This poor widow has put in more than all

 And He said to them, "How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David?  Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms:

'The LORD said to my Lord,
"Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'

"Therefore David calls Him 'LORD';  how is He then his Son?"

Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, "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."

And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.  So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had."

- Luke 20:41-21:4

In recent readings, Jesus is teaching daily in Jerusalem.  He has made His Triumphal Entry, cleansed the temple, and faced the challenges of the leadership (see readings from  Saturday,  Monday, and Tuesday). In yesterday's reading, some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, without children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were seven brothers.  And the first took a wife, and died without children.  And the second took her as wife, and he died childless.  Then the third took her, and in like manner the seven also; and they left no children, and died.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife does she become?  For all seven had her as wife."  Jesus answered and said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage.  But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.  But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'  For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him."  Then some of the scribes answered and said, "Teacher, you have spoken well."  But after that they dared not question Him anymore.

 And He said to them, "How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David?  Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms:  'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'  Here, Jesus continues His dialogue.  We note the deeper challenge, as Jesus pushes back, in some sense, with His words.  It is a challenge to their notions of authority, and of the Christ -- an assertion of His identity.  My study bible tells us that in this quotation from Psalm 110, "the first reference to LORD applies to God the Father, the second to Christ -- whom David, the writer of this Psalm, calls my Lord."

"Therefore David calls Him 'LORD';  how is He then his Son?"  My study bible tells us that "the riddle has its solution in that the Messiah is David's Son in His humanity, yet David calls Him Lord on His eternal deity."

Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, "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 says, "These verses criticize the scribes, a professional class of teachers and experts in Mosaic Law, for glorifying in their influential roles while practicing injustice."  There's also a jibe at the scribes in Jesus' question about the meaning of the Psalm, and David's words regarding the identity of the Christ.  As experts in Scripture and Mosaic Law, they should understand these things.  But the greater interpreter is the One who has knowledge that they don't.  It's important that we understand the cause of their blindness, and its link to arrogance and their love of place.

And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.  So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had."  A note tells us that a mite is "a Jewish copper coin of the lowest value, like a penny.  Yet this sacrificial offering by the poor widow is praised by Christ.  The value of a gift derives from the spirit in which it is given.  A gift that seeks recognition loses spiritual value; a gift made from the heart gains immense value."  We understand the wealth she has given, and that this kind of generosity can come only from love.  The true recognition of the heart is not a problem -- the problem is the gift given purely for purposes of recognition alone.

I think it's important that we understand a little more about this widow.  We can read into her circumstances here:  without support, she is on the edges of the society.  She has no social standing, and no great capacity for self-support.  Certainly she has no social support from any sources but whatever family she may rely on.  Jesus' description of her poverty is clear:  the two mites are all the livelihood she had.  But what we conclude from such a generous gift is her love, her great love of God.  She's not counting the pennies.  She's giving what she has.  Hidden in plain sight here is also her dependence on God, which goes along with her love.  Truly, for her, God is the Bridegroom -- and our Bridegroom, Christ, knows her and knows her love; thereby He also knows her heart.  We get a glimpse of what Christ knows and loves, the hearts He understands, and also of the things of which He disapproves.  People like this widow are harmed by leadership that is too arrogant to serve, that serves its own selfish interest:  that we can read in the criticism of the scribes.  His emphasis on the scribes' "greater condemnation" also tells us something about how He views the hearts and minds of those around Himself.  They are responsible for bringing God to people like this widow, and yet all they think about are themselves.  Their lives are masks of hypocrisy, and they lack all compassion.  There is no depth of respect for truth, nor for justice.  Perhaps that's the true great discrepancy we see here.  Love is what the widow has in abundance, and love is what is lacking in the scribes as Jesus describes them.  In the conflicts Jesus has with the leadership, we can see a basic pattern which, overall, can be contained in His criticism of their lack of love for their flock -- a lack of compassion -- and thereby also a lack of real love for God.  He's told His own disciples that if they love Him, they will keep His commandments.  He told St. Peter, "Feed my sheep."  Thereby we understand our own connection with the entire spiritual history of Israel.  It would be a grave mistake to take these conflicts that Jesus has with the leadership here in the Gospels and fail to apply the lessons to ourselves.  There will always be a struggle, in my opinion, between those who simply seek position for themselves and a real love for God.  All the things that we see Jesus criticize:  arrogance, lack of humility, lack of real service, and lack of love and compassion, are things that will be with us until His return.  They are warnings to each one of us about our own state of the heart, our own spiritual places.  This widow who gives all she has remains a model for us:  not only in her humility but especially in her love.  The things the scribes are criticized for remain things to watch out for in our time, among ourselves.  Let's not forget Jesus' words about the blind leading the blind, they apply to us.  Let's not forget, above all, that we're to practice spotting the plank in our own eye before we're capable of removing the splinter for someone else.  Throughout the history of the Church, saints have been persecuted and martyred even at the hands of our own.  Let us not forget that we are to be the friends of the Bridegroom, and therefore these stories here are so that we uphold His example, and be true friends, and look to ourselves to do so.  In Jesus' suffering at the end of this Holy Week, we will witness His tremendous love for us.  We see His love for this poor widow, and understand His mind and heart touches and reads us all.  Let us return that love as He asks of us.