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1 As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” ~ Luke 21:1-4
It is still Wednesday of the final week of the earthly life of the Lord Jesus. On Monday He entered Jerusalem on a donkey. On Tuesday He cleansed the temple. All day Wednesday He has been teaching in the temple and has been confronted by the religious leaders of Judaism who have tried to trap Him in His words so that they might have some cause to have Him put to death. He silenced them every time.
At this point in the narrative the Lord Jesus has forty-eight hours to live and he knows it. He is now in the temple, particularly where tithes and offerings were placed in the treasury. The temple had a huge outer court where anybody could go, whether you were Jewish or not, the court of the Gentiles. Then there was a wall with a sign that said, "If you're a Gentile, you can't go any further. And if you do, when you die, it will be your fault."
So the only people that could get into the next court were Jewish men and women, and that was the court of the women. This is where the Lord Jesus is in today's text.
The sacrifice had been made when the Lord Jesus noticed this poor woman giving what was the equivalent of one sixty-fourth of a denarius. A denarius coin was worth a day's wage for a working man. According to the Jewish writings, her two copper coins were the smallest amount allowable that one could put in the offering plate. She wasn't allowed to put any less.
In v.3-4 we read, 3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
This woman gave out of all that she had to live on in a single day. Proportionately, she gave more than the rich people who were financially rich but spiritually bankrupt. When God measures gifts, He doesn't measure them according to the portion, but according to the proportion with which they are given. This poor lady put in all that she had. Whereas she was financially poor and spiritually rich, these religious leaders were financially rich and spiritually bankrupt.
Of all of the parables the Lord Jesus told, at least half of them deal with money. It's estimated in the New Testament that every one out of seven verses speak about the issue of the relationship of the believer to finances. There are five hundred verses that speak about prayer, less than five hundred that speak about faith, and around two thousand that speak about money.
This woman was part of a system that took her last two cents on the pretense that this was necessary to please God, to purchase her salvation and to bring her blessing. She was manipulated by a religious system that was corrupt. This story is about a victim of a corrupt system who was literally made absolutely destitute trying to live up to that system and earn heaven. Man was not made for the law but the law was made for man.
According to Matthew 23:13-39, a parallel passage to our text for today, the Lord Jesus uses the word "woe" repeatedly, which means cursed, damned, consigned to judgment, to describe how He felt about this scenario. The Lord Jesus saw religion taking advantage of the poor. Religion demands money to make those who are in charge comfortable and prosperous and wealthy. Our value is never to be measured by our wealth. In fact, God has given to us in order for us to be a blessing to others. Our love for God is seen best in how we treat others and the motivation behind our giving.
The best giving comes out of the seed bed of gratitude. And, God has so designed us that when we give it benefits us. The benefits of practicing gratitude are nearly endless. People who regularly practice gratitude by taking time to notice and reflect upon the things they're thankful for experience more positive emotions, feel more alive, sleep better, express more compassion and kindness, and even have stronger immune systems.
Thomas Merton once wrote, "To be grateful is to recognize the love of God in everything He has given us - and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him. Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God."
My friends, we do not earn our salvation. No one can earn God's favor. This is why the Lord Jesus came, to earn our salvation for us. And, due to the fact that His great grace has gripped us, we choose to obey Him. Not because we have to, but because we want to. This is the work of His great grace in our hearts.
