Widow’s Mite Coin
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Sterling Silver & Bronze Antiqued Widows Mite Coin Cross Pendant (Length=38) (Width=32). These coins also often featured a classic design in Jewish art, the lily. A ncient coins of the New Testament and early Christianity are quite popular. A great example of this is the wonderful story that surrounds the ’widow’s mite’ coin, the lowest denomination coin circulating during the time, the prutahs of Alexander Jannaeus.
Most times it is not about how much you do to have an effect,but rather what you do to have an IMPACT.
The Widow’s Mites is a short tale that illustrates this very concept. The story falls under the Biblical teaching aspect of “giving”. Like any occasion in the Bible that carries influential significance, the commemoration of this moment has been passed on for years, in the form of relics, and in the Word itself. The widow’s mite has been made into pendants, necklaces and other memorabilia which have experienced a growing trend in the Evangelical community.The Widow’s Mite Coins
In Mark 12:41-44, we are introduced to the story of the poorwidow. Jesus and His disciples were at Herod’s temple observing people placetheir offerings into the treasury box. People from all over came, both the richand the poor. Everyone giving what they could manage, and of course the richgiving in abundance. However, before that, in Mark 12:38-40, Jesus says to Hisdisciples to beware of the Scribes that carry themselves in a prideful way.After he warns His disciples, Jesus goes on to watch the people give theirofferings to the hypocritical Jewish leaders of the time. He then saw a womanwalking towards the box. People knew she was a poor widow that did not haveeven half of the money that everyone else was giving- and she put two smallcoins into the box and went away. Jesus then spoke to His disciples that sawwhat she did as well and said to them: “Assuredly, Isay to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have givento the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of herpoverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”.
Jesus makes it knownthat the little she had- came from the wealth of her heart because she was notgoing home to riches, but she was going home to most likely nothing, and inthat moment in time, she still prioritized her god before herself.
This story is centred around giving andthe aspect of sacrifice. God uses the Bible to highlight the importance ofgiving to us in stories such as: The Widow’s Mite (giving the little you have),The Good Samaritan (giving more than money, but rather time and resources), thestory of Joseph (welcoming and caring for his family even when all pointed tohim not to) and Jesus feeding the 5000 with the little boy’s lunch (giving infaith). There are numerous stories of giving in the Bible that do notnecessarily have to deal with money, it is just giving coming from the purestof hearts.
The widow gave from the depth of herheart because as she gave, she did not have her benefit in mind but for thehonouring and advancement of the temple. What she did may have not been seen asmuch to the people around her, but considering what people knew about thestatus of her household; it was most likely that she may not even have hadenough to feed later that day. However, obeying and pleasing her god meant moreto her than a meal later that night.
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 9:6-8that those that sow seeds sparingly will also reap the benefits of theiractions sparingly. On the other hand, those that give generously will reap generously.The sowing of seeds and anything that requires sacrifice deserves the best fromus. God gives generously, He gives us through grace and mercy what we do notdeserve, but He still wants us to give according to His lifelikeness. Giving isnot only therefore a requirement by God for His people, but a responsibility wemust take seriously. This verse then goes on to tell us that we are to give outof our heart for “God loves a cheerfulgiver”. Many can give, but the worth of a heart that knows that it is givingfor the sake of reaching God’s favour one day, rather than a heart that isgiving because they are happy to givecreates a big divide in God’s teaching.
What we can learn from this story andany story that focuses on giving is that:
*God instructs us to give from ourhearts.
*Generosity does not have a social status
*God Himself, does not see social status and;
*We should give with God in mindWhy Wear a Widow’s Mite CoinNecklace?
The necklace serves to provide and represent something weshould never forget. Just like how people may get a crucifix in their homes, ordifferent types of jewellery with the cross on it. Those relics arepurchased/owned to remind them and the people around them of the sacrifice thatJesus made. It is a symbol that when placed near us or around us creates afamiliarity with the Father that even in our busiest of times, it gives uspeace in the memory of who He is and what He did for us.
Therefore, the widow’s mite symbol is another trait thatkeeps us in line with the Gospel and the values and traits that God wants us tomaintain on the Earth for Him before Jesus’next coming, in the context of giving and being humble before the Lord.Colossians 3:12 talks about the type of people God has elected to be in HisKingdom. It mentions kindness as well as humility. Meaning we are to come tothe Lord as humbly as the widow did to the temple in this story and offer allwe can, from the generosity of our hearts to advance His kingdom.
