Mark 12:38 As he
taught, Jesus said, "Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to
walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, 39 and have the most important seats
in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers.
These men will be punished most severely." 41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put
and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich
people threw in large amounts. 42
But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a
fraction of a penny. 43 Calling
his disciples to him, Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has
put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty,
put in everything--all she had to live on."
This is one
of those passages that **seems clear enough to understand at the surface level.
No doubt this is due to the fact that those raised in the church have heard the
story of the "Widow's mite" innumerable times. It's a story that
blesses the idea that God is capable of doing big things with small gifts. For
generations the pennies collected in Sunday School, VBS, and LWML mite boxes
have been so-blessed by God so as to keep missionaries on the field, etc. etc.
All of this
is true. God is most certainly able to multiply the effectiveness of small
gifts. The primary question, however, is whether **that's** really what's being
taught in this story. Perhaps it is... although if I had to hang my hat on a
particular passage for God's ability to bless and increase small gifts, I'd
probably opt for one of the "miracle of the loaves" feeding stories.
Well, then,
what about the idea that the widow is the exemplar of faith and trust in God?
That's another spin that often comes from the story. She gave ALL she had,
fully trusting that God would see to her needs. One would certainly like to
hope so. Yet to be fair, that's not what it says. In actuality, we have no clue
as to what the widow's motivation was. As scholars today point out, she may
have been giving all she had out of a mistaken sense of duty urged upon her by
the very elite [and corrupt] Temple system that Jesus was just commenting on.
My point is
that now and then we come upon Bible stories that have taken on a narrative
that supersedes the actual wording of the text.... and this is one of those
times. Jesus NEVER commends the widow's actions. That is a gloss... by which I
mean, that's something that OTHERS have read into the text for generations. He
points her out. That's all. 43
Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, this poor
widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth;
but she, out of her poverty, put in everything--all she had to live on." He
points out a fact. Never does he say: Go
thou and do likewise. He doesn't even say that this poor woman, for all of
her efforts, will have treasure in
heaven. If Jesus is pointing her out as the ultimate example that others
should follow, he isn't being very blunt about it. Many commentators today
point out that one could just as easily imagine tears in Jesus eyes as he
points her out... as in... look at this
poor woman... she's been so manipulated by this corrupt system that she thinks
she HAS to give her last two pennies.
In some ways ... TEXTUALLY...
this interpretation actually works better than the widow-as-ultimate-example
interpretation. The word "widow" appears twice in the text:
38 As he
taught, Jesus said, "Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to
walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, 39 and have the most important seats
in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows' houses
And no sooner are we told to watch
out for the teachers of the Law (scribes) because this is what they do,
when.... almost like a Shakespearean drama...
41 Jesus
sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd
putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large
amounts. 42 But a poor widow
came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny
Textually, vss 41-42 serve as an illustration of vs 40 in
action. To make the issue even sharper, this "temple treasury" that's
being talked about in the text was the equivalent of the "poor box"
of yesteryear. It is thus both sad and ironic that a poor widow should be
giving her last coins to "help" the very group that she herself would
be included in.
I think this passage illustrates a common problem we still
see in the church today, and that is the 90-10 principle. 90% of the
effort…..the work….the needed support…etc. etc. is coming from a mere 10% of
the people. The widow’s gift is much more humble, much more sacrificial, and
much more trusting (in God) than any of the lump sums given by ‘major donors.’
The question before the house is really… what would it have been like if those
major donors had given with half the humility, sacrifice, and trust of the
widow? I really don’t think the widow is here for us to EMULATE. Giving 100% of
our resources brings up as many stewardship issues/questions as it would
‘solve.’ I do, however, think she’s here cause us great discomfort. Looking at
her gift… and then looking at our own …can very often reveal a tremendous lack
of faith.
Cheers,
TM
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