A poor widow
Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites (Mark 12:42).
In the summer of 1985 the Live Aid concert was held to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia. People around the world gave donations. In Ireland, an elderly widow went into a collection point, took off her wedding ring and dropped it into a donation box. When I heard that story I was challenged about sacrificial giving.
In Mark 12:38-40, Jesus condemns the scribes for their long robes, their overwhelming desire for recognition, and their long prayers. He also judges them for devouring widows’ houses. In that society widowhood often meant extreme poverty and vulnerability. Its leaders had forgotten God was a Father to the fatherless and a Husband to the widow. Israel had become apostate and bereft of compassion.
But it was in such a place the poor widow, who Jesus saw, gave everything she had. Her poverty is so spiritually rich. It tells us first that Jesus watched. We marvel at the words Jesus said and the power of His miracles. But it is important to understand that Jesus sees what others, including ourselves, do not. He watched the people He came to save. And what He sees He assesses perfectly. That day He saw many rich people making a show of how much they could give. The Lord sees the pure heart. He also sees pride in our hearts. He watched the poor widow. He saw her poverty and her complete faith in God.
She did not hesitate or ponder what she was about to do. She didn’t stop to see if others would notice and perhaps come to her aid. No, she threw in the two mites, not in despair but, I believe, cheerfully. It was an act of sacrifice knowing that God loves a cheerful giver, and that He would be a Husband to her. She threw in both the mites she had. These were lepta, the smallest coin in Judaea, worth around 2p today. She gave everything she had. I do not believe God did not respond to such faith.
When Hudson Taylor lived in Hull, where I was born, he spent a lot of his time sharing the Gospel and doing what he could to address poverty in the city. One day a man approached him in need. Hudson had a florin in his pocket (worth two shillings), but he needed it to pay for his lodgings. He wished at that moment that he had two separate shillings so that he could have given one to the man and kept one for his needs. He prayed to God and gave the man his florin. On returning to his lodgings there was a letter with a gift for his needs. That experience taught him to be totally dependent upon God. He took that experience to China and eventually formed the China Inland Mission. This organisation took the Gospel beyond the coasts of China into its heartlands. His was a step of faith we still see the fruits of to this day.
The Lord Jesus was born into poverty and lived His glorious life in poverty. At the cross, they took even His clothes. Last, of all, He gave Himself.
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.