The widow’s mite coin necklace is also a reminder of the mostimportant thing we should consider before we should give. The condition of ourhearts. It allows us to ask ourselves if we are giving because it is arequirement. Or if we are giving based on responsibility.Anything done through the channel of responsibility is done naturally. Just asa mother would naturally want to feed her child, so shall our hearts mirror thewidow’s story when we give to God.
why should we wear thewidow’s mite necklace?
*For what it symobilzes:a pure heart, giving, sacrifice, generosity
*As a reminder of thetype of person God wants in His kingdom: humble people
*To let us know that noteveryone comes with abundance to God’s presence, but He still values theirsacrifices equally (or even more)
*To emphasize that thesmallest things can carry the biggest value because of the state of the heartof the person that presented it
*To encourage honest andgenuine giving
*To exemplify the spiritof giving
*To let us know that wealso have the chance to give God all we have in the light of being vulnerable
*To provide a frameworkof the condition of our heart whenever we give to God. What Is Widow Mite Coin Value?
As stated before, the widow that gave came from a home whereshe may not have had enough to feed on a regular basis.
Mites were small coins made of bronze and were the smallest denominationof coin in the time of Jesus. The King James Version translates the wordutilized for “coins” as “mites” taken from the French word “miete” which meansa crumb or a small morsel.
When converted to the Greek lepton in the 200s A.D, a goodexample of how much the mites were worth at the time can be put like this:
1 pound of grapes = 120 lepta and1 kg of grapes = 256 lepta. So, assuming an average of 80 grapes perpound, the widow would only be able to afford 3 grapes in those times.
Although, in today’stime, finding the equivalent of a mite may be difficult because it may not havea direct monetary conversion as its value was so little. However, authors saymake mention that a denarius was considered a fair wage for one’s work in a dayin the Bible (example: Matthew 20:2). So translating the mite à lepta à kordantes (whichwere equal to 1/64 of a denarius) Kordantes would equate up to $1.88 in today’stime, rounded up to $2.00. This could mean that the widow gave about $2 lookingat this theory. Nevertheless, the teaching was based on her giving all she haddespite its monetary value.How to Apply The Widow’s Mite Moral To Our Daily Lives
Giving is a virtue. It is something that we should not takefor granted because it is pleasing to God. Therefore, it should not be takenlightly.
The moral of the widow’s mite can be applied to manysituations. Not only should we give with all our hearts to God, but we shouldbe able to give to each other with the heart of God using examples like thewidow’s mite tale. We should not care about who sees us putting forward what we(and they) may think is too little because before anything, God sees thecondition of our hearts when we do.
So, how can weapply this story to our everyday lives? Widow’s Mite Coin Value
*We should give to ourneighbours. God tells us to love our neighbours as we do ourselves (Leviticus19:18) and as the widow gave, she did not think about herself, but she gave becauseshe loved and believed, and that is the type of love we should show to eachother.
*We should always giveGod our best. Sometimes we may feel crowded by the noise around us of watchingpeople give more because that is what they can afford, but we should look atwhat we can offer and lay it down sacrificially to God
*We should be able toshow our vulnerability to God. For He sees everything and by us giving to Godin public what He sees we have in private is the ultimate honour ofacknowledging who He is.
*God is a gracious Godthat understands we all live different ways of life; He would therefore notlook for millions to come from a house that cannot feed every day. But as longas God sees that a sacrifice is being made for the good of His Kingdom asopposed to other ways of life that are not entirely beneficial, He will indeedbless that giving. Widow’s Mite Coin For SaleSummary: Jerusalem in the new testament
The story of the widow’s mite took place during a time whenthe Jesus would observe how people would behave in terms of status. The richwere very rich and wanted to exhibit their wealth, whereas the poor were verypoor and were deemed somewhat insignificant no matter what they had to offer.The story of the widow was mentioned in 2 books of the New Testament, bothaccounting for what the sacrifice of the widow meant to Jesus and how we arepractically reminded to take a chapter out of her book of giving selflessly toour one true God.
As we have discussed, the necklace reminds us every day to bea cheerful and sacrificial giver. We have also examined that there are numerousother ways of being a sacrificial giver which is through faith, and love. Andas people of God we called to show these attributes to each other, which canalso be classified as blessings.
