THE TEMPLE WAR: Appearances

Oct 4, 2026 • Rory Mosley

076 THE TEMPLE WAR: Appearances

Mark 12:38-44

October 4, 2026

You know we are in the final week of Jesus’ life.

· You know He has entered Jerusalem.

· You know He has cleared the temple.

· You know He has returned to renovate their religion

Matthew and Luke talk about Jesus preaching the gospel there,

Mark indicates Him walking around like He owns the place.

You also know that these actions have sparked a war.

The religious elite have tried to attack and discredit Him.

And we have witnessed each battle.

As I think back over each of these encounters,

I’m once again blown away at the providential sovereignty of Jesus.

He didn’t pick the subject for most of the fights

And yet, look at the topics that Jesus has been able to discuss:

1. Submission to Spiritual Authority

2. The Debt you owe to God

3. The Resurrection

4. The foremost command of Loving God

5. The Lordship of Christ

Imagine trying to attack Jesus, and all you end up doing

Is opening the door for Him to discuss those 5 topics.

HE REALLY IS IN CONTROL OF IT ALL

WELL THIS MORNING we find one more issue Jesus wants to address.

It amounts to His final public sermon to the people of Jerusalem in the temple.

And the subject is: APPEARANCES

verse 40 we read, “and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers…”

We might further clarify it as “The Appearance of Religion”

Jesus will discuss the issue of those

Who know how to put on a good appearance before others.

When Paul wrote to the Colossians he said:

Colossians 2:23 “These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.”

There Paul calls it “self-made religion” and says it has “the appearance of wisdom”

That’s what we’re talking about.

One thing we see throughout the Scripture

Is how willing man is to supplant the genuine requirements of God

For something that is far more superficial.

Of all the gospel writers Matthew was the most intrigued by this topic.

Jesus said much more here than Mark or Luke record.

The entire 23rd chapter of Matthew is devoted to Jesus’ teaching here.

It’s where we get the repeated phrase, “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites…”

· Where Jesus exposes them as those who “strain out a gnat and swallow a

camel”

· Or as those who “clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside

are full of robbery and self-indulgence”,

· Or as those who “are like whitewashed tombs, which outside appear

beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all

uncleanness.”

Matthew has a lot more to say about this issue of religious appearances.

BUT WE ARE STUDYING MARK’S GOSPEL

And we want to make sure and obtain Mark’s point.

Mark gives us everything here that he intended to give to make his point.

Mark here simplifies the message

By recording for us two examples that Jesus gave.

FIRST Jesus gives the example of the religious scribe.

SECOND Jesus gives the example of the poor widow.

Clearly the stories are linked,

They both are there to make a very valid point from Mark.

And the point is this.

GOD DOESN’T LOOK AT THE SAME THINGS MEN LOOK AT.

We all remember the incident when David was selected by God as king.

1 Samuel 16:7 “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

“God sees not as man sees”

What an important piece of information!

What man sees as acceptable is not at all what God sees.

· You see a man outwardly religious and are convinced of his righteousness whereas God is repulsed by his filth.

· You see a woman outwardly poor and are convinced of her uselessness whereas God is moved by her devotion.

“God sees not as man sees”

SO WE ARE TALKING ABOUT APPEARANCES

We should begin by pointing out that

Mankind naturally gravitates toward outward appearances.

Every one of us here today gave thought to our outward appearance

Before we left the house and came to church.

You considered your outfit

You combed your hair

You also considered other external factors

Like how you smiled or responded or talked to people.

We are aware of the “outward” expectations at church.

WE KNOW ALL ABOUT APPEARANCES.

The danger of course comes when our focus is only outwardly,

But no concern is given to our inward appearance.

For while men are going to see your outward appearance,

The Lord will be looking inwardly.

WE DO NOT WANT TO BE

Those who are impressive to men and detestable to God.

Luke 16:15 “And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.”

This issue literally saturates the message of Scripture.

