Post a Scene from the New Testament

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jack63 said:
I don’t think Jesus is a bit pleased by the widows’ offering. Instead I take it to mean he is upset that she is giving what she needs to survive for the sake of appearances.
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An interesting interpretation.

Looking at it another way, I think Jesus is pleased by her faith. She trusts not in money but in God to provide what she needs, like the widow of Zarephath, who used the last of her flour to make a cake for Elijah (1 Kings 17:7-16).
 
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jack63 said:
I don’t think Jesus is a bit pleased by the widows’ offering. Instead I take it to mean he is upset that she is giving what she needs to survive for the sake of appearances.
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She’s not giving it “for the sake of appearances.”
It was expected that a devout Jewish person would give to the temple, to maintain the House of God. The widow was showing her faith and her love of God, not showing off.
Certainly no one was impressed by her tiny offering. But God saw that it was a big sacrifice for her and loved her for that.
By contrast, the rich people putting in a huge amount of money may have been showing off, and Jesus as always criticizes people who are seeking to impress others rather than acting out of love for God.

I also didn’t get the impression Jesus was criticizing the general idea of people donating money to the Temple; after all, he himself used it enough for worship and for preaching and referred to it as his father’s house. Rather, it was people’s attitude of showing off that he criticized.
 
jack63 said:
Jesus says of these great buildings…”Not one stone will be left here upon another”. In a sense the windows’ mite was for nothing.
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I think you’re reading your own bias into the story of the widow performing an act of love for God and worship of God.
Jesus never expressed in Scripture that he thought the Temple was a waste of money or shouldn’t exist or people shouldn’t donate to it. The Temple was to honor his Father. Jesus was fine with that, and he also used the Temple himself to worship and to preach. The only time Jesus gets upset is when people are misusing the Temple for commercial purposes, to make money, instead of appreciating it as “his Father’s house”.

Yes, Jesus knew it would be destroyed. All through the Old Testament the Jewish people suffer losses and destruction, including the destruction of the first Temple, whenever they turn away from God and sin. By rejecting Jesus, the Jewish people again turned away from God, so it’s expected that their Temple would be destroyed and they would be scattered.

That doesn’t mean that he thought the widow’s act of love in giving a small donation to the Temple was worthless, or that she shouldn’t have done it. I too see a parallel with the story of the widow who made the cake for Elijah. It’s somebody who gives the little they have to God.
 
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When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” (Matthew 14:26)

Walking on Water by Ivan Aivazovsky , 1890

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Tis_Bearself said:
I think you’re reading your own bias into the story of the widow performing an act of love for God and worship of God.
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I wish I could take credit for this idea!

I honestly heard it in a homily though…a Catholic one too…long after I converted. Does this mean this interpretation is the right one. Of course not! However, it is worth considering. I did some digging on the subject.

Wikipedia gives a very good summary of this interpretation that is well referenced.


The original idea of this interpretation was written about in a Catholic publication.
Wright, Addison G. “The Widow’s Mite: Praise or Lament”, The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 44, 1982, pp.256-265
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So to me Jesus is saying be careful who you trust and where you give your money. Anyway, this thread makes me happy! 🙂 Pictures are a good way to learn and create discussion.
 
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Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him. (Matthew 5:1)

The Sermon on the Mount by Cosimo Roselli .

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And There Was One by Brandon Cunningham. A depiction of the 10 cured lepers with only one thanking Jesus.
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You would have to ask the artist. It may be that he only paints in one style. It may be that he wanted us to focus on the emotion rather than on individual features of a leper.
The other lepers are so far from the foreground I don’t see much similarity in a small picture.
 
Few things are needed–or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her (Luke 10:42)

Christ in the House of Martha and Mary by Johannes Vermeer (c.1655)

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Matthew 16:18
And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
 
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As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus.Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. (Matthew 27:57)

Joseph asked for the body of Christ from Pilate

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When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. (Luke 21:20)

The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem by David Roberts , 1850

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The are many paintings that Paolo Veronese did of Jesus and the Centurion. I combined a couple together. It is Luke 7…“But say the word, and my servant will be healed.”

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Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? (Luke 15:4)

The Lost Sheep by Alford Usher Soord

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