Blessings can come in all forms, monetary, through prayer, through faith in the betterment of situations, and as long as we have that in mind when we are considering the land of Jerusalem, it is us giving selflessly. The widow’s mite carries the power to remind us to bless Jerusalem in these various ways, earnestly, and diligently. Us saying a prayer for Jerusalem, sending something for its upkeep as often as we can with what we can manage goes a long way in terms of its advancement, and in terms of the Kingdom of God.
We do not need an audience to see our sacrifices. All we needis the right heart to execute God’s wish. Which is to have harmony amongst allpeoples that can only be achieved if there are people doing their part in alllands of the world to bring up the land that is promised for our salvation.Widow’s Mite Coin Jewelry
Andas we take this valuable lesson of giving and sacrifice with us, may we constantlybe reminded of the greatest sacrifice that God made, which was Him giving Hisonly son just so that we could see another day and be brought back to Him. Godhad to watch and Jesus had to endure. Although, something we should constantly rememberis that God had the power to release Jesus from His misery. He could havebrought Him down from the cross and punished everyone in the land! But becauseof you and me, He allowed His son to die a thief’s death. As we begin to, orre-evaluate the art and passion behind the aspect of giving, may God continueto bless us with understanding and humility in Jesus’ name.Widow’s Mite Coin ReplicaThe Widow’s Mite: Good or Bad Example of Giving?
11/26/2018 For centuries, Christians have assumed that Jesus wants us to emulate a poor widow’s sacrificial giving of her only 2 coins. As the story goes in Mark 14, Jesus was watching people put money into the Temple treasury. Rich people put in a lot of money. Then, a poor widow put in 2 small copper coins worth about a penny. Jesus saw a lesson here for the disciples so he gathered them together and said:“this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury; for they gave out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, gave all she owned, all she had to live on.” - Mark 12:43-44Jesus’ commentary makes it clear that the widow felt the impact of her contribution much more than all the rich people giving money they didn’t need. She gave the very money that she needed to buy food to survive. Her sacrifice had painful consequences in her poverty.We have historically assumed Jesus is commending the widow’s example to us. We typically interpret the significance of the story just like Joy Allmond does on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Associationblog:What matters to God is our heart toward our money and our possessions. Do we see them as ours, or as His? Regardless of how much we give to Kingdom work–whether it is $10 or $10,000–Jesus makes it obvious to us in Luke 21:1-4 [the story of the Widow’s mite] that He is most pleased with those who had to sacrifice to give that $10. What is your “mite?” Are you sowing sacrificially from your resources?Before we can jump to personal application like this article does, we need to make sure we understand Jesus’ original meaning. Is the point of Jesus’ observation to praise the sacrificial heart and actions of the widow?The only way to answer that question is to examine the context. Each story included in each Gospel is contributing to a larger story about Jesus’ identity and mission. We must interpret each story by how it connects to the material before and after it. In the case of the widow’s offering, that context completely changes our assumptions about what Jesus is communicating.Context Controls MeaningThe question we must ask about the context is: Why does the Gospel of Mark place the story of Jesus watching Temple treasury donations (Mark 12:41-44) between his condemnation of Jewish religious leaders (Mark 12:38-40) and his prediction of the Temple’s demolition (Mark 13)? When you read the story in this context, you find verbal connections between the widow’s gift to the Temple and Jesus’ predictions of judgment. Jesus is not talking about generosity or self-sacrificial love before or after the story of the widow. He is talking about how corrupt the religious leaders are who control the Temple and how the Temple is going to be completely destroyed in a future act of divine judgment.Here is what Jesus says immediately before the widow’s story in Mark 12:41-44:“Beware of the scribes who like walking around in long robes and respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.”Do you see the verbal connection in his reference to widows? Another verbal connection occurs in the following passage when Jesus predicts the Temple’s destruction:As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, behold what wonderful stones andwhat wonderful buildings!” And Jesus said to him,“Do you see these great buildings?Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.” – Mark 13:1-2If you read carefully, you recognize that Jesus talks about widows in the preceding context and the Temple in his subsequent remarks to the disciples. That context is how we should understand the story about the widow giving her last penny to the Temple. Jesus is angry at other Jewish teachers who are persuading widows to give all their money to the Temple bank account. He sees a corrupt religious system that no longer honors God’s heart to care for the needy. Teachers of the Law no longer honor the intent of the Law. Instead, the system has created wealthy religious celebrities who construct lavish buildings and pray in long robes to puff up their public reputation, while the poor go bankrupt. That’s why he isn’t impressed by the “wonderful stones” and “wonderful buildings” in the Temple complex.Jesus is intentionally highlighting the widow’s gift to the Temple as an illustration of how messed up Jerusalem is. He is condemning Jerusalem’s leaders just like Amos and Isaiah and Ezekiel did before him. The widow’s gift is evidence of what Ezekiel saw in the Temple over 600 years earlier: “The people of the land have practiced oppression and committed robbery, and they have wronged the poor and needy and have oppressed the sojourner without justice” (Ezekiel 22:29). In that context of prophetic judgment against Jerusalem, the widow’s offering takes on a much different meaning than we first suspect.The Real Meaning of the Widow’s MiteThe widow is a victim of oppression not an example to follow. We typically assume Jesus said or implied, “Go and do likewise.” But he didn’t. What did he say? He emphasized that the widow “out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.” The repetitive “all she owned, all she had to live on” draws the observant reader to Jesus’ message. This widow no longer had anything left to live on because Temple teachers had convinced her to donate it to their extravagant slush fund.The widow’s offering is an illustration of injustice not generosity. The widow’s livelihood was being devoured by wealthy religious teachers just like some TV evangelists today convince poor people to send in their money so they can use it to buy private airplanes. The widow may have had an obedient heart, but Jesus cared more about correcting the corruption. God’s people were supposed to be caring for the poor not taking from them. As Kirk MacGregor writes in his critique of how Word-Faith Movement prosperity preachers abuse this text,“there are many passages in the Bible which, in context, teach that Christians should give, and give sacrificially, to meet the financial needs of poor members of the body of Christ, the poor in general, people who serve in vocational ministry, the local church, and the global church (e.g.2 Cor. 8–9; Rom. 15:25-33; Matt. 25:31-46; 1 Tim. 5:17-18; Acts 2:44-45; 4:32–5:11). However, the account of the widow’s mite is simply not one of them. Rather, this text stands in the prophetic tradition of condemning unscrupulous religious leaders who steal from the poor under the guise of their giving to God (e.g. Amos 5:11-12; 8:3-10; Isa. 3:14-15; 10:1-2; Jer. 23:1-2; Ezek. 22:26-31; Psa. 10
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Sterling Silver & Bronze Antiqued Widows Mite Coin Cross Pendant (Length=38) (Width=32). These coins also often featured a classic design in Jewish art, the lily. A ncient coins of the New Testament and early Christianity are quite popular. A great example of this is the wonderful story that surrounds the ’widow’s mite’ coin, the lowest denomination coin circulating during the time, the prutahs of Alexander Jannaeus.
Most times it is not about how much you do to have an effect,but rather what you do to have an IMPACT.
The Widow’s Mites is a short tale that illustrates this very concept. The story falls under the Biblical teaching aspect of “giving”. Like any occasion in the Bible that carries influential significance, the commemoration of this moment has been passed on for years, in the form of relics, and in the Word itself. The widow’s mite has been made into pendants, necklaces and other memorabilia which have experienced a growing trend in the Evangelical community.The Widow’s Mite Coins
In Mark 12:41-44, we are introduced to the story of the poorwidow. Jesus and His disciples were at Herod’s temple observing people placetheir offerings into the treasury box. People from all over came, both the richand the poor. Everyone giving what they could manage, and of course the richgiving in abundance. However, before that, in Mark 12:38-40, Jesus says to Hisdisciples to beware of the Scribes that carry themselves in a prideful way.After he warns His disciples, Jesus goes on to watch the people give theirofferings to the hypocritical Jewish leaders of the time. He then saw a womanwalking towards the box. People knew she was a poor widow that did not haveeven half of the money that everyone else was giving- and she put two smallcoins into the box and went away. Jesus then spoke to His disciples that sawwhat she did as well and said to them: “Assuredly, Isay to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have givento the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of herpoverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”.
Jesus makes it knownthat the little she had- came from the wealth of her heart because she was notgoing home to riches, but she was going home to most likely nothing, and inthat moment in time, she still prioritized her god before herself.
This story is centred around giving andthe aspect of sacrifice. God uses the Bible to highlight the importance ofgiving to us in stories such as: The Widow’s Mite (giving the little you have),The Good Samaritan (giving more than money, but rather time and resources), thestory of Joseph (welcoming and caring for his family even when all pointed tohim not to) and Jesus feeding the 5000 with the little boy’s lunch (giving infaith). There are numerous stories of giving in the Bible that do notnecessarily have to deal with money, it is just giving coming from the purestof hearts.
