The Poor Widow

Then he said to them in his teaching, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation."

Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. So he called his disciples to himself and said to them, "Assuredly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood."

- Mark 12:38-44

In the reading and commentaries for Friday and Saturday, we read of Jesus' dialogue first with one particular scribe, and then his own questioning of the scribes as a class, while he taught in the temple. In Friday's reading, the scribe asked Jesus about the greatest commandment, and ends with a positive assessment of Jesus' response. But Jesus wants him to go further, saying, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." In Saturday's reading, however, he pushed the scribes a bit further, challenging them to a deeper understanding of King David's inspired words about the Messiah, in Psalm 110. None of them can respond to him. In today's reading, Jesus continues teaching in the temple, and begins with a warning against the scribes as a group. We presume this is a response to their failure to receive his teaching, a response to their hardheartedness; the first scribe (from Friday's reading) clearly shows the capability for understanding and apprehending what is before him, and what Jesus is teaching.

Then he said to them in his teaching, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation." My study bible notes: "Jesus exposes his opponents publicly, warning, Beware of the scribes. By now they hate him. Their plans have gone awry. Though expert in the Law, they have failed to answer Jesus' questions. Mark reports only briefly on Jesus extended critique of the Jewish leaders." I believe this emphasis on appearance, coupled with the failure to perceive that which they are capable of receiving, is among Jesus' hardest-hitting criticism against hypocrisy. He is scathing in this picture of those who love public acclaim and appearance, and who fail to open their hearts to the true love of God and the transforming love that will always entail, the desire for right-relatedness. Of course, the hypocritical behavior includes the "devouring of widows' houses" - a clever handling of the Law that is oppressive to the poor and powerless and deprives them of already scarce resources. We recall that it is a scribe who said in Friday's reading, that to love God "with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." This combination of commandments is a powerful understanding against hardheartedness and hypocrisy. Jesus' criticism of the scribes' hypocrisy and emphasis on outward appearance in their practices, combined with the sacrifices asked of the poor, hits at their failure to truly embrace the greatest commandment, and what is "more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." They are the experts in the Law, and they fail in their practice and understanding. And we must mark his words, "These will receive greater condemnation."

Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. Jesus has already begun by condemning the scribes who "devour widows' houses" and love to make a great show of themselves, their public honor and piety. He observes the temple treasury, and the wealthy who contribute much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. Jesus observes the poor widow put in "two mites." Mites were the least valuable coins. So he called his disciples to himself and said to them, "Assuredly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood." My study bible notes: "Jesus' deity is again manifest as he knows she put in all that she had. It is not the amount that counts with God, but the degree of sacrifice out of what a person possesses. Many who give the least give the most; some who give the most, give the least in proportion to their abundance. God takes note of our giving (Acts 10:4)."

Giving, of course, can take many dimensions and forms. But Jesus' observation of the poor widow and her great gift to God exemplifies and expands on the teachings of the past few readings. We know that we are to "love God with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength." And this she clearly exemplifies. She has given all she has. The fact is that what the scribe said was true: this "is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." Repeatedly, here in Jerusalem, Jesus' conflicts with the leadership have taken the form of protest against hardships meted out on the poor in the temple practices: the overturning of the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of the dove-sellers, was a protest against a system that penalized the poor, who could not afford the best animals for sacrifice. Jesus has found the scribes aware of the greatest commandment, and condemns their failure to live what they are capable of understanding. Instead, "they devour widows' houses" and love what their social status gives them before others - the long robes, greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, and the pretense of long prayers. Jesus' condemnation is of a system that allows such hypocrisy while it penalizes the poor.

But the criticism goes to a much deeper understanding: that we all stand equally before God. The greatest commandment, to love God with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is something that makes us all equal in worship. It is something we can all equally practice. It "is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices," more than what the wealthy can give with money, more than the long robes, and the greetings in the marketplaces, and all the signs of status that the scribes love for themselves. In this true system of the Law, there is the radical equality of all creatures, all who can equally worship. In this system, the poor widow is greater than all the rest, because her devotion is complete, she has given all she has. And this stands the whole system of "praise of men" and its values on its head.

Surely I am not the only person who has encountered hypocrisy in this form. We can see it all around us in the scandals of our time. I have seen it in church, we see it in the headlines. We are still to remember the greatest commandments: To love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, all our strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We are all equally capable of practicing these commandments, we all stand equally before God. Jesus then, and Jesus now, proposes a radical equality, in which all pretense and outward appearance is cut away, and it is the heart that tells the tale. The knower of hearts knows us all, as Jesus shows in this story. This is, of course, not to condemn the wealthy, not to condemn social life, not to condemn gifts! It is a condemnation of hypocrisy, and emphasis on false image, that which deceives and, worse, oppresses those without means, sees them as inferior: a false teaching!. How do you give, and what do you give? I think it's important to remember that first of all we are to give what is within ourselves: all our heart, soul, mind and strength. It is with these that we love. Without those, we fail in this commandment. Each of us is capable, each of us possesses these treasures and chooses what we do with them. When we forget that, we forget who we are, and we forget the One whom we worship and who was incarnate in the world for us. Indeed, we can see this living Word, the purpose of these gospels, as here to teach us just this, if nothing else. Let us not forget the great commandments, and that love - of God and neighbor - is our greatest possession, our greatest gift.