Sitting across from the temple treasury, he
(Jesus) watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury. Many rich people
were putting in large sums. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two tiny
coins worth very little. Summoning his disciples, he said to them, "Truly
I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.
For they all gave out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in
everything she had; all she had to live on." Mark 12:41-44 CSB
 |
| God was generous...He gave us His Son. |
Jesus used this encounter with the widow in
the Temple to emphasize to His disciples just how stingy some people were…and
how generous others were. That poor widow was generous beyond her means—she didn’t
have much…but she gave anyways. Do you think that she was giving from a
grateful heart for all that God had done for her?
The Old Testament records when coins were
given for the Temple.
For the original construction of the Temple
in Jerusalem:
For the construction of the Temple of God,
they gave about 188 tons of gold, 10,000 gold coins, 375 tons of silver, 675
tons of bronze, and 3,750 tons of iron. 1 Chronicles 29:7
When the exiled Jews returned from Babylon
to Israel and rebuilt the Temple:
After they arrived at the LORD's house in
Jerusalem, some of the family heads gave freewill offerings for the house of
God in order to have it rebuilt on its original site. Based on what they could
give, they gave 61,000 gold coins, 6,250 pounds of silver, and 100 priestly
garments to the treasury for the project. Ezra 2:68-69 CSB
That is a lot of coins! Jesus may have
considered all those gold and silver coins that had been given for the Temple
when He saw the woman giving simple copper coins—not really worth much. Those coins
were probably like our pennies—not valuable. But this is where God looks at the
heart—the attitude behind the giving. How does God see your giving? Are you
like that widow—generous beyond your means?
There is a promise with giving to the Lord…or
those that the Lord wants taken care of.
Give it to the Levites, who will receive no
allotment of land among you, as well as to the foreigners living among you, the
orphans, and the widows in your towns, so they can eat and be satisfied. Then
the LORD your God will bless you in all your work. Deuteronomy 14:29
The Lord will bless you. This is sort of a
prosperity teaching…give and you will be blessed. But it is a command because
God wants people to take care of each other. We are back to the “love your
neighbor as yourself” command. You take care of your own…so take care of others,
too. Show them the love of God by helping them. Can you do that?
Prayer
~ Lord, may we be like the widow woman who gave all that she had—not expecting
anything in return. Did You bless her, Lord? I hope it was a hundred fold.
Daily
Bible Reading: 1 Kings 9; 2 Chronicles 8
© 2018 Text and
photo by M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All
scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.
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