The widow gave from the depth of herheart because as she gave, she did not have her benefit in mind but for thehonouring and advancement of the temple. What she did may have not been seen asmuch to the people around her, but considering what people knew about thestatus of her household; it was most likely that she may not even have hadenough to feed later that day. However, obeying and pleasing her god meant moreto her than a meal later that night.
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 9:6-8that those that sow seeds sparingly will also reap the benefits of theiractions sparingly. On the other hand, those that give generously will reap generously.The sowing of seeds and anything that requires sacrifice deserves the best fromus. God gives generously, He gives us through grace and mercy what we do notdeserve, but He still wants us to give according to His lifelikeness. Giving isnot only therefore a requirement by God for His people, but a responsibility wemust take seriously. This verse then goes on to tell us that we are to give outof our heart for “God loves a cheerfulgiver”. Many can give, but the worth of a heart that knows that it is givingfor the sake of reaching God’s favour one day, rather than a heart that isgiving because they are happy to givecreates a big divide in God’s teaching.
What we can learn from this story andany story that focuses on giving is that:
*God instructs us to give from ourhearts.
*Generosity does not have a social status
*God Himself, does not see social status and;
*We should give with God in mindWhy Wear a Widow’s Mite CoinNecklace?
The necklace serves to provide and represent something weshould never forget. Just like how people may get a crucifix in their homes, ordifferent types of jewellery with the cross on it. Those relics arepurchased/owned to remind them and the people around them of the sacrifice thatJesus made. It is a symbol that when placed near us or around us creates afamiliarity with the Father that even in our busiest of times, it gives uspeace in the memory of who He is and what He did for us.
Therefore, the widow’s mite symbol is another trait thatkeeps us in line with the Gospel and the values and traits that God wants us tomaintain on the Earth for Him before Jesus’next coming, in the context of giving and being humble before the Lord.Colossians 3:12 talks about the type of people God has elected to be in HisKingdom. It mentions kindness as well as humility. Meaning we are to come tothe Lord as humbly as the widow did to the temple in this story and offer allwe can, from the generosity of our hearts to advance His kingdom.
The widow’s mite coin necklace is also a reminder of the mostimportant thing we should consider before we should give. The condition of ourhearts. It allows us to ask ourselves if we are giving because it is arequirement. Or if we are giving based on responsibility.Anything done through the channel of responsibility is done naturally. Just asa mother would naturally want to feed her child, so shall our hearts mirror thewidow’s story when we give to God.
why should we wear thewidow’s mite necklace?
*For what it symobilzes:a pure heart, giving, sacrifice, generosity
*As a reminder of thetype of person God wants in His kingdom: humble people
*To let us know that noteveryone comes with abundance to God’s presence, but He still values theirsacrifices equally (or even more)
*To emphasize that thesmallest things can carry the biggest value because of the state of the heartof the person that presented it
*To encourage honest andgenuine giving
*To exemplify the spiritof giving
*To let us know that wealso have the chance to give God all we have in the light of being vulnerable
*To provide a frameworkof the condition of our heart whenever we give to God. What Is Widow Mite Coin Value?
As stated before, the widow that gave came from a home whereshe may not have had enough to feed on a regular basis.
Mites were small coins made of bronze and were the smallest denominationof coin in the time of Jesus. The King James Version translates the wordutilized for “coins” as “mites” taken from the French word “miete” which meansa crumb or a small morsel.
When converted to the Greek lepton in the 200s A.D, a goodexample of how much the mites were worth at the time can be put like this:
1 pound of grapes = 120 lepta and1 kg of grapes = 256 lepta. So, assuming an average of 80 grapes perpound, the widow would only be able to afford 3 grapes in those times.
Although, in today’stime, finding the equivalent of a mite may be difficult because it may not havea direct monetary conversion as its value was so little. However, authors saymake mention that a denarius was considered a fair wage for one’s work in a dayin the Bible (example: Matthew 20:2). So translating the mite à lepta à kordantes (whichwere equal to 1/64 of a denarius) Kordantes would equate up to $1.88 in today’stime, rounded up to $2.00. This could mean that the widow gave about $2 lookingat this theory. Nevertheless, the teaching was based on her giving all she haddespite its monetary value.How to Apply The Widow’s Mite Moral To Our Daily Lives
Giving is a virtue. It is something that we should not takefor granted because it is pleasing to God. Therefore, it should not be takenlightly.
