Jesus was still on the Mount teaching, and in our two passages, we see two contrasting events through Jesus’ eyes, which should give us pause to consider how Jesus would assess us—our services, our worship, and our lives. In the pretentious scribes, Jesus saw some things to condemn, but in the poor widow, He found someone to commend.
Notice that Jesus loved this man. Jesus wasn’t trying to punish him, Jesus was offering him “treasure in heaven,” and nothing is worth more than that. The question now is whether this man’s wealth was a blessing or a curse. Everyone else would say, “This man is blessed, look at how much he has!” But as Jesus had already asked back in Mark 8:36, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
In verses 14 through 16 James asks three rhetorical questions, followed in verse 17 with a conclusion. You know what a rhetorical question is don’t you? Men, it’s when your wife comes home with a new haircut and asks, “Do you think this haircut looks good?” That is not a real question. In a rhetorical question the answer is implied in the question. It’s like when a man asks his wife, “Don’t you think that ‘bigger’ flatscreen TV would look good in the family room?” It’s more of a statement than an actual question
In his epistle, James warns the church not judge people by how they dress. He tells us not to show favoritism to people whose attire would suggest they are rich, as compared to people whose clothing would indicate they are poor.
In a world of such uncertainty, the only thing we know for sure is that everything changes. Things that seem permanent and unshakable, tremble and fall. Empires may last a thousand years, but in time every empire that has ever existed met its demise at the hands of fallen and corrupt humanity. There is only one kingdom that shall never pass away.
