“The Widow’s Mites!”

“Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” (Luke 21:1-4 ESV)

If you’ve been to more than five or six church services, I’m sure you have heard about the “widow’s two mites” and that she is an example for all of us to give sacrificially to the church and trust God to provide for us. Now I believe that under the New Covenant, believers are to be cheerful givers, not tied to the Old Covenant “tithe” but to give as God has prospered us. I am also convinced that believers need to trust God and listen to the Holy Spirit as He convicts us about our support of the local church and the biblical ministries of other organizations. But I do not think her giving “all she had to live on” was an example for New Covenant giving.

Those of you who know me know I really like to look at the context of the passage we are discussing. You also know that the New Testament Chapter and verse divisions were not in the original Greek manuscripts; chapter divisions were added around 1200 AD, and verse divisions were added around 1550 AD. These divisions are not part of the infallible original texts we use and were meant only to help believers locate a particular passage in the Bible. I personally think the Chapter division between chapters 20 and 21 is unfortunate, because when most of us start reading a new chapter, we don’t think to look back at the previous chapter for additional context, but that is exactly what we need to do in this case.

If we go back to Luke 20, we find Jesus showing these Jewish leaders how far off they are in understanding the Mosaic Law. If you read Luke 20:26-27, Jesus says, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” Then we read that Jesus was in the “court of the women” area of the temple, watching people pass by one of the twelve offering receptacles that surrounded the area. These receptacles were where wealthy men and women could come to show how much they gave to impress the temple officials and others watching. This is exactly what Jesus said a few verses earlier.  The  “scribes” would do; they lived their lives to impress others without regard for the true intent of the Mosaic Law.

Luke ends Chapter 20 with “who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” Now, in Chapter 21, Jesus watches a destitute widow give everything she had to the temple. Now, according to the Mosaic Law, the temple was supposed to take care of her. Jesus was condemning the temple’s leadership, who loved to be seen by others in their long robes, who loved to be recognized in the marketplace, and who stole from widows. This is not what God had intended.

The rich, with their show of piety, have never impressed God. Remember, God knows the intent of the heart of man. God has never cared for the sacrifice of bulls and goats, which could never take away sins; as we read in Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

Showing our love for God has never been about giving things, but about our heart. Honestly, God has plenty of things; He doesn’t need ours. What He wants is our heart. And that is what Jesus saw in this widow: she gave her heart to God and trusted Him to provide for her.

The widow’s gift is not presented as a command for us to give everything we have; Scripture never requires that. Instead, it exposes the hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders. Although we may consider ourselves generous when we return to God what He has given us, we must examine our hearts. We should care for widows and orphans, the lost and destitute, and look beyond ourselves to meet others' needs.

If you are not a follower of the Lord Jesus, this passage of Scripture might not make any sense to you, but that’s because you are looking with earthly eyes and understanding. You think that all “the church” wants is your money. My friend, keep your money; God only wants your heart. Today’s parable isn't about you “giving until it hurts”; it’s about you giving your heart to Jesus.

"Living in Grace is not about what I can do, but about what Jesus has already done!"