The moral of the widow’s mite can be applied to manysituations. Not only should we give with all our hearts to God, but we shouldbe able to give to each other with the heart of God using examples like thewidow’s mite tale. We should not care about who sees us putting forward what we(and they) may think is too little because before anything, God sees thecondition of our hearts when we do.
So, how can weapply this story to our everyday lives? Widow’s Mite Coin Value
*We should give to ourneighbours. God tells us to love our neighbours as we do ourselves (Leviticus19:18) and as the widow gave, she did not think about herself, but she gave becauseshe loved and believed, and that is the type of love we should show to eachother.
*We should always giveGod our best. Sometimes we may feel crowded by the noise around us of watchingpeople give more because that is what they can afford, but we should look atwhat we can offer and lay it down sacrificially to God
*We should be able toshow our vulnerability to God. For He sees everything and by us giving to Godin public what He sees we have in private is the ultimate honour ofacknowledging who He is.
*God is a gracious Godthat understands we all live different ways of life; He would therefore notlook for millions to come from a house that cannot feed every day. But as longas God sees that a sacrifice is being made for the good of His Kingdom asopposed to other ways of life that are not entirely beneficial, He will indeedbless that giving. Widow’s Mite Coin For SaleSummary: Jerusalem in the new testament
The story of the widow’s mite took place during a time whenthe Jesus would observe how people would behave in terms of status. The richwere very rich and wanted to exhibit their wealth, whereas the poor were verypoor and were deemed somewhat insignificant no matter what they had to offer.The story of the widow was mentioned in 2 books of the New Testament, bothaccounting for what the sacrifice of the widow meant to Jesus and how we arepractically reminded to take a chapter out of her book of giving selflessly toour one true God.
As we have discussed, the necklace reminds us every day to bea cheerful and sacrificial giver. We have also examined that there are numerousother ways of being a sacrificial giver which is through faith, and love. Andas people of God we called to show these attributes to each other, which canalso be classified as blessings.
Blessings can come in all forms, monetary, through prayer, through faith in the betterment of situations, and as long as we have that in mind when we are considering the land of Jerusalem, it is us giving selflessly. The widow’s mite carries the power to remind us to bless Jerusalem in these various ways, earnestly, and diligently. Us saying a prayer for Jerusalem, sending something for its upkeep as often as we can with what we can manage goes a long way in terms of its advancement, and in terms of the Kingdom of God.
We do not need an audience to see our sacrifices. All we needis the right heart to execute God’s wish. Which is to have harmony amongst allpeoples that can only be achieved if there are people doing their part in alllands of the world to bring up the land that is promised for our salvation.Widow’s Mite Coin Jewelry
Andas we take this valuable lesson of giving and sacrifice with us, may we constantlybe reminded of the greatest sacrifice that God made, which was Him giving Hisonly son just so that we could see another day and be brought back to Him. Godhad to watch and Jesus had to endure. Although, something we should constantly rememberis that God had the power to release Jesus from His misery. He could havebrought Him down from the cross and punished everyone in the land! But becauseof you and me, He allowed His son to die a thief’s death. As we begin to, orre-evaluate the art and passion behind the aspect of giving, may God continueto bless us with understanding and humility in Jesus’ name.Widow’s Mite Coin ReplicaThe Widow’s Mite: Good or Bad Example of Giving?