(We don’t have near enough time to reference them all)

But consider:

Isaiah 29:13 “Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,”

· Jesus quoted that verse in Matthew 15 when the Pharisees confronted Him about His disciples not washing their hands.

Jeremiah said the same:

Jeremiah 12:2b “…You are near to their lips But far from their mind.”

We think of Jesus speaking to the woman at the well:

John 4:19-24 “The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

· Jesus directly informed her that the location of worship was not nearly as important as the sincerity of it.

The religion God seeks is not external.

It is not a religion of mere appearance.

God looks as the heart.

We remember the Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 6:1-4 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. “But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”

Matthew 6:5 “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.”

Matthew 6:16 “Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.”

AND I’VE GOT TO SAY, I UNDERSTAND THIS VERY CLEARLY.

I grew up in exactly that type of religious environment.

It was plastic church.

· We were a well-manicured congregation with well-dressed people.

· It resembled more of tradition and games than anything real.

AND I THRIVED IN IT!

I thrived in that religious circle.

I was good at appearances.

NO ONE EVEN ATTEMPTED TO CONFRONT ME

Because playing the game was what they all wanted.

I remember after I was saved reading the book of Jeremiah

And realizing it was all about the religion I grew up in.

Jeremiah 7:9-10 “Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known, then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—that you may do all these abominations?”

IT WAS ALL A JOKE!

· We could fight and scream all the way to church and then get out of the car

and act like the most sanctified family you’d ever seen.

· I could chase girls and bully people and be as foul as the next kid, but show

up at church and put on the show of the “level-headed” young man.

BUT IT WAS ALL AN APPEARANCE.

And God was not amused.

Well, that’s exactly what Israel did,

And with one last sermon in the temple

Jesus is about to pull the mask off of it.

And not only that, as He leaves the temple,

He’ll announce the absolute end of this phony system.

Mark 13:1-2 “As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.”

· This system is done.

· The game is over.

· The appearance is about to be exposed.

It is such an important sermon from the Lord.

It remains so relevant to us.

As man prefers to merely adjust his appearance,

Jesus reminds that God looks at the heart.

As I told you, there are two main examples given here by Jesus.

Each of them comes with an important message.

#1 BEWARE

Mark 12:38-40

THIS IS THE NEGATIVE EXAMPLE.

Reminding us that it is possible to live a life that is totally acceptable to people around us and yet totally repulsive to God.

· Jesus is still in the temple;

· He is still speaking to the crowds.

· He has silenced all of His opponents.

And Jesus will conclude His sermon with ONE FINAL WARNING.

“Beware of the scribes…”

· NOT “Beware of the Romans…”

· NOT “Beware of the pagans…”

· NOT “Beware of the demons…”

“Beware of the scribes”

The greatest and most dangerous threat you face

Is coming to you from inside the confines of organized religion.

What these scribes possess is destructive.

· These men are demonstrating for you a wrong gospel.

· They are modeling for you a method that will lead you to destruction.

· Your flesh will want to imitate what they do…DON’T!

“Beware of the scribes”

Mark isn’t nearly as detailed here in his revealing of Jesus’ sermon.

It seems he is more about making sure you get the big picture.

So let’s get some “big picture” awareness

1. Why people love appearances

2. How they work to satisfy that craving.

1) APPEARANCES FEED THE EGO

Jesus said, “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes”

· The length of the robe was directly proportional to the amount of honor a person deserved.

· They loved a long robe because it indicated that they were worthy of more honor.

Matthew’s gospel talks about how they

“lengthen the tassels on their garments”.

Numbers 15:38-39 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue. “It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes…”

· The Jews would sew this blue tassel into the hem of their garment as a visual reminder to obey all of God’s commands.

· It was sort of like a conscience on a string.

· The scribes would lengthen those tassels and lengthen those garments as if to make an even greater display.

It was just the outward display of religious commitment.

And Jesus said they “like to” do it.

It feeds their ego.

· It has nothing to do with actual obedience.

