In 20:46-47 the Lord warns His disciples concerning the scribes: “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces, and best seats in the synagogues, and places of honor at the dinners, who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense pray long prayers. These will receive even more judgment.” After muzzling the mouths of all His opposers, the Savior warned His disciples of the hypocrisy and evils of the scribes. This indicates that they were condemned by the One in whom they tried their best to find fault.
What would you have done if you had been one of the scribes? Would you have dared to show your face? I do not think the scribes knew what to say. In the words of Jude 19, they seemed to not have spirit, to be devoid of spirit.
In 21:1-4 we have the Man-Savior’s appraising of a poor widow. He saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and “He saw a certain needy widow putting in two small copper coins” (v. 2). The Greek word for “needy” is a stronger word than “poor” and indicates a penniless condition.
In verses 3 and 4 the Lord said, “Truly I tell you that this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all these out of their abundance put in their gifts, but this woman out of her lack has put in all the livelihood which she had.” The Man-Savior was God living in humanity. As such, He was concerned to see how God’s people expressed their loyalty in their offering to Him. In this way He appraised the widow’s loyalty to God. The Man-Savior’s observation is more penetrating than man’s.
Luke 21:1-4 should not be separated from chapter twenty. In the warning against the scribes and in the appraising of the poor widow, Luke once again shows us a high standard of morality. The morality of the scribes was very low, but the morality of the poor widow was very high.
Why did Luke put these two instances immediately after the opposers’ examination of the Man-Savior? He did this because the governing principle of his Gospel is the highest standard of morality. This principle controls the writing of this book. Therefore, the first four verses of chapter twenty-one should be taken with chapter twenty so that we may have a clear view of the highest standard of morality. Those who examined the Lord had a low standard of morality. But as the One who behaved in the highest standard of morality, the Man-Savior appraised the poor widow, for she also lived according to a high standard of morality.
According to Exodus 12, each family was to take a lamb without blemish for the Passover (Exo. 12:3-5). We may say that the Lord Jesus was the Passover Lamb appointed to die for the family of mankind. In the Old Testament the lamb had to be examined to determine if it was without blemish. In Luke 20 the chief priests, scribes, elders, Pharisees, and Sadducees were examining the real Passover Lamb. But they did not realize that the One they were examining was the God-provided Lamb to die for them. This Lamb had the highest standard of morality. In the words of Exodus 12, He was without blemish; that is, He was altogether perfect, without defect, without spot. Therefore, the term “without blemish” is equal to the expression “the highest standard of morality.”
Consider who was the One examined in Luke 20. The One examined here was the God-man as the Passover Lamb. As such a One, the Lord had a triple status—the status of God, man, and the Passover Lamb. He was the Lamb ordained by God and provided by Him for both the Jewish family and the Gentile family. He was the unique Lamb ordained from the foundation of the world. Hence, He was examined not only by the Pharisees, the religious party, but also by the Herodians, the political party. This means that the Passover Lamb was examined by both Jews and Gentiles. Furthermore, before He died, He was tried not only by the Jewish Sanhedrin, but also by Pilate, the Roman governor, and by Herod, the king.
As the God-man, the Lord Jesus is unique. He has both the divine essence and the human essence. The divine essence is in His humanity. God is actually an essential element of the Lord’s being. Hence, as the Passover Lamb, He was composed essentially of two elements—the divine element and the human element. As the One who is both human and divine, He is the God-man.
This God-man was the unique, universal Lamb examined by the two great families of mankind, the Jewish family and the Gentile family. This examination proved that this Man had the highest standard of morality. It also exposed the subtlety, meanness, and insidiousness of those who tested Him. As His examiners were being exposed, the Lord was revealed in His wisdom, genuineness, and honesty. The examination recorded in the Gospel of Luke manifests the perfection of this unique Passover Lamb.