11/26/2018 For centuries, Christians have assumed that Jesus wants us to emulate a poor widow’s sacrificial giving of her only 2 coins. As the story goes in Mark 14, Jesus was watching people put money into the Temple treasury. Rich people put in a lot of money. Then, a poor widow put in 2 small copper coins worth about a penny. Jesus saw a lesson here for the disciples so he gathered them together and said:“this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury; for they gave out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, gave all she owned, all she had to live on.” - Mark 12:43-44Jesus’ commentary makes it clear that the widow felt the impact of her contribution much more than all the rich people giving money they didn’t need. She gave the very money that she needed to buy food to survive. Her sacrifice had painful consequences in her poverty.We have historically assumed Jesus is commending the widow’s example to us. We typically interpret the significance of the story just like Joy Allmond does on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Associationblog:What matters to God is our heart toward our money and our possessions. Do we see them as ours, or as His? Regardless of how much we give to Kingdom work–whether it is $10 or $10,000–Jesus makes it obvious to us in Luke 21:1-4 [the story of the Widow’s mite] that He is most pleased with those who had to sacrifice to give that $10. What is your “mite?” Are you sowing sacrificially from your resources?Before we can jump to personal application like this article does, we need to make sure we understand Jesus’ original meaning. Is the point of Jesus’ observation to praise the sacrificial heart and actions of the widow?The only way to answer that question is to examine the context. Each story included in each Gospel is contributing to a larger story about Jesus’ identity and mission. We must interpret each story by how it connects to the material before and after it. In the case of the widow’s offering, that context completely changes our assumptions about what Jesus is communicating.Context Controls MeaningThe question we must ask about the context is: Why does the Gospel of Mark place the story of Jesus watching Temple treasury donations (Mark 12:41-44) between his condemnation of Jewish religious leaders (Mark 12:38-40) and his prediction of the Temple’s demolition (Mark 13)? When you read the story in this context, you find verbal connections between the widow’s gift to the Temple and Jesus’ predictions of judgment. Jesus is not talking about generosity or self-sacrificial love before or after the story of the widow. He is talking about how corrupt the religious leaders are who control the Temple and how the Temple is going to be completely destroyed in a future act of divine judgment.Here is what Jesus says immediately before the widow’s story in Mark 12:41-44:“Beware of the scribes who like walking around in long robes and respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.”Do you see the verbal connection in his reference to widows? Another verbal connection occurs in the following passage when Jesus predicts the Temple’s destruction:As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, behold what wonderful stones andwhat wonderful buildings!” And Jesus said to him,“Do you see these great buildings?Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.” – Mark 13:1-2If you read carefully, you recognize that Jesus talks about widows in the preceding context and the Temple in his subsequent remarks to the disciples. That context is how we should understand the story about the widow giving her last penny to the Temple. Jesus is angry at other Jewish teachers who are persuading widows to give all their money to the Temple bank account. He sees a corrupt religious system that no longer honors God’s heart to care for the needy. Teachers of the Law no longer honor the intent of the Law. Instead, the system has created wealthy religious celebrities who construct lavish buildings and pray in long robes to puff up their public reputation, while the poor go bankrupt. That’s why he isn’t impressed by the “wonderful stones” and “wonderful buildings” in the Temple complex.Jesus is intentionally highlighting the widow’s gift to the Temple as an illustration of how messed up Jerusalem is. He is condemning Jerusalem’s leaders just like Amos and Isaiah and Ezekiel did before him. The widow’s gift is evidence of what Ezekiel saw in the Temple over 600 years earlier: “The people of the land have practiced oppression and committed robbery, and they have wronged the poor and needy and have oppressed the sojourner without justice” (Ezekiel 22:29). In that context of prophetic judgment against Jerusalem, the widow’s offering takes on a much different meaning than we first suspect.The Real Meaning of the Widow’s MiteThe widow is a victim of oppression not an example to follow. We typically assume Jesus said or implied, “Go and do likewise.” But he didn’t. What did he say? He emphasized that the widow “out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.” The repetitive “all she owned, all she had to live on” draws the observant reader to Jesus’ message. This widow no longer had anything left to live on because Temple teachers had convinced her to donate it to their extravagant slush fund.The widow’s offering is an illustration of injustice not generosity. The widow’s livelihood was being devoured by wealthy religious teachers just like some TV evangelists today convince poor people to send in their money so they can use it to buy private airplanes. The widow may have had an obedient heart, but Jesus cared more about correcting the corruption. God’s people were supposed to be caring for the poor not taking from them. As Kirk MacGregor writes in his critique of how Word-Faith Movement prosperity preachers abuse this text,“there are many passages in the Bible which, in context, teach that Christians should give, and give sacrificially, to meet the financial needs of poor members of the body of Christ, the poor in general, people who serve in vocational ministry, the local church, and the global church (e.g.2 Cor. 8–9; Rom. 15:25-33; Matt. 25:31-46; 1 Tim. 5:17-18; Acts 2:44-45; 4:32–5:11). However, the account of the widow’s mite is simply not one of them. Rather, this text stands in the prophetic tradition of condemning unscrupulous religious leaders who steal from the poor under the guise of their giving to God (e.g. Amos 5:11-12; 8:3-10; Isa. 3:14-15; 10:1-2; Jer. 23:1-2; Ezek. 22:26-31; Psa. 10
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