41 Jesus sat near the Temple money box and watched the people put in their money. Many rich people gave large sums of money. 42 Then a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which were only worth a few cents.
43 Calling his followers to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow gave more than all those rich people. 44 They gave only what they did not need. This woman is very poor, but she gave all she had; she gave all she had to live on.”
Read Mark 12:41-44 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
In our passage for this entry is a pretty well known example of giving, but what many people don’t expect to find is a picture of Jesus hidden within it. Sure, Jesus is the one making the point and drawing our attention to God’s truth about giving, but in a subtle way, He is also drawing our attention to God’s character – and His upcoming gift to the world.
“Calling his followers to him, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow gave more than all those rich people. They gave only what they did not need. This woman is very poor, but she gave all she had; she gave all she had to live on.’” (v. 43-44)
While this widow has been held up as an example of sacrificial giving, part of me wonders if doing this also steals the spotlight away from Jesus, the ultimate Sacrificial Giver. In this event, the widow gives all the money she has to live on, but she still has her life – at least for the moment. In contrast, Jesus gave His life – which is very literally “all He had to live on”.
Stepping back to look at a bigger picture, we can also see a picture of God’s character. While God is the richest Being in the entire universe, the gift He chose to give was Himself, and One who was most loved by Him. In this way, God showed us – the actively sinning human race we are a part of – how much He loves us.
God, the richest Being in the universe, gave the ultimate sacrificial gift, which in turn allows us to accept the gift of forgiveness, grace, and eternal lives even though we have sinned.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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