This is Jesus's last story of his public ministry. This is one week before Jesus dies on the cross. Jesus is sitting in the Court of Women (the farthest women could go in the temple).
Background information: This is the same temple where Jesus cleared out the money changers. Why did Jesus get angry and clear out this people? They were selling pigeons to poor people (who couldn't afford to buy lambs) to take advantage of them. This was an injustice to people in the church and it infuriated Jesus.
Now let's get back to the text, we see various people coming to make offerings in the temple. People just came to the temple to drop off their offerings. There weren't bills back then. Only coins were used, so rich people might come in with bags of coins and people would give them a lot of respect. The more coins you had, the more noise it made and the more attention the person received.
How many of us are pre-occupied by being seen? When the focus is on us, there's a wrong motive behind it. When we are focused on ourselves, who's the audience? Definitely not God. The people that brought offerings were so focused on being seen, that they weren't focused on justice or ethics. Their focus was on staying rich and showing off. They might also have long lasting prayers, but it was also for show and not genuine. And despite what it looks like on the outside, they like to oppress the poor and widows. But the Lord wanted people to stop neglecting the poor and widows. Because the Israelites neglected those two groups, it caused the destruction of the Temple. God takes those issues seriously (See Exodus 22:22-24).
Everyone wants to be rich. Even pastors want to be rich. They want to be able to make a lot of money to help others. Then there are people that are rich and donate a lot of money just to get recognized. While the world looks at those that are bringing money to the temple, Jesus sees the widow who puts in everything she has while the others think she has nothing to offer. She comes in with her two light, copper coins. For her that was everything.
Jesus noticed her because everyone else's life should be transformed to be like that woman. Sometimes we neglect spending time with those who are just not "rationally worth spending time with". Typically we make judgements about others.
When Jesus encountered the Samaritan woman at the well, he didn't care about which region she was from and didn't care that she was a woman. She was considered a "nobody" in society based on those two factors. Jesus showed love toward her and she helped to spread the gospel. Jesus looks past all of the fancy packaging and facades. He sees our humility, faith, and brokenness and loves all of them.
In many ways, the poor was in a much better position than the rich that went to the temple. Jesus said that she contributed more. Being a poor widow helped her to become humble. There's nothing wrong with being rich but being rich can cause people to become puffed up and arrogant. Most of us live fairly comfortable lives and we all think to ourselves, "How much can we give and still be comfortable?" Yet the widow gave up everything and she knew that she had God, which was ultimately the most important.
Was her giving sacrificial or was she full of joy? She could have easily given one coin and kept the other. Yet we find in a lot of cases that it is the one with the least that is the most generous. Yes, her act was sacrificial but it was mainly out of an act of generosity. She wasn't looking for attention, because no one was going to notice her sacrifice.
How do we become free like the widow and have that kind of freedom in our lives? Be like the Macedonian church (2 Corinthians 8:8-9). Despite hardship after hardship, they still gave all they had for Jesus continuously.
We can give because Christ gave us everything. Because the Lord has been generous towards us, we can be generous towards others.
Scott Worden (The L.A./Seoul Guy)
Instagram: l.a.seoulguy
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