Verse 41
Καὶ καθίσας κατέναντι τοῦ γαζοφυλακίου ἐθεώρει πῶς ὁ ὄχλος βάλλει χαλκὸν εἰς τὸ γαζοφυλάκιον. καὶ πολλοὶ πλούσιοι ἔβαλλον πολλά
(He took a seat facing the collection box and watched how the crowd tossed their copper coins into the collection box. The wealthy people were tossing in a lot.)
I'm not sure what the point of the story is here. Jesus, at the end of his last week on Earth, sat across from the box that people put money in. Why was he there watching that? He had already cleaned house in the temple courts to say that all the money changing that was going on wasn't what God was about (previous chapter, Mark 11). He had answered questions of the Jerusalem religious leaders targeting the blasphemous tenants of his teaching in their opinion. They had tried to trap him all week in saying something that would be against their law. So, what was his strategy in sitting down to watch people put in money? The prophet Malachi had made it clear God expected his people to bring their money to him.
Verse 42
καὶ ἐλθοῦσα μία χήρα πτωχὴ ἔβαλεν λεπτὰ δύο, ὅ ἐστιν κοδράντης
(A widow who begged tossed in two of the lowest denomination coins.)
It was just another Passover for this lady. Passovers were particular grueling for her. She had had to figure out how to make ends meet for a while now. Her husband had been able to do that previously for the two of them, but he had met his end before his wife. She had been reduced to eeking out a living these days. During this week, people from all around the whole region were coming to the city. She didn't have anything to give, but these travelers had good hearts. They were coming to celebrate with relatives the goodness God had shown them. By asking them for a little help, she could at least ask for a couple of coins to drop into the collection box at the Temple courtyard to show God that she still placed her trust in him.
When she received this from a generous visitor, she made her way to the Temple courtyard. She was unashamed. She had to show appreciation to God for taking care of her these days and for his good care of her husband and her when he had live. She walked right up to the box and tossed in her coins like any other person even though she knew the coins were a very small amount of money. She quickly walked away for the next person to come to the box.
Yeah, Jesus noticed. Immediately, she was the center of his focus. Although his followers were with him, he didn't know if they had seen just what had happened. He reigned in their attention.
Verse 43
καὶ προσκαλεσάμενος τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ἡ χήρα αὕτη ἡ πτωχὴ πλεῖον πάντων ἔβαλεν τῶν βαλλόντων εἰς τὸ γαζοφυλάκιον
(He called his followers around him and spoke to them, "Honestly, of all those who have tossed into the collection box, this widow who begs has tossed in the most of anybody!")
The Twelve were used to Jesus giving contrasts about what people thought was good and what God thought was good. They had heard it many times. Jesus didn't speak about money much, though, so he had their attention. They might have expected him to comment on the "one-tenth" giving that good Jews were supposed to give or on giving from the great wealth above and beyond the tenth that these Jerusalem wealthy elite were capable of giving. No. He said the beggar widow gave more than any other person. They knew to wait. Jesus would explain what he meant to them.
Verse 44
πάντες γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ περισσεύοντος αὐτοῖς ἔβαλον, αὕτη δὲ ἐκ τῆς ὑστερήσεως αὐτῆς πάντα ὅσα εἶχεν ἔβαλεν ὅλον τὸν βίον αὐτῆς
("They all tossed in from their great wealth, but she from her abject poverty tossed in as much as she had, everything, from her means of living.")
So, why is his last direct teaching lesson before death done at the giving box at the temple? Because it was the universal setting to acknowledge appreciation AND trust in God's care of his people. In the capital city of the Jews, appreciation and trust were doled out in limited measures because of the wealth of the party leaders, their dependence on a written code rather than a living God, and their "place" for God since they had to work most of their daily living with the Roman governors and military commanders to control their own population. They trusted a great deal in their own wisdom.
Likely Jesus had a day left to live on the Earth. He had accomplished his teaching mission. He had come to Jerusalem and tangled with the scholars of the Talmud and the party elites. He had made a huge statement in cleansing the temple in order to show how far off-base the establishment was in conducting God's business - the temple needed to return to being a house of prayer for the nations, not to continue being a money collection location for God. He had one last lesson to give to his Twelve. This was it. Now he could rest. The end would unravel over the next several hours.
I don't know that the lady's income was replenished, but if she was like every other person, she had a means or a hope that the little that she put in the box would be replenished. It was her trust that God would replenish that supply that Jesus complimented. His last lesson would be about trust. God gives us what we need. We simply honor and trust.
The widow woman has a lot to teach me. Jesus was right to focus my attention on her. I usually exhibit a lot of pride. I seem to have a surplus of it. My years are supposed to have taught me to trust God and honor what he has done. I'm a slow learner. So, God draws me again to something his son did. The lesson he taught before undergoing his last hours on Earth. I am grateful to have in my mind the picture of the woman who begged giving her two coins amounting to almost nothing. If only I could have that amount of trust in my God who gives me everything I need and so much more.
[The song is Sovreign by Chris Tomlin]
[Introductory artwork retrieved from http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/267625/la-palabra-del-dia-liso]
[The Greek text used is the Nestle Aland 28th edition]
[Translations from Greek are my own.]
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