification. The pas- sage before us begins with a question of a very diiferent character. Our Lord Himself propounds it. He asks His enemies about Christ and the meaning of Holy Scripture. Such questions are always truly profitable. Well would it be for the church if theological discus- sions were less about trifles, and more about weighty matters, and things necessary to salvation.

Let us learn, in the first place, from these verses, how much there is about Christ in the Old Testament Scriptures. Our Lord desires to expose the ignorance of the Jewish teachers about the true nature of the Messiah. He does it by referring to a passage in the book of Psalms, and showing that the Scribes did not rightly understand it. And in so doing He shows us that one subject, about which David was inspired by the Holy Ghost to write, was Christ. We know, from our Lord's own words in another place, that the Old Testament Scriptures " testify of Christ." (John v. 39.) They were intended to teach men about Christ, by types, and figures, and prophecy, till He Him- self should appear on earth.

We should always keep this in mind, in reading the Old Testament, but never so much as in reading the Psalms. Christ is undoubtedly to be found in every part of the Law and the Prophets, but nowhere is He so much to be found, as in the book 267 of Psalms. His experience and sufferings at His first corning into the world - His future glory, and His final triumph at His second coming - are the chief subjects of many a passage in that wonderful part of God's word. It is a true saying, that we should look for Christ quite as much as David, in reading the Psalms.

Let us beware of undervaluing, or despising the Old Testament. In its place and proportion, the Old Testa- ment is just as valuable as the New. There are probably many rich passages in that part of the Bible which have never yet been fully explored. There are deep things about Jesus in it, which many wralk over like hidden gold mines, and know not the treasures beneath their feet. Let us reverence all the Bible. All is given by inspiration, and all is profitable. One part throws light upon another, and no part can ever be neglected without loss and damage to our souls. A boastful contempt for the Old Testament Scriptures has often proved the first step towards infidelity.

Let us learn, in the second place, from these verses, how odious is the sin of hypocrisy in the sight of Christ. This is a lesson which is taught us by our Lord's warn- ing against the Scribes. He exposes some of their noto- rious practices - their ostentatious manner of dressing - their luve of the honor and praise of man rather than God - their love of money, disguised under a pretended concern for widows - their long-protracted public devo- tions, intended to make men think them eminently godly. And He winds up all by the solemn declaration, " these shall receive greater damnation." Of all the sins into which men can fall, none seem so exceedingly sinful as false profession and hypocrisy. At all events, none have drawn from our Lord's mouth such strong language, and such heavy denunciations. It is bad enough to be led away captive by open sin, and to serve divers lusts and pleasures. But it is even worse to pretend to have a religion, while in reality we serve the world.

Let us beware of falling into this abominable sin. Whatever we do in religion, let us never wear a cloak. Let us be real, honest, thorough, and sincere in our Christianity. We cannot deceive an all-seeing God.

We may take in poor short-sighted man by a little talk and profession, and a few cant phrases, and an affecta- tion of devoutness. But God is not mocked. He is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. His all-seeing eye pierces through the paint, and varnish, and tinsel, which cover the unsound heart. The day of judgment will soon be here. The "joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment." (Job xx. 5.) His end will be shame and everlasting contempt. One thing, however, must never be forgotten in con- nection with the subject of hypocrisy. Let us not natter ourselves, because some make a false profession of religion, that others need not make any profession at all. This is a common delusion, and one against which we must carefully guard. It does not follow, because some bring Christianity into contempt by professing what they do not really believe and feel, that we should run into the other extreme, and bring it into contempt by a cowardly silence and by keeping our religion out of sight. Let us rather be doubly careful to adorn our doctrine by our lives. Let us prove our sincerity by the consistency 269 of our conversation. Let us show the world that there is true coin, as well as counterfeit coin, and that the visible Church contains Christians who can witness a good confession, as well as Pharisees and Scribes. Let us con- fess our Master modestly and humbly, but firmly and de- cidedly, and show the world that although some men may be hypocrites, there are others who are honest and true.

Let us learn, in the last place, from these verses, how pleasing to Christ is self-denying liberality in giving. This is a lesson which is taught us in a striking manner, by our Lord's commendation of a certain poor widow. We are told that He " beheld how the people cast in" their voluntary contributions for God's service into the public collecting box or " treasury." He saw " many that were rich casting in much." At last he saw this poor widow cast in all that she had for her daily maintenance. And then we hear Him pronounce the solemn words, " This poor woman hath cast more in than they all" - more in the sight of Him who looks not merely at the amount given, but at the ability of the giver - not merely at the quantity contributed, but at the motive and heart of the contributor. There are few of our Lord's sayings so much over- looked as this. There are thousands who remember all His doctrinal discourses, and yet contrive to forget this little incident in His earthly ministry. The proof of this is to be seen in the meagre and sparing contributions which are yearly made by Christ's church to do good in the world. The proof is to be seen in the miserably small incomes of all the missionary societies, in propor- tion to the wealth of the churches. The proof is to be seen in the long annual lists of self-complacent guinea subscribers, of whom many could easily give hundreds of pounds. The stinginess of professing Christians in all matters which concern God and religion, is one of the crying sins of the day, and one of the worst signs of the times. The givers to Christ's cause are but a small sec- tion of the visible church. Not one baptized person in twenty, probably, knows any thing of being " rich to- wards G-od." ( Luke xii. 21.) The vast majority spend pounds on themselves, and give not even pence to Christ. Let us mourn over this state of things, and pray God to amend it.

Let us pray Him to open men's eyes, and awake men's hearts, and stir up a spirit of liberality. Above all, let us each do our own duty, and give liber- ally and gladly to every Christian object while we can. There will be no giving when we are dead. Let us give as those who remember that the eyes of Christ are upon us. He still sees exactly what each gives, and knows exactly how much is left behind. Above all let us give as the disciples of a crucified Saviour, who gave Himself for us, body and soul, on the cross. Freely we have received. Let us freely give.*

* It is probable, according to Arias Montanus and Brenius, that the words " all her living," mean " all her daily income," and not all her property. It may be well to remark in this connection, that nothing can be more absurd than to say, as some do, that they contribute " their mite" to an object, when they probably contribute some trifling sum which they do not miss, and which bears not the most remote pro- portion to the widow's scale of liberality. - A man contributes "his mite" when he contributes half his daily income, and not till then.