In Luke 21 we see an unnamed widow put two of the most insignificant coins into the temple treasury. The reason that we see her is that Jesus and his men are there watching the giving process. The rich are tossing in their contributions left and right but it is not to them that Jesus calls attention. It is to this simple woman and her seemingly meaningless gift.
Jesus, knowing all about her, tells his disciples that she has given everything that she had to live on. Her sacrifice was the greatest of the day. And then she was gone.
Why did we need to see her? Was it to get us into the "giving" mood? Or was it to make us feel guilty for not giving more? Why did Jesus call attention to her?
One author recently brought to my mind a different perspective about this woman. You will notice that just after her gift and Jesus' comments, the talk turns to the Temple and its destruction. The commentary that I was reading indicated that this woman was an example of futility. She had put her trust in the religion of the temple and it was about to be destroyed. Her beliefs were so strong that she gave her all to help sustain the rituals but in fact, they were soon to end.
Within 40 years of her gift, the temple was indeed sacked. Never again to be built. It was the end of the Jewish eon or age. This woman gave all that she had to a broken system. Such was the futility of her beliefs. It was a sad commentary on Israel.
I like the other story better. The one where Jesus is admiring her gift and showing his men how humble and self-sacrificing she was. However, I always wondered what happened to her after this account? Jesus didn't promise her anything and she probably didn't even know that he had commented on what she had done. How did she survive? Did she survive? Or was she an eventual casualty in the sacking of Jerusalem? We may never know.
What we can learn from this account is that we must be careful about where we make our contributions. There are many good causes that in the end are not worth anything. They are a part of a broken system. They take and don't make a difference. Don't be like that widow. Give yourself totally to God's cause. Not because God needs your gift but because you need to be a part of what he is doing now. Invest in the future. Because who knows where we'll be in forty years?
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