Wednesday 12/02/15
Series: Living in the Kingdom VI
Message – The Economy of the Kingdom VII
Our teaching today is a continuation of Sunday’s message about the Economy of the Kingdom in regards to giving to the poor. Today we are focusing on the New Testament, NOT because it says anything different than the old, but because we are simply moving from the beginning of our bibles to the end.
One example of giving which is unique to the New Testament and Jesus’ ministry in particular, is found in Matthew 17:24-27 and beautifully illustrates the very loose ties our souls are to have in regards to monetary wealth.
Matt. 17:24-27,
“When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?” (25) He said, “Yes.” And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?” (26) Peter said to Him, “From strangers.” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. (27) Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.”
This is perhaps the most telling example of love and money in the New Testament. The temple tax was implemented in Exodus 30:13-16, as a means of providing currency for the upkeep of the temple. In Jesus’ day the temple tax was to maintain Herod’s Temple built for the Jewish people. The amount was about 2 day’s wages. Those who collected the temple tax were almost certainly testing Jesus through Peter, to see if they could find an opportunity to accuse Him since they did not approve of His attitude concerning the temple. Before this time it had been witnessed by the Pharisees that Jesus had…
- Claimed to be greater than the temple – Matthew 12:6, “I tell you that one greater than the temple is here.”
- In John chapter 2 Jesus cleared the Temple by driving out the merchants and declared, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a den of thieves!” – as recorded in John 2:16.
So, as you can imagine, the Jewish leaders were not exactly thrilled with Jesus’ attitude about the temple.
Of course, Jesus actually loved the temple. According to His Own testimony He called it His Father’s house.
In the end, Jesus’ statement to Peter was quite literal. Jesus, just like the children of Herod, was exempt from paying the temple tax since He was the Son of God – the Son of the Father Who occupied the temple as His dwelling place. In a way, the temple was Jesus’ home! So, His statement to Peter, was both honest and true.
THIS is where Jesus’ example is SO telling. Even though He did not owe the tax in ANY conceivable way, He said, “Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.”
Did you get that? Let we offend them? Really?! The word offend here means to scandalize…that is to shock or horrify someone by a real OR IMAGINED violation of propriety or morality. In other words, these men would not have understood that Jesus was in fact exempt, and so to avoid even the outward APPEARANCE of evil, Jesus paid the tax!
That is a lesson on money that EVERY Christian should take to heart and follow!
Most Christians, at least those who live in major world power nations, cling to money more than they realize and if they truly knew what Christ and the Apostles taught regarding money they would be either offended or completely shocked! Here we have an example where we should be willing to surrender money even in terms of half our weekly pay check, for no other reason than to avoid offending our enemies. NOT just our brothers – but those who rage themselves against us, challenge us and go out of their way to make our lives difficult – THEM! To some Christians this would be easier than forgiving them since it seems in some ways external – but God demands both from us and more. Not only are we to do EVERYTHING in our power to walk at peace with all men (even surrendering our money), we are to forgive them, good good to them, NEVER speak evil of them, bless them and LOVE them.
I dare say this is NOT a message many church goers in today’s world of “feel good” messages would tolerate. In fact, the closest I ever hear to this is a selfish appeal to love and forgive for ENTIRELY selfish reasons. The sale’s pitch goes like this…
“When you don’t forgive you are only punishing yourself and those that hurt you do not deserve that satisfaction. Forgive them and let it go, they aren’t worth what it is costing you in terms of peace!” – REALLY? Is that why Christians should forgive? Is that the only motivation for giving or loving, blessing and doing good to our enemies? What about forgiving because YOU have been forgiven and loving because you have been loved, honoring the un-honorable OUT of honor for God our Father and King? I tell you any reason south of these is unworthy of a Christian!
New Testament examples of Alms
Now, there are a few things mentioned in the New Testament concerning alms (giving to the poor) which are unique in all of scripture…and these we covered in today’s message. However, because the points being made here have largely already been made in our last message in passages taken from the Old Testament, I will not provide a summery of the message here. As I said though, there are a few things which are unique to the New Covenant and so it would still be well worth your investment of time to listen to the message and follow along through the following verses we used.
I will offer s few short commentaries on some verses as they arise.
- Luke 11:39-41
- When addressing the Pharisees about how they kept up outward appearances, but left their hearts unclean before God. Then He advised them to take care of this by no GIVING TO THE POOR and then “all things are clean to you”, He said. WOW! That is a very strong statement!!!
- Luke 12:28-34
- Luke 19:1-9
- In this passage, a tax collector by the name of Zacchaeus was singled out by Jesus to have over for dinner. When Zacchaeus heard that the Master was going to dine at his house, he exclaimed, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” (9) And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; (10) for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Imagine that! Jesus says that salvation had come to Zachaeus because it was evident through his heart change resulting in giving back FOURFOLD what he had taken by fraud, and giving half of his remaining wealth to the poor! God LOVES the poor and LOVES those who give to them!!!
- Acts 3:1-7
- Acts 10:2-4, 31
- This example is PROFOUND! The very first recorded Gentile to EVER be saved, was singled out by God by giving a vision to the Gentile to send for Peter in Joppa and by giving a vision to Peter as well instructing him to not call unclean what He had purified. Then Peter went with the Gentiles back to Cornellius’ house, and led them to the Lord (something Peter did NOT know could even be done for Gentiles at this point). The ASTOUNDING thing these verses point out is WHY God singled this Gentile out. It was because he gave to the poor and was a worshiper of God. Now, being a worshiper of God seems like enough, but not only was giving to the poor ALSO mentioned – it was mentioned FIRST! This speaks VERY LOUDLY, concerning how God feels about giving to the poor!
- Acts. 20:32-36
- Acts 24:17
- Rom. 15:22-28
- 1 Cor. 13:3 – MOTIVES are important!
- Gal. 2:1-10
- This example is also VERY important. When the Apostles realized that God had accepted the Gentiles into the Kingdom and were recognizing that God had specifically called Paul to be the official Apostle to the Gentiles, among the three things they told Paul to be careful to do was to remember giving to the poor! Amazingly, their encouragement had little to do with proper doctrine and more to do with charity! Again, this speaks LOUD AND CLEAR about how God feels concerning giving to the poor!
- II Cor. 8-9
That is all for today, but we will pick up here on Sunday where I think you will be a little aghast as some things Jesus said about giving. Remember to studying to show ourselves as approved in regards to money, possessions and giving in the Kingdom.
Blessings!
I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. If you do not know Him, please use our ‘Contact Us‘ page and reach out so we may have the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Attendance at our church will NOT even be mentioned nor will money.
If you have been spiritually fed by this ministry and wish to give, we truly appreciate that and you may do so here, but all outreaches of this ministry are FREE for you and anyone to enjoy at no cost.
Blessings!
