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 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 our current readings, it is Holy Week, the final week of Jesus' life.  He has made His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, and has been questioned by the leadership in the readings of this past week.  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 poses an important Scriptural question, one that involves both the idea of Messiah or Christ, and also a question of authority (such as has been posed to Him in Monday's reading).  The passage He cites is from Psalm 110:1.  My study Bible tells us that, to understand this question, we must know that the first reference to the LORD applies to God the Father, while the term my Lord refers to Christ.  It says that the key to fully answering this question is that Christ is the Son of David in His humanity and David's Lord in His divinity.  

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."  In Matthew's Gospel, these statements are part of a longer narrative by Christ regarding the scribes and Pharisees, how they use their authority (Matthew 23:1-36), and particularly focuses on their hypocrisy in so doing.  Here we get the focus on hypocrisy of these teachers of the law to the people.  They treasure the signs of their authority and position:  the long robes, formal greetings in the marketplaces before the public, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, designating honor.  But as guardians of the Scripture and its meaning they fail to live what they preach, for they devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  The greater condemnation which Christ pronounces upon them comes as a result of their hypocrisy.  This passage is important for all of us who call ourselves Christians, because it is an emphasis on the power of faith motivating how we live and what is in our hearts.  In another context, Jesus has taught the disciples about being a light to the world.  He said to them, "For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light."  We can bring that statement to mind here as well.  (See in context Luke 8:16-18.)

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."  The example of this poor widow chosen by Jesus magnifies His teaching on hypocrisy, as He shines a light on her as an opposite example to the powerful who hold significant positions that allow them to use wealth and cover the condition of their hearts.  My study Bible comments that 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.  In this light, the poor widow is counted to have given a great gift, having kept nothing for herself.  Those who give out of their abundance but keep plenty back for themselves are counted by God to have given very little.  

Jesus' example of the poor widow magnifies the problem of hypocrisy for us, shines a light on it in terms of how we view public appearance.  We can contrast the hypocrisy of the scribes noted just before by Jesus, and look at the poor widow as she puts her two mites into the treasury.  The word translated as "mite" is λεπτον/lepton in the Greek of the text.  It was the smallest currency at that time.  According to one analysis, at roughly the time of the writing of the Gospels, it was worth 1/64 of a denarius. A denarius was a day's wage for a common worker.  In terms of today's money in a modern economy, these two "mites" constitute a tiny amount of money, a fraction of a single cent or smallest unit of currency.  But as my study Bible points out, the amount of money is not what is important here.  What is important is the contrast between the hypocrisy of the scribes which Jesus points out, and the thorough heartfelt gift of this poor widow, who gives literally all she has.  What this teaches us about is how God looks at gifts and giving.  When Samuel the prophet was sent to anoint a king, a son of Jesse, the youngest son David was not the one he expected God would choose.  But Samuel was told that "the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).  What Jesus shows us about this widow is what the view is from the heart, that she gave all she had.  While we may not all be expected to hear this story and donate all our livelihood to the Church, we are expected nonetheless to give our all to God.  That is, if we really follow the teachings of Christ, we know that He has taught that the two greatest commandments, that sum up all the Law and the Prophets are as follows:  "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and 'your neighbor as yourself'" (Luke 10:27, in which Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18).  This widow shows that her love of the Lord is complete in the sense that the commandment gives, with all her heart, soul, strength, and mind.  Moreover, to love like that is to give as she gives, and there are many ways to give our all.  Can we help a neighbor?  Do we turn to someone in distress and ask if we can help?  Most of all, it seems to me, we can set aside our time to help others in all kinds of ways, whatever ways we have resources and skills to do.  We can donate our care, our skill, our concern.  A simple phone call might make all the difference to one person, a prayer may be what we can give for another.  And of course there are many ways to donate our wealth.  Sometimes an apology is a great gift, as is repentance and forgiveness.  We should note that the text points out many wealthy people giving money to the treasury, and Jesus contrasts those people with this poor widow.  As we often cite in our commentary, we should remember Christ's parable of the sheep and the goats, and the byword of compassion that constitutes the kind of giving favored in judgment (see Matthew 25:31-46).  That parable of judgment is all about giving, but it is a particular kind of giving, one that comes from the compassion to fill a need, to restore, to truly help.  So let us look around in our world and consider what we can give and how we can give.  God gives us minds creative enough to consider how to give in ways that make a difference, to do so even with subtlety if necessary that will not embarrass or shame those in need, and the sensitivity to truly observe as Christ does, even simply to listen and look and pay attention to a hurt or address a form of suffering.  In whatever way we can give, let it be first understood as a gift to God, wholly and freely given, for this is also what Christ teaches in the parable of judgment in Matthew 25, cited above.   For what we give to God first with our whole heart can then be shared with others, asking God's blessing to know where and how we're needed, and where and how God calls us to those in whom we may behold the face of Christ -- for this is what it truly means to give (Matthew 18:10, 25:40).