The Widow Who Gave Abundantly Out of Her Poverty

Mark 12:41-44–"And He sat down opposite the treasury and watched people putting money into the offering box.  Many rich people put in large sums.  And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.  And He called His disciples and said to them, 'Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put more than all those who are contributing to the offering box.  For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.'"

This is a fascinating and sharp observation that Jesus makes.  Sitting in the temple, watching the people worshiping and offering their sacrifices to God, and He sees this one particular woman.  As you read the chapter, this episode comes at the end of a series of teachings in which Jesus is attempting to define in no ambiguity the nature of the Kingdom of God, in particular what kind of worshiper this Kingdom demands.  He has just finished warning people,"Beware of the Scribes," because they do their acts of religion only to be seen and praised by men.

It is at this point that Jesus notices this one woman, this poor widow.  Jesus watches her as she casts two small coins into the offering box and He remarks with the most interesting comment.  Jesus says that this gift, be it small in the eyes of the world, is lavish in God's eyes.  Although it could be said that it was the immense personal cost that made this such a substantial gift to Jesus, I submit that it was something more: it was what the personal value of the gift symbolized.

To be quite sure, the gift was precious to the widow monetarily, amounting to all she had; however, the true value of the gift resided much deeper.  The gift served to symbolize at least two profound things: (1) she was willing to give up everything for her love of God, and (2) because of the cost of the gift, she knew she would have to rely on God to sustain her.

Our prayer should be to take this widow's part in the Gospel to heart, recognizing that this is the kind of devotion that God is asking from each one of us.  O that we would be willing and eager to love Him like this!