· It has nothing to do with pleasing God.

· It was because they liked the reputation they earned among men.

AND THIS IS DANGEROUS!

2) APPEARANCE FOOL THE MAJORITY

Jesus went on to explain how successful they were

At obtaining the honor they craved.

He says they “like respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets”

So it didn’t matter if they were in the “market places”

Or “the synagogues” or “at banquets”

They had so fooled the people to think they deserved

“respectful greetings” and “chief seats” and “places of honor”

These men used their religion to obtain glory for themselves.

AND IT WORKED!

Most of the people looked at their appearance and agreed

That they did in fact deserve the honor they craved.

The entire system was DISTORTED and yet EFFECTIVE!

THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS!

Here’s one of the reasons it is dangerous:

3) THOSE SEEKING APPEARANCE FEED ON THE LEAST

Jesus said, (40) “who devour widows’ houses”

That is to say,

They have no use for the people who cannot benefit them personally

And they have no problem destroying them.

A widow had no money, no social clout, no ability to benefit you at all.

And those who want social benefits have no need for them.

Like the “unrighteous judge” who said, “This widow bothers me”

She had nothing he needed and desired to overlook her injustice.

We simply point out that it is an empty appearance.

It looks good, and people admire it, but it is totally useless.

In fact, it destroys people.

4) OUTWARD APPEARANCE FLOCKS TO RELIGION

Jesus says they “for appearance sake offer long prayers”

It’s NOT because they love prayer,

It’s because long prayers make them look good.

Religion can make all sorts of people look good when they are not.

IN OUR WORLD: there are some who are academically accredited

There are some who are athletically gifted

There are some who are incredibly talented

And they can get glory for that in a secular world.

But for those who couldn’t gain the fame of Broadway,

Religion became a good place to gain a little personal glory.

Like it or not, religion can provide access to a lot of things that will satisfy sinful people.

· You can get a position of authority inside of religion…

· You can have access to the opposite sex inside of religion…

· You can have access to money inside of religion…

· Religion will give you a microphone and a stage and point a camera in your

face…

There is plenty of glory there for the taking.

I’ve always loved the guys who get a seminary degree

And insist upon being called “Dr. So and so”

1 Corinthians 4:7 “For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?”

Everything you have is a gift of God.

So why do you act like you earned it?

Well, that’s the power of appearances in religion.

YOU CAN SEE THAT DANGER CAN’T YOU?

We might call it “The danger of being ineffective and destructive.”

Where someone could deceive people into thinking they deserve honor

And all they actually do is end up destroying the weak and vulnerable.

That is obviously awful.

That is obviously dangerous.

And our world has picked up on that system as being false.

The unredeemed world constantly blasts organized religion for that.

BUT THAT ISN’T THE DANGER JESUS SPEAKS TO MOST.

Sure you can cause unwarranted pain.

Sure you can ruin your witness in the world.

Those are definitely bad.

But there is a greater danger Jesus warns of when He says:

“Beware of the scribes”

Why should you “Beware” of them?

· So they won’t devour your house?

· So they won’t make you look bad on their way to the top?

Jesus warns you about them

So that you won’t be deceived and try to follow in their steps.

SO THAT YOU WON’T TRY TO USE RELIGION

As nothing more than a means to gain respect for yourself too.

THERE IS DANGER IN WHAT THEY DO.

“these will receive greater condemnation”

Not only are they condemned before God,

But their condemnation will be greater than the average sinner.

These men do all their religious deeds out of love for themselves.

They look impressive, but they are not pleasing to God.

AND GOD WILL JUDGE THEM MORE SEVERELY

“man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

TURN TO: ISAIAH 1:11-17

· Israel had a religion that was very impressive externally.

· Their outward appearance was spectacular.

· And yet God was not pleased.

GOD SAW THE HEART.

He saw their evil, He saw their ruthlessness, He saw their oppression.

AND HE HATED IT.

TURN TO: ZECHARIAH 7:8-14

· You can hear Zechariah’s frustration.

