The Widow's Mite

"And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. And He saw a poor widow putting in two small copper coins. And He said, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them; for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on." - Luke 21:1-4 (parallel passage - Mark 12:41-44)

This passage is often taken in isolation and is often interpreted and preached as though it is giving us an example on how to give. Though this may seem to be a good example of giving, it is actually out of context for the passage for the following reasons:

1. The offering refered to here was not an offering commanded by God. In fact, there is only one mention of any offering like this in the Old Testament and its purpose was to repay those who repaired the temple (see 2 Kings 12:4-18). The only purpose it seems for this offering was to pay the priests.
2. Notice that Jesus did not commend the widow for what she did, nor did He say something like, "Go and do likewise." Knowing people's hearts, if what she did was for a good motive, it would seem likely that Jesus would have mentioned something about it, but it is noticably missing. Nor did He make any comment like, "The Father will provide."
3. Look at the events prior to this account. Jesus was in the court or women, on the east side of the temple. This was the closest the women could get to the holy places of the temple that were forbidden to them. Here people gathered around to hear teachers like Jesus. There would have been many people around to hear Him. In Luke 20, Jesus was tested a couple of times by the chief priests, scribes, elders and saducees tested Jesus. Then in verses 45-47 we read (or Mark 12:38-40): "And while all the people were listening, He said to the disciples, "Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, who devour widows' houses, and for appearance's sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation."

Jesus here is teaching about the scribes who were parading about in the synagogues as though they were the bee's knees.


They were parading about in their fancy robes and having places of honour at feasts.But worse than that, they were stealing from the poor in order to fill their own coffers.

Then as the widow comes and gives her offering, Jesus points it out to His disciples and basically says, "Look, it is even happening right here as we are talking."

This widow gave everything that she had. As a result she may even have gone home to die after this. With no money to buy food or fuel to keep warm, she probably had nothing left to live on.

Jesus was in a way telling the scribes off for what they were doing in forcing this poor widow to sacrifice everything for them and not for God.

He was also pointing out to the disciples and everyone else listening that what He was talking about was not just hearsay, but that it was happening even as He was speaking. In a way He was warning them to watch out for the scribes and not to allow themselves to fall into their traps.

What then can we learn from this passage? I think that there are 3 things:

1. Practice what you Preach: We are warned in the New Testament to not behave like the Scribes and the Pharisees. They lead a life where they preached what was right, but did not practice what they preached (see Matthew 23:1-36). They also placed burdens on people, like the giving in our passage, that were too heavy for people to bear. Jesus on the other hand offers a yolk which is easy. Therefore we are to practice what we preach. We are to set the example for others in how we live. We must not lord it over them demanding things, but walk along side people.
2. Practice Humility: Jesus was pointing out how the scribes showed off what they had and expected to be treated like kings. We are encouraged in many places in Scripture to be humble and to put others first. We must not expect the best, nor are we to show off what we have like the scribes or the rich in our passage.
3. Practice Love: This widow may have not lived much longer after this event. In Deuteronomy 14; 24 and 26, the Israelites were commanded to care for the widows and orphans. However here the scribes are seen, in effect, as stealing from them. In James 1:27 we are also commanded to care for widows and orphans. As believers we are to practice love to one another and to care for those less fortunate than us out of our abundance.

Basically, Jesus' instruction here is for us to be seen as being different from the world, and to be different to those people who call themselves Christians but their lives and fruits are not showing it. As James 1:27 continues, we are to keep ourselves unstained from the world.

Let us do likewise.

Baruch atem b’Shem Yeshua! (Blessings in the name of Jesus!)
GW