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

 

 Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?  For David himself said by the Holy Spirit:

'The LORD said to my Lord,

"Sit at My right hand,

Till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'

Therefore David himself calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"  And the common people heard Him gladly.

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 12:35–44 

 

Yesterday we read that, as Jesus was disputing with the various members of the Council in the temple, one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that Jesus had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?"  Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is:  'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.  And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'  This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  There is no other commandment greater than these."  So the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher.  You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He.  And to love Him 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."  Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."  But after that no one dared question Him.

 

 Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?  For David himself said by the Holy Spirit:  'The LORD said to my Lord,

"Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'  Therefore David himself calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"  And the common people heard Him gladly.  My study Bible tells us that Christ asks this question to lead the Pharisees to the only logical conclusion:  that He is God incarnate.  They supposed the Messiah would be a mere man, and therefore reply that the Messiah would be a Son of David.   In Jesus' quotation from Psalm 110:1, my study Bible explains, the first reference to the LORD applies to God the Father, while the term my Lord refers to Christ.  David therefore refers to the Messiah as "Lord."  But David, as king of Israel, could not and would not address anyone as "Lord" except God.  Therefore, the Messiah must be God.  The one possible conclusion is that the Messiah is a descendant of David only according to the flesh, yet is also truly divine, sharing His Lordship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.  In Matthew's report of this event, the Pharisees cannot answer, as they realize the implications and are afraid to confess Jesus to be the Son of God (Matthew 22:41-46).  Indeed, this puts an end to their questioning.  Mark gives us the perspective of the common people who listen to these disputes in the temple, who heard Him gladly. 

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."  Matthew reports an extensive final public sermon by Jesus, a grand critique of the ways of the scribes and Pharisees (see Matthew 23:1-39).  Here in Mark, these words are reported, which are at the heart of the teaching.  Whichever Gospel we read, at this point, Jesus has gone on the offensive, with His teachings before the common people a critique of the ways of the leadership, and especially their hypocrisy, their desire for superior places in the society, love of money, and lack of sympathy for the poor.

 

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."  My study Bible comments that, according to the patristic tradition, the Lord accounts the value of a gift not by how much is given, but by how much is kept back.  Therefore the poor widow is counted to have given a great gift, having kept nothing for herself.  It says that those who give out of their abundance, but keep plenty back for themselves, are counted by God to have given very little.  In the conversion of Cornelius (Acts 10:4), we learn that God takes note of our giving.  But, it appears to me, Christ's noting of the poor widow is an important and essential marked contrast to the religious leadership, whom He's just criticized for their love of money and social superiority.   Once again, He is teaching the disciples an important lesson about humility, and clearly this episode is one they will remember for their own leadership as bishops and stewards of His Church.

Jesus' notable teaching regarding the poor widow is a remarkable contrast to the conduct of the scribes He describes and criticizes.  We can assume that this kind of conduct was "normal" and even acceptable, to be expected.  After all, it is not so strange to us in our own time, and even from our own history of the Church, regardless of which kind of experience we have had.  But it is a significant and important contrast historically for important reasons we should recognize about our faith.  According to a professor of history, who specializes particularly in the first millennium after Christ and Byzantine history, the one thing that Christianity brought into the ancient world that no other faith emphasized was humility.  For the ancient world, a "great" man was one who dominated and conquered.  To put this in context, Caesar's claim to greatness was in open bragging about how many he had killed and enslaved, how much he had conquered.  In the early centuries of Christianity, it was derided as a religion "of women and slaves."  There is nowhere else in all the philosophies and ways of life the ancient world offered where humility was praised as a virtue.  And yet, Christ keeps coming back over and over again to this for His disciples.  It is the way they must conduct their Church, and the way they must see themselves as "great."  (See, for example, this reading, among others.)   In Jesus' responses over the course of this week, we see how the notions of community established within Judaism contain within them the seeds of Christ's teachings, especially in His combination of the two great commandments of which He spoke in yesterday's reading, and the clear comprehension of the scribe who questioned Him, and to whom He responded, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."  But possibly the greatest gift that Jesus gives us in today's reading is the gift of God's vision of people.  We understand that God looks at the heart, and that would include how we give even when we haven't much to give.  Moreover, what is clear from the illustration about this woman is just how much she loves God, and how dependent upon God she really is.  Under an image of her, we might really use the inscription "heartfelt," because that is truly what Jesus describes here.  Because, in the end, it is a mistake to simply see this woman as having made a generous monetary donation.  The true donation here is the gift of herself, of all of her heart and soul and mind and strength.  It is she who lives fully up to the words of the Shema' (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) which Jesus quoted as the first and greatest commandment in yesterday's reading, and coupled it with Leviticus 19:18.  For although her monetary gift is exceptionally generous, and we must count it so, one also must consider the other gifts she must give in service to God every day of heart and sympathy and prayers.  The great gift to us is that Jesus holds her up as the epitome of generosity, and in so doing, He teaches us about how God sees each of us, and what God sees about each of us.  Again, the seeds of this understanding are already present in the history of Jewish spiritual tradition, awaiting the fulfillment in Christ.  As Isaiah writes, "'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' says the Lord.  'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9).   These lines from Isaiah are found just before He cites God's words regarding giving "seeds to the sower" (who is Christ) and bread to the eater (also given by Christ), and God's word (who is also Christ the Logos) -- see Isaiah 55:10-11.  Combined with all of the other teachings we receive from Christ, this picture of the widow, indelible now in the minds of the apostles, is the greatest gift we have as to how God thinks of us and what God wants from us.  Let us endeavor to think like God, to look at others in the ways we know that God does, and to fulfill His commands and the vision He gives to us by honoring what God honors.