Truly I say to you that 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

Yesterday, we read that 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, having a wife, and he 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 or 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."'  Therefore David calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"  My study bible gives the interpretation that the first reference to the Lord applies to God the Father, and the second, to my Lord refers to Christ.    It's a question about the identity of Messiah.  The men to whom Jesus is speaking believe the Messiah to be only human.  Jesus' question - a kind of riddle - is answered in that Christ is the Son of David in His humanity.  But He is David's Lord in His divinity.  The quotation is from Psalm 110, in which David seems to clearly set out that the Messiah is also of divine origin and nature, "a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."  David would not call anyone "Lord" except God.  Jesus is, via this question, revealing Himself as divine before the leadership; this is something they must accept before Him if they accept His answers to their questions.  He never shrinks from the truth; except in refusal to "cast pearls before swine."

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."  What a challenge this is, in the hearing of all the people.  The scribes should be experts in the Scripture Jesus has just quoted (above), which opens up the question about the nature of the Messiah as both human and divine.  But can they accept His answer about Messiah, about Himself?  These verses reflect part of a much larger passage reported by Matthew, a part of a grand critique of the leadership.  The implication seems to be that these who should understand Him are too focused on their own great roles, their attention in the public eye, making a grand image, but acting in pretense and in terrible greed.  And I believe we must tie the two together:  the insistence on image as substance, and the failure to love truth.  This is what leads to 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."    My study bible cites commentary of the Fathers on this passage, who say that the Lord accounts the value of a gift not by how much is given, but by how much is kept back.  Thus, this poor widow is counted to have given a great gift, out of her poverty, and her entire livelihood.

Jesus' truth is always something that asks us to see behind what is seen, not to believe in images alone.  We must discern the truth of Christ, or the Messiah, from the Scriptures.  David reveals in the Psalm the reality of Messiah as divine.  The scribes fail to understand although they are experts in Scripture.  It doesn't support -- in the present scene -- their own sense of themselves as judges and authorities if they must understand that Jesus is not only human, but also divine.  And Jesus makes it clear that for all their "show" of faithfulness, they are hypocrites.  It's a scathing kind of report about them, saying their long prayers are for pretense.  Who is holy here?  Who loves God?  Who loves truth?  It's important that He gives us also the example of the poor widow -- a faith that is not for show, that will be overlooked as rather insignificant.  And yet, it is her gift that is clearly the greatest.  She not only gives all she has to give in monetary terms.  She gives her livelihood.  She gives what is her own sustenance, even her person, because this is clearly a gift of love.  She is truly devoted and relies most fully upon God.  And this is the truth He wants us to see.  It's the kind of truth that takes "eyes to see with."  It's the good judgment He wants us to practice.  And it seems to me that to accept God's truth in all things must require a great love for God to start with; at least a true love and devotion.  And that takes humility.  Even if our faith is small, there is a key to unlocking the doors of the perception Christ wants us to have, and that is the seed of a genuine love for God in our hearts.  Nobody else has to know about this; it's a key in the heart, a place Christ can read and understand.  Over and over again we're given examples of this in the Gospel; whether we are talking about the story of the tax collector and the Pharisee, or perhaps the man occupied by a Legion of demons, or the centurion.  Images can manipulate, and that's really what Jesus is talking about here in His criticism of the scribes -- and the Pharisees, if we look at His final sermon as reported in Matthew's Gospel. Jesus seems to say that not only can appearances be deceiving, but they can be used to manipulate and to control, to cover greed, and those kinds of predatory behaviors that harm the faithful, the children.  The widow is an example of the fullness of love -- but also much more.  Compared to the wealthy parishioners she gives little, but it is her heart that God reads, and that Christ sees.  So how do we dedicate ourselves to the kinds of truth that He wants us to see?  How are we free of the hypocrisy He wants us to avoid?  There's a thread that runs through the reading about a true devotion to God that helps us to rest in truth and see behind appearances and convenient manipulations, to avoid this behavior ourselves.  It's this love that helps us to have eyes to see, and enough humility to accept the truth before us, to lower our sights enough from that which dazzles so that we may value the heart of the poor widow who is without the means to make a grand impression.