The Widow’s Offering
April 15, 2021
Commentary
From the offering of this poor widow we learn that what we rightly give for the relief of the poor, and the support of God’s worship, is given unto God. We learn about a woman who understood the principle of giving. God doesn’t call us to give for the sake of giving. Giving is to be done as an act of obedience – “Obedience is better than sacrifice (I Sam 15:22)”
Jesus saw (v. 1) “And He looked up and saw (both the rich man and the poor widow)…” – He sees every part of our lives, including the intentions of our hearts. He cares about what we have given up for the sake of the gospel and He cares about what we have not given up.This lady was extremely poor (v. 2) “A certain poor widow.” – This woman was not only poor but also a widow. Her source of all revenue, her husband, had died; yet she gave sacrificially. If there was anyone who had an excuse not to give, it was this woman.She gave everything (vv. 3-4) “Cast in all the living that she had.” – In spite of her poverty this poor widow held nothing back. She gave all that she had; two copper coins or 1/8 of a penny. It would have made more sense if she had given one and kept the other for food.
Application
This widow gave all she had to live on, in contrast to the way most of us handle our money. I believe God measures my giving, not by how much I give but by how much I have left.
Luke 21:1– 4 (NET)
1 Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. 3 He said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. 4 For they all offered their gifts out of their wealth. But she, out of her poverty, put in everything she had to live on.”
Illustration: Baptist Temple In Philadelphia Began with 57 Cents
Hattie Wiatt, a little girl, came to a small Sunday school and asked to be taken in, but it was explained there was no room for her. In less than two years she fell ill, and slipped away on her last pilgrimage. No one guessed her strange secret until beneath her pillow was found a torn pocketbook with fifty-seven pennies in it, wrapped in a scrap of paper on which was written, “To help build the little Temple bigger, so that more children can go to Sunday school.” For two years she had saved her pennies for the cause which was nearest her heart. The pastor told the incident to his congregation, and the people began making donations for the enlargement. The papers told it far and wide, and within five years those fifty-seven pennies had grown to be $250,000, and today in Philadelphia, can be seen a great church, the Baptist Temple, seating 3,300, a Temple College with accommodations for more than 1,400 students, a Temple Hospital, and a Temple Sunday school so large that all who wish may come and be comfortable. (Source Unknown).