· You’re doing just like your father’s did, and God destroyed them for that!

You had better listen to God.

He cares about the heart, not your outward religion.

God is not impressed with your phylacteries or your tassels

Or your Christian T-shirts, or the fish on your car,

Or your emotional singing demonstration, or your long prayer,

Or your Bible quoting, etc.

He is not looking externally, He is looking internally.

So let me give you THE FIRST POINT

Jesus is making here as He warns the crowd.

Here they are in the temple and Jesus basically says,

“Everyone look around. Look at the person next to you, look at the person across the room.” (you can do that this morning too)

“Now, can you tell which person in the room

Is in the most danger before God?”

How many of them do you think would have picked the scribes?

SEE MAN LOOKS AT THE WRONG THING.

Man looks at outward appearances and they are so deceiving.

The person here in the greatest danger

Was actually the last person they would have picked.

We cannot let our own thoughts be the authority on what is acceptable.

We must listen to God’s word to learn what is pleasing.

SO DO YOU UNDERSTAND HIS POINT ABOUT APPEARANCES?

Learning to go through the motions

Is not beneficial like you think it is.

Wearing nice clothes, coming to church, putting money in the plate,

Knowing all the hymns, praying long prayers, leading Bible studies…

NONE OF THOSE THINGS FOOL GOD.

All of that is just appearances.

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”

So hear the Lord’s warning here.

“Beware”

We might go on to say: BE REAL

Jeremiah 4:1-4 “If you will return, O Israel,” declares the Lord, “Then you should return to Me. And if you will put away your detested things from My presence, And will not waver, And you will swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’ In truth, in justice and in righteousness; Then the nations will bless themselves in Him, And in Him they will glory.” For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, “Break up your fallow ground, And do not sow among thorns. “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord And remove the foreskins of your heart, Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Or else My wrath will go forth like fire And burn with none to quench it, Because of the evil of your deeds.”

Joel 2:12-13 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; And rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil.”

It’s the heart that God looks at.

Beware trying to please Him with anything else.

#2 BE AWARE

Mark 12:41-44

Here we come to a famous story about a widow

Who gave all the she had in the temple.

The scribe was the negative example:

THIS IS THE POSTIVE EXAMPLE

Reminding us that pleasing God is all that matters,

Even if no one around us can see it.

YOU’VE HEARD THIS STORY BEFORE,

Most likely you have heard it used as an illustration

On the importance of giving sacrificially.

· What better way to inspire a big offering than to use the story of this widow

giving all that she has a stick to beat you with?

If you’ve listened to John MacArthur

(and we talked about it like this when we studied Luke’s gospel)

You’ve heard him say that this story is

An example of the effects of the corruption of the scribes.

· She is an example of exactly the type of widow whom they would devour for

here they had developed a system that called her to give all that she had to

live on.

NEITHER OF THOSE IS MARK’S POINT

YOU’LL NOTICE THAT

Jesus doesn’t talk about this widow as an example.

· He doesn’t say, “You should give like this widow”

· He doesn’t say, “See what those scribes did to her”

· He doesn’t say, “That is an example of true obedience”

He also doesn’t say:

· “See what these wicked men have done to her.”

· “See the effects of this shallow religion”

IN FACT there is no application given by Jesus at all,

And it’s nothing but a guess on the part of the preacher

To try and make an application to her.

What Jesus does do is this.

“He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury;”

· So Jesus has left the court of the Gentiles

· He moved into the women’s court

· There are these trumpet shaped coffers for people to contribute to the temple.

· And He is watching people give.

· Just like He was previously watching people walk in the outer court.

He just basically asked if the people knew who was the most condemned person in the temple court and we find that they could not have recognized them.

Now, as He watches people give He calls His disciples over.

(43) “Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them…”

HE IS MAKING A POINT.

There is something here that Jesus wants His disciples to be aware of.

· Something they had not recognized on their own.

· Something they could not have recognized on their own.

