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

 

 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 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 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."'  Therefore David calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"  Jesus quotes here from Psalm 110:1.  This is a question concerning the identity of the Christ, the Messiah.  As frequently is His wont, Jesus turns the tables on His questioners by asking a question of His own.  My study Bible explains that the first reference to the LORD applies to God the Father, while the term my Lord refers to Christ.  This question is answered in that Christ is the Son of David in His humanity and David's Lord in His divinity.  My study Bible explains that Christ asks this question in order to lead the scribes, other religious leaders, and the people who listen to the only logical conclusion:  that He is God incarnate.  They expected the Messiah to be a mere man.  But David, as king of Israel could not and would not address anyone as "Lord" except God; therefore the Messiah must be God.  The only possible conclusion is that the Messiah is a descendant of David only according to the flesh, but also truly divine, sharing Lordship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.  Note that His listeners do not respond.

Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, "Beware 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."  In Matthew's Gospel, we're given an extensive final public sermon by Christ.  It is a grand critique of the ways of the scribes and Pharisees (see Matthew 23:1-39).  This appears to be a truncated version of that sermon.  There are several themes in that sermon, including that the religious leaders have God-given authority and teach God's Law, but are personally ungodly and cold-hearted -- they fail to lead the people to God.  Instead, they place themselves in God's position.  He charges the scribes and Pharisees with inverting God's values, being mean-spirited, judgmental, greedy, ambitious, absorbed in externals, and blind to their self-righteousness.  These criticisms apply to all those in the Church who behave the same way.  Here His words are directed at the scribes, but in the hearing of all of the people.  He speaks of their hypocrisy, selfishness, and focus on appearance and position, telling them that 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."  According to patristic commentary, the Lord accounts the value of a gift not by how much is given, but by how much is kept back.  So this story of the poor widow means that she's counted to have given a great gift, as she kept nothing for herself.  It is an expression of extravagant love and devotion, such as we see elsewhere; for example in the pouring out of the expensive perfume to anoint Christ (see, for example, John 12:1-7, Luke 7:36-50).  Ultimately it is the whole heart and soul and mind and strength that is involved in what we give to Christ (Mark 12:50), and these gifts represent that wholehearted giving with nothing held back.

It's important to note, as my study Bible says, that all the scathing indictments that Jesus gives to the religious leaders of His own time apply equally to us today.  This would particularly be true for those of us who call ourselves His followers.  None of the warnings Jesus gives apply only to His contemporaries.  As such, let us take a look at the stories in today's reading.  Jesus interprets the Scriptures with a brilliance that belongs only to Him as Logos.  Of course He has insights into the Scriptures.  The amazing thing to "watch" as the stories of debate in the temple unfold is that He leaves the authorities tongue-tied.  They dare not answer Him, nor ask Him again.  They know He has answered in ways to which they cannot respond and for which they have no argument.  But then He goes on the offensive against the scribes regarding their failings as religious leaders and pastors to the people.  He does this in the hearing of all, and therefore we understand the great seriousness of what He says.  He says that they 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.   What does all of this have in common?  It is an indictment of their love of appearances, which covers up their greed and willingness to make victims of those who are least able to defend and protect themselves.  Let us note that they make long prayers only "for a pretense."  We contrast Jesus' description of the scribes with the humble portrayal of the poor widow putting her two mites into the treasury.  Small copper coins, we might think of them as pennies, and yet, they are what she has.  A "mite" (called a "lepton" in Greek) was worth about six minutes of an average daily wage.   This widow lives in a level of poverty that those of us in the West and from more developed countries can no longer even imagine.  And yet her gift is the most generous and gracious of all, because of the immensity she gives from what she has.  It is a gift of love for God, indicating the enormity of her faith.  It's very important that we take into our understanding the idea that at the time of Christ, humility was not considered a virtue in the wider context of the cultures to which Christianity would soon be introduced.  In the Roman world, to be "great" was to be conquering and powerful.  As Jesus says, it meant to "lord it over" others (see Matthew 20:25).  When Christianity first began to spread, it was derided as a religion for slaves and women.   In the Jewish tradition, of course humility before God was always of importance, and we can read this throughout the entire Old Testament, and its indictment of  leaders who failed in such endeavor.  But Christ brought humility to the forefront of what it means to lead (see, for instance, Mark 9:35), and this prime example of the widow with her two mites solidifies front and center the sensibilities of what He praises in human beings.  It is the capacity to love God that ultimately results in her magnificent gift.  She is antithetical to the scribes, and Jesus effectively praises her as an example of what it is to be great, and to be a benefactor.  As we are told, God looks at the heart, not the appearance.   When Samuel must find the one to anoint as king to replace Saul, he is at first very impressed by the stature and and appearance of one of David's brothers.  But God says to Samuel:  "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."   Jesus, the Messiah, the Lord, and descendant of David whom Samuel would anoint, echoes with His teachings the words of God to Samuel.  Humility becomes our way to know the heart, to see the heart, even to come to know truthfully our own hearts -- to really see.  Jesus views the widow and the scribes through the same lens of God's perspective on the heart.  Humility is the only way we can truly see ourselves.