This is an excerpt from my book “40 Moments From Christ’s Final Days.” Click here to get it from Amazon using my affiliate link.
Find this moment in: Mk. 12:41-44, Lk. 21:1-4
Jesus overturned money changers’ tables and gave an important lesson on taxes. Now He turns His attention to another aspect of money, teaching the role of faith and giving.
And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the crowd was putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two lepta, which amount to a quadrans. (Mark 12:41-42)
Jesus is currently in the temple, teaching in the court of women. It’s worth mentioning that this court wasn’t strictly for women, but was instead where Jewish women could enter the temple if they weren’t considered unclean. In this section of the temple, Jewish men and women could also donate money to the temple by dropping money into treasury boxes.
As Jesus taught, he drew attention to the wealthy people putting in huge, meaningful sums of money that would go a long way to supporting the temple. Contrasting this, a widow came and put in two lepta. For context, this is what a laborer in that time earned in about 20 minutes. Certainly, a nearly worthless sum compared to the number of coins others put in.
And calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all those putting money into the treasury; 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.” (Mark 12:43-44)
God in the flesh saw something in this widow’s offering that no one else could see. He took pleasure in her offering not because of how much it benefited the temple, but how much it took out of her. The worth of her offering was in why she gave, not what she gave.
Jesus says that others gave out of their surplus. They donated impressive amounts, but they were a small fraction of what they kept for themselves. The widow, by contrast, gave all she had. She understood what it meant to sacrifice, but why did she do it?
Jesus doesn’t expound on His point, but from the theme of His teachings so far, it’s difficult to miss. Giving freely is good, but our heart behind it matters. The rich who gave weren’t impacted by their donation. They may have had less for savings, but their lifestyles likely didn’t have to change. The widow, meanwhile, put in money that would have made more sense for her basic necessities, yet she gave it.
The lesson is that her actions showed her faith. God wasn’t pleased because she gave enough money to make a real difference to the temple. Instead, He was pleased because she knew where her money, and all her provision, came from. Giving wasn’t, and isn’t, about how much of a difference it makes to the one receiving the money. She lived in a way that was utterly foreign to much of Jewish life because she lived out her trust in God.
Stop and think: 2 Corinthians 9:7 reminds us to give as we’re convinced and to do so with joy. How can understanding who God is, and where our provision comes from, help us have the right heart when we give our resources to the things of God?
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