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At a time when the people of Judah were trusting in false gods and military alliances instead of trusting in God, Jeremiah declared God’s word.
He contrasted two kinds of people: those who put their trust in humans will be stunted and unfruitful, while those who trust in God will be blessed.
Such will be fruit-producing across seasons, revealing that fertility and fruitfulness come from God, not from Asherah.
Jeremiah exposes the human heart as deceitful and desperately wicked; it is the center of a person’s thoughts and beliefs.
It is directly connected to one’s actions; thus God searches it, examines its motives, and rewards people according to what their actions deserve.
Jeremiah added that those who become rich through unjust means will end up foolish and poor.
In the second lesson, while Jesus was in the Temple, he saw rich people dropping their gifts into the collection box.
Then he saw a poor widow drop in two small copper coins, and he said, “This poor widow has given more than the rest of them.”
Jesus said this because the poor widow gave all she had to live on, and not a small percentage of her income.
Jesus encourages generous giving among his followers, rather than storing up things for themselves, because life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.
Jesus also responded to some of his disciples who talked so much about the Temple's majestic stonework and the memorial decorations on the wall.
The Temple had gone through many phases by then.
The Babylonians destroyed the First Temple, Ezra rebuilt it, the Seleucids desecrated it, the Maccabees reconstructed it, and Herod the Great then expanded it enormously.
Jesus said that the beautiful stones of the Temple would be destroyed, and this was fulfilled in AD 70. And now, the rejected Jesus has become the cornerstone.