The Widow’s Offering (Luke 21:1-4)

We can see from the previous chapter and from the subsequent passage that Jesus is teaching in the temple area on a variety of topics. This incident comes in-between his warning the people of the scribes (20:45-47) and his comments to his disciples about the future (21:5ff). At the very least, we can see that Jesus in his teaching was flexible and focussed on matters that were relevant to the situation.

There were thirteen metal receptacles located within the court of the women in the temple area into which worshippers could put their contribution for the upkeep of the temple. Given the numbers that would have been giving offerings it is likely that a queue would exist at each box. Therefore, it was possible for individuals to draw attention to themselves when their turn came to put their offering in the box.

How much did the widow give? It is not possible to give an exact figure for this, but we would be close if we said it would have the value of 50 pence or less. We can easy work out what we could buy with that amount and it would not be very much. Apparently, each receptacle would be a collection for a specific purpose. I wonder what collection she chose. It is doubtful if she would have just tossed the coins into a receptacle without thinking. Maybe the rich went along, putting something into each container whereas she could only put it into two containers at the most, although we are told that she put her two coins into the same box. 

General comments

The first deduction that can be made from this incident is that all can contribute to the upkeep of the kingdom. When we think about that detail, we can see that the Lord gives a gracious opportunity to unworthy sinners. The only people that could do this would be sinners because angels are not asked to do this and this type of giving will not exist in the perfect world of the future. 

We can also say that here it was specific sinners who contributed, the people of Israel. They had a long history of involvement with God since he had rescued them from slavery in Egypt – they understood his power. Moreover, they were the descendants of Abraham to whom God had given special promises. Although they did not realise it at the time, the main detail of those promises – that of a promised Saviour – had been fulfilled in their very presence because there was Jesus in their midst.

The second deduction that can be made is that, not only can all contribute, they also should all contribute. One way of looking at this aspect is to consider the importance of participation. This was an important way of them expressing their gratitude to God for the many blessings that he had given to them all. This widow would have participated in giving something tangible to God. When the receptacle was emptied later, her amount would be part of a whole.

A third deduction that we can make is that Jesus was interested in the practice of giving for the upkeep of the temple. Moreover, he knew what each person was putting in. Clearly, his knowledge is evidence of his omniscience. But we can see that he paid attention to what they were doing and one reason for that would be the fact that giving was part of their worship.

The givings of the rich

It is important to note that Jesus does not say that the rich were wrong to give what they gave. Probably they were giving what was required of them. The problem may have been the way that they gave. At that time, there was only coins and flinging them into the receptacle would make a lot of noise and everyone would assume that they had given a lot. Perhaps the problem was in the estimation of onlookers who would have imagined that the temple needed the support of the wealthy and that the contributions of such were more important. 

Having said that Jesus did not condemn what the rich gave on this occasion, we should observe that he did not commend their method either. So his silence regarding them must mean something, and does speak loudly about how he expects his people to give.

It is important to note that Jesus does not tell his disciples to do what this poor widow did. He did not say to them that they should go and put everything they had in their common bag into the receptacle. If every person did what this woman did, then there would be a big offering one week and never another one. After all, this may have been the only occasion when this widow did this. So the point of the story is not to imitate her practice, but to consider her actions and see what details we can deduce from what she did regarding her character. So here are some suggestions connected to what she did.

There is one obvious similarity between the rich persons and this poor widow which was that they all gave what they planned to give. The wealthy gave what they thought was appropriate and the widow gave what she thought was appropriate. 

The difference is that the rich gave out of their riches whereas the widow gave everything. Perhaps we should not read too much into this description of how the rich gave, yet we can contrast it with how Paul describes how God gives in Philippians 4. In that chapter God gives according to his riches in glory whereas the rich are said here to give out of their riches. Imagine if I had £1,000,000. If I gave £1, I would be giving out of my resources, but not according to my resources. Jesus is saying that the rich could have given more than they did.

The widow and her gift

First, she gave to God despite having difficult providences. She had at least two hard matters to deal with. One was that she was a widow and the other was that she was poor. It would have been easy for her to use her situation as a reason not to give to God. Paul mentions some churches who gave out of their poverty to the great collection that he was gathering at one time. So one application of this incident is to ask if we still give to God when things are going against us.

Second, she gave to God because she wanted to support the upkeep of his house. This indicates where her affections were. She could join the psalmist and say that she loved the place where God dwelt. I suppose this leads us to ask what it was about the temple that would cause her to do this action. If we had gone to the temple, we would have seen a very impressive building that would have reminded us of the majesty of God. We would have seen the priests at work and their role would have reminded us of the purity of God. We would have seen the sacrifices and they would have shown to us the mercy of God. I don’t think it is wrong to assume that those three features would have been in her heart when she went to the temple that day. She would have wanted to worship him for his greatness, for his holiness and for his mercy. Such a God was worth receiving something from her.

Third, she gave to God because she believed that he would meet her needs. After all, she would have known that he had commanded for widows to be taken care off. That instruction was not merely a command to meet a social need, it was also a window into the heart of God. His commandments revealed what he is like. He gave that instruction to reveal that was the kind of God he is. He looks after the widow and the fatherless, so this widow would have known that her God would take care of her needs.

Fourth, I suspect that she gave on this occasion because it was a special day for her. It must have been something like that that caused her to do this. Maybe she had a vow that she kept annually. Perhaps she had been given four coins and had used two of them and decided to give what she had left to the Lord. Who can say exactly why she gave? It may only have been a desire to give something special to the God she loved and maybe she chose to do without food on that day and give what she could have spent on herself to God. The point is that Jesus commended her for giving because she became an example of expressing love for God.

Lessons

The first lesson is that there is a divine Calculator who has his eyes on all things. The Calculator is not a computer, but a person who knows all about our givings. He himself became poor and it may have been the case that there were times when Jesus did not even have what this poor widow had on that occasion. And how poor he became when he died and had to be buried in a borrowed tomb!

The second lesson is that sacrificial giving is praiseworthy. Whatever were the reasons for this woman doing what she did, it is obvious that her spirit of sacrifice was commended by Jesus. Sacrifice is often the evidence of love, and although the temple was not functioning properly at that time it was the place where God was worshipped and where she could show her love to him.

A third lesson is that Jesus let her express her devotion to the Father. She had her needs, but we know that he had taught his disciples that they did not need to worry about their needs because the Father would provide. Maybe he had provided for her many times and Jesus reveals that it was appropriate to let her express her devotion to the Father who had helped her.

The fourth lesson is that we cannot calculate what God can do with the gifts that are given to him. This woman may have thought her giving was anonymous, but at least eleven men learned something that day from her example.