The Widow’s Offering
Pastor Leslie Chua
“And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.”
At the end of a long and tiring day of ministry, Jesus went to the temple. He sat in the Court of the Women opposite the treasury. Thirteen large collection boxes stood prominently at the treasury. Two of the boxes were for the collection of the temple tax while the other eleven boxes were for various kinds of offerings.
Jesus sat there observing worshippers dropping their offerings into the collection boxes. Both the rich and the poor gave to fulfil their religious obligations. It was a noisy affair as coins dropped down the bronze funnels into the wooden boxes.
Many rich people put in large sums of money. However, Jesus was not the least impressed. He watched dispassionately until a poor widow dropped two copper coins into one of the boxes. That caught His attention.
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Clearly, Jesus was impressed with the poor widow not because of the monetary value of her contribution, but the sacrificial nature of her giving.
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Jesus turned to His disciples and made an astounding comment, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on” (Mark 12:43-44).
A copper coin (lepta in Greek) was the smallest denomination of the Jewish currency at that time. It amounted to one sixty-fourth of a denarius. A denarius was the average daily wage of a worker. So, two copper coins were worth very little.
Clearly, Jesus was impressed with the poor widow not because of the monetary value of her contribution, but the sacrificial nature of her giving. Like most Jews, she took her religious duties very seriously. Her dire poverty did not deter her from fulfilling her obligations. She gave above and beyond what was required of her.
Her action also underscored her faith in God. She emptied her purse and gave everything she had. Remember that she was a widow. Widows in those days were helpless and vulnerable. She had no one to whom she could turn. She would have to trust the Lord for her next meal.
No wonder Jesus was impressed with her.
Conspicuous & Ostentatious Giving
This story, which is found in the synoptic Gospels of Mark and Luke, concerns offerings rendered to God. However, the focus is not on generosity. Neither is it about our faithfulness in giving. While sacrifice and trust in God are implied, the crux of the story is our motive in giving.
It is not immediately clear. However, it becomes obvious when we take a closer look at the historical backdrop and the immediate context of the story.
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While sacrifice and trust in God are implied, the crux of the story is our motive in giving.
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The thirteen collection boxes in the temple treasury were intentionally set up to encourage conspicuous giving. Everyone in the vicinity could watch people putting their monies into these boxes. Giving became a public affair.
Moreover, these wooden boxes were shaped like a trumpet, narrow at the mouth and wide at the bottom. The funnels at the top portion of the boxes were made of bronze. Such a construction ensured that the coins dropping into these boxes would make loud clanging noises, thus indicating how much people gave. The more the amount of money was thrown into the boxes, the louder would be the noise.
That was how Jesus knew that some rich people threw in large sums of money. He was not impressed with the big contributions because they were mostly ostentatious giving. It was pretentious at best and snobbery at worst. The big givers were out to impress, to show off their generosity and religious piety. They would throw their coins into the box in such a way as to generate the loudest sound. You could imagine their satisfaction as heads turned toward them in admiration.
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Jesus was disgusted with their hypocrisy and ostentatious display of false piety. They did not give out of a heart of gratefulness or a sense of duty, but only to boost their self-image and bolster their ego.
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The story of the widow’s offering follows Jesus’ warning of the hypocrisy of the scribes. They “like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers” (Mark 12:38-40).
Jesus was disgusted with their hypocrisy and ostentatious display of false piety. They did not give out of a heart of gratefulness or a sense of duty, but only to boost their self-image and bolster their ego.
The entire religious system was corrupt. It misled people. It taught the wrong values. It encouraged hypocrisy and false pretences.
The Motive of Giving
What did Jesus teach concerning giving?
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Let our giving be done in secret. Our motive must be pure. It is an offering rendered unto God. Therefore, it should be a private matter between God and us, and not an act to parade our generosity or religious piety.
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In the Sermon on the Mount, He said, “When you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:2-4).
Let our giving be done in secret. Our motive must be pure. It is an offering rendered unto God. Therefore, it should be a private matter between God and us, and not an act to parade our generosity or religious piety.
Many years ago, I brought a friend to Christ. God delivered him from a potential financial crisis. To express his gratefulness to God, he decided to give to the church one hundred thousand dollars. That was a lot of money in the early 1990s. When he asked me how he should go about doing it, I told him to drop his cheque into the offering bag. But he had other ideas.
He visited the senior pastor of our church in his office to share his testimony and pass him the cheque. The pastor rejoiced with him on his breakthrough, but he did not thank him for the cheque. That offended my friend.
Sometime later, he moved to another church. He helped to finance a few big projects in the church. For a while, he was favoured by the senior pastor and enjoyed celebrity status in the church. Then, the relationship between him and the pastor turned sour because he did not get what he wanted.
My friend complained to me about his disappointment. He was very bitter because he felt used. The problem is that he should not have used money to secure favours in the church. The motive for his giving was wrong.
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If you make a public display of your giving, you will gain the applause of people, but you will lose your eternal reward. So, do not exchange eternal glory for temporary recognition. That would be short-sighted and foolish. It is not worth it.
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Jesus is against conspicuous and ostentatious giving. He criticised it. So, think twice if you are ever tempted to publicise your giving in any way. Refrain from doing it.
If you make a public display of your giving, you will gain the applause of people, but you will lose your eternal reward. So, do not exchange eternal glory for temporary recognition. That would be short-sighted and foolish. It is not worth it.
We give to God and His church because it is our duty to do so. We give generously because we are grateful for His goodness and blessings. We give sacrificially because we believe in His Kingdom causes.