1 Kings 9:1-5 - When Solomon had finished building

9:1-3

“The Lord appeared to him a second time”. This would imply that the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, as He had done on the previous occasion (1 Kings 3:5). This time the Lord assures Solomon that He has heard the prayers and pleas that we read about in the previous chapter. “I have consecrated this temple”. In Deuteronomy there was repeated emphasis on the importance of worshipping at the place that God would choose. God confirms that this temple is the place that He has chosen. God’s “eyes and heart” would always be on the temple.

9:4,5

The promise is conditional, and as Deuteronomy, and Solomon’s prayer, show, there was always the expectation that Israel would fail. “If you walk before me with integrity”.  The promise was conditional upon obedience. If Solomon and his successors obeyed the Lord, then they would continue to be on the throne of Israel. 

Mark 12:41-44 - A poor woman

12:41,42

Having seen examples of people who do not understand, or people who have far too high opinion of themselves, and are regarded highly in society, we now get the opposite. We encounter a person who was considered to be of little value by society, but is actually contributing more to God than all the “important” people. Many rich people were making large contributions, and everyone would know about it for the money would be checked before it was put in the temple treasury. Then there was a poor widow who put in two small coins, an apparently very meagre contribution. So the natural assessment of the situation would be that the rich people had given generously, but that the widow had given little.

12:43,44

Jesus gave a very different assessment of the situation. It was the widow who had actually given the most, for she had given “all she had to live on”, she had given out of her poverty. The others had given out of their wealth. Now this does not mean it is wrong to give out of our wealth, nor that it is wrong to be wealthy. The Bible contains a number of good wealthy people. What does matter is our heart attitude. If we are blessed with wealth we should give generously, but we should not think we are anything special.

1 Kings 8:62-66 - Offered sacrifices before the Lord

8:62-64

After all this many more sacrifices are offered. Again it is a vast number, though this time they are counted. Twenty two thousand cattle and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. The numbers do seem to be incredibly large. Thi was the culmination of the dedication of the temple of the Lord. Burnt and grain offerings were offered in order to consecrate the “middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple”. There is a recognition that the altar in the temple itself could not handle all the sacrifices.

8:65,66

The offerings were made in accordance with the requirements of the Law. It seems that all Israel was there. “From Lebo Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt” indicates the extent of Solomon’s empire. The whole event took fourteen days in total. The people were then sent away. The people blessed the king and they were “joyful and glad in heart”, and were grateful to the Lord. This was the high watermark of Israel, sadly things would soon go downhill from here.

Mark 12:38b-40 - Watch out for the teachers of the Law

12:38b-40

The teachers of the Law walked around in flowing robes, receiving greetings in the market-places. It was the custom that inferiors should greet their superiors. The teachers of the Law had a high opinion of themselves, and liked to milk their supposed status.  They took the best seats in the synagogues and at banquets. One might say that many bishops today like to wear fancy garments. 

In the Old Testament there are many commands to look after the poor, orphans and widows, and we are told that God has a special concern for widows. Instead of following these commands, the teachers of the Law “devoured” widow’s houses. Even using “legal” means to take their property. They also made lengthy prayers, boasting of how clever they were. Jesus assures the people that “these men will be punished most severely”. There are always individuals or groups of people who seem to get away with things, but no one can escape the judgement of God.

1 Kings 8:54-61 - When Solomon had finished

8:54-57

Solomon had been kneeling before the altar while he uttered all these prayers, and had had his hands “spread out towards heaven”. Then he stood and blessed the whole assembly. The basis for the blessing was that God had fulfilled all His promises made through Moses. Solomon asks that God would never leave nor forsake them. Sadly, Israel would leave and forsake the Lord.

8:58-61

“May He turn out hearts to Him ...” Israel would turn away from the Lord, but there will come a time when they do turn back to the Lord. The goal is that “all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God”. “And may your hearts be fully committed.” God’s purposes are a fully committed people, and His glory going throughout the earth. These purposes have not changed.

Mark 14:62-65 -You will see he Son of Man at thr right hand of the Mighty One

14:62

The latter point is brought out all the more clearly in Jesus’ reply. He affirms that He is the Messiah and the Son of God. Interestingly He also sticks with the title Son of Man as well. Then, as He often did, He makes the situation “worse”, ie far from compromising He makes the situation even more acute. Jesus tells them that one day they would see Him seated at the right hand of God. There is now no doubt about the situation.

 

14:63

The high priest knew exactly what Jesus was saying, there was no room for “interpretation”. So he tore his clothes, this is a common idiom in the Bible, representing repentance or horror at what one has done, or what someone else has done. In this case it was the amazing claims of Jesus.

14:64,65

In the eyes of the high priest Jesus had blasphemed, He had claimed equality with God. So the “court” was unanimously agreed that Jesus must die, He was deserving of death. So they mocked Jesus and spat upon Him, and He was beaten with many blows. All this was outside the proper functioning of the court. They also had the problem that they did not have the authority to actually put Jesus to death, which is why the Romans had to be brought into the picture.

Mark 12:36-38a - The Lord said to my Lord

12:36,37

Jesus quotes from Ps 110:1. Psalm 110 was accepted as being messianic, and it is oft quoted or alluded to in the New Testament. The key point used by Jesus here is “The Lord said to my Lord”, followed by “Sit at my right hand ...” The two figures here are treated as equal, and this Psalm was written by David. So David is referring to someone greater than his son, for he would not write about his son in such terms. “The large crowd listened to Him with delight”. Why with delight? Maybe because the teachers of the Law considered themselves to be so learned , and such experts in the Bible, yet here was Jesus clearly demonstrating that they were not as clever as they thought they were.

12:38a

Jesus continues His criticism of the teachers of the Law by saying “Watch out for the teachers of the Law”. When the teacher of the Law asked Jesus the question about the greatest commandment I remarked that he seemed a rather proud person, somewhat full of himself. Jesus did tell him that he was not far from the kingdom of God, so seems to have had a favourable attitude towards him, but clearly Jesus did not think much of the teachers of the Law in general.