JESUS IS AGAIN ADDRESSING APPEARANCES.

Mark is doing the same thing with this widow

That He just did with the scribes,

Only it is a reverse illustration.

Let me walk you through the story, it’s pretty obvious when you see it.

IT IS A STORY FULL OF CONTRASTS.

MANY VS ONE

“many rich people”… “A poor widow”

RICH VS POOR

“many rich people”… “A poor widow”

LARGE VS SMALL

“putting in large sums”… “put in two small copper coins”

And Jesus has the disciples come and look at what is happening.

AGAIN:

· He’s not here going to say anything about a corrupt system.

· Nor is He going to commend the widow

SO WHAT IS HE DOING?

He is again pointing out how deceptive appearances can be.

So just as we asked a question a moment ago in the temple court,

Regarding who there was in the most danger?

Let’s ask another question here.

Looking at all the people and all the giving, who do you think gave the most?

YOU SEE

· A very wealthy man in a very wealthy outfit, with a large bag of money and he pours it into the coffer.

· Another man do the same, and then a 3rd and 4th and 5th.

And you want to know who gave the most.

Without having access to the actual number,

How are you going to evaluate who you think gave the most?

· I know that guy, he’s a banker, he’s probably loaded, I bet he gave the most.

· That guy is wearing $300 sandals, he’s clearly rich, I bet he gave the most.

· That guy had the biggest bag…

· That guy rode the nicest camel…

AND THE POINT IS SIMPLE:

We are naturally prone to measure by outward appearances.

Jesus here is illustrating the point that He has been making,

Namely that God does not see as man sees.

JESUS ANSWERS THE QUESTION

And Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasure;”

And how many would have picked her?

By outward appearance…no one.

But look, even the person counting the money would not have picked her.

He would have said, “No, I counted the money, all she gave was two small copper coins, that first guy gave 1 whole talent of gold.”

HE WOULD DISAGREE TOO.

AND THAT’S THE POINT.

That’s not how God measures it.

That’s not how God looks at it.

Jesus blows our minds when He says

That woman gave more than all of those before her.

Her gift was larger in God’s sight than the sum total of all the other gifts.

WHY?

(44) “for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”

Now again, there’s no way the disciples could have known that.

· They could have known she was a widow.

· They could have recognized that she was poor.

· But they could not have know that she gave all.

AND AGAIN, THAT’S THE POINT.

Man doesn’t see what God sees or know what God knows.

Man is always looking at the outer appearance,

But God is always looking at the heart.

Now you can commend the widow if you like.

You can use her to condemn the system if you like.

That’s fine.

But neither is the point Jesus is making here in Mark.

The point is that focusing on appearances

Will cause you to miss the whole point entirely.

By human appearance you couldn’t tell who was in the greatest danger

And you couldn’t tell who was the most generous.

People you are so certain are pleasing…aren’t. BEWARE

People you are so certain are insignificant…aren’t. BE AWARE

Measuring by outward appearances is foolish!

AND YOU’D BE TERRIBLY FOOLISH

TO MEASURE YOURSELF EXTERNALLY TOO.

So now listen to Jesus again tell you

· To love God with all your heart.

· To render to God what God desires.

· That God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

Do you understand what He is driving for?

Do you understand what He is calling for?

He is not asking you to play some religious game

Where you can fool and impress everyone around you.

He is asking you to devote your heart to pleasing God.

Quit trying to please men and start trying to please God.

Quit playing some religious game with Him and be real and devoted.

YOU MAY FOOL MEN, BUT YOU ARE NOT FOOLING GOD.

He sees the heart.

Hebrews 4:12-13 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”

Jeremiah 17:9-10 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.”

Proverbs 15:11 “Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the Lord, How much more the hearts of men!”

Jesus would say:

John 7:24 “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

Don’t play the game.

Don’t be like the scribes.

LIVE AS ONE WHO KNOWS THAT

God is watching the very motives of your heart.

And come to Him in sincerity and truth.