Mark 12:41-44
The Widow’s Offering
41Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins,[j]worth only a fraction of a penny.[k]
This story offers a striking contrast to the previous passage. Jesus had just warned the people against the scribes who “devour widows’ houses”, in effect, warning those who heard not to be manipulated into giving large gifts to those who only make a show of piety. Now Jesus sits in what was called the “Court Of The Women”, where the offering boxes for the temple treasury were kept. These boxes were called “trumpets” because of how they were shaped, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. By putting your offering into one of the boxes, you were “sounding the trumpets”. Many times, these offerings were made in the place of burnt- and sin-offerings. If you didn’t have a dove or lamb to be sacrificed, you could give the equivalent amount of money. Each day, the money was taken out and the corresponding amount of sacrifices were made. Voluntary charitable contributions were also put into these “trumpets”, and that appears to be what Jesus is observing here.
Since the offering boxes were in public view, anyone could watch as people gave money to the temple. Apparently, rich people loved to put in large amounts of money in front of everyone, so all could see how generous they were. This is not unlike the long, flowery public prayers the scribes made to show how spiritual they were, to which Jesus had just referred. They gave for show, and it really did not cost them that much. The widow, on the other hand, gave a very small gift, but gave sacrificially. Both kinds of gifts were public, which is interesting to me. If I were in that situation, and I was the poor widow who only gave a small gift, I might not want to be seen giving my pittance while others gave so much. But that would be out of pride just as much as the rich making a show of giving their large gifts.
Mark tells us that the amount the widow gave equaled a quadran, which was his way of translating the amount for Greek readers. A quadran equaled about 1% of a denarius, the going rate for one day’s labor for a working man. In today’s money, it would be about one dollar. This was the minimum amout you could give and have it still be considered an offering. After observing those who gave, Jesus said this to his disciples.
43Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
The rich gave out of their wealth, so it cost them very little, and did so publicly, out of pride. The widow gave sacrificially, gave all she had, and she also did so publicly. She didn’t let her pride make her ashamed to give her small gift in public while others gave their large gifts. When my wife and I were first married, we didn’t have much money, and lived in a tiny apartment in a not-very-nice part of town. Occasionally, someone in our church who lived in a nice house in a nice neighborhood would invite us over for dinner. After having been guests in the home of people who had more than we had, we never wanted to invite them to our tiny place. We felt inferior because of our circumstances. This widow must have felt something like this. But she didn’t let her feelings stop her from giving all she had.
Jesus saw the motivations behind those who gave. He wanted to point this out to his disciples. As was illustrated in Mark 10:17-31, it was thought at that time that if you were rich, it was because God was pleased with you. If you were poor or sick, it was because you or your parents had sinned. Jesus uses the widow’s offering to drive the point home again that God is not all that impressed by earthly riches. What counts is your heart.
Jesus says the widow gave out of her poverty. Why was she so poor? Because she had no husband to support her. It’s interesting that this incident follows Jesus’ comment about scribes “who devour widow’s homes”. Had this widow had her home “devoured” by some scribe? In the New King James Version, it says that Jesus watched how people gave. He didn’t watch how much they gave, but how. He saw the rich give for show, and the widow give all she had in humility. What matters to God is not how much we give, but how, and with what attitude. Do we give sacrificially, and if we are affluent, with no interest in public recognition for our gifts? If we have little, do we still give of what we have, or do we think, “My small amount won’t make any difference”, or “I’ll give when I can afford it”? Paying our tithe and sacrificial giving are real, tangible ways to show that God is first in our lives. What matters to God is what’s in our hearts, not our bank accounts. But what we do with what’s in our bank accounts is a direct indicator of what’s in our hearts.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21)