Luke 21:1-4 ¹And when he looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, ²and he saw a poor widow put in there two small copper coins. ³And he said, “Truly I tell you that, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. ⁴For they all put in th offering out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” 

The next story strongly contrasts with the previous one. The self-important scribes standing in the temple courts are still in the imagination of the disciples as Jesus compared the rich to poor widows. Another group of people in the temple precincts were the wealthy. Rich people have disposable income. They live without worry about how they will pay for necessities like food, housing, and clothes. The rich people Jesus pointed out in the temple brought their offerings to the temple like other pious Jews, but these offerings were no sacrifice but just some of their surplus. They made no personal sacrifice in giving of tithes and offerings.

Jesus pointed out a poor widow who put in two small copper coins called lepta. These were the smallest coins in circulation. When Jesus saw this contrast, he gave an important proclamation to his disciples. The amount of the offering was not important. It was the sacrifice involved. This principle goes back all the way to Genesis with stories like Abraham’s sacrifice of Issac, or in Leviticus and Israel’s sacrifices in the tabernacle. The principle must be lived out by disciples as well.

The rich give out of their abundance and make no significant sacrifice. The poor widow had little and lived in poverty. She gave out of what little she had. God does not need a person’s wealth. God’s kingdom is not built on money. Churches need to remember this crucial principle. Money does help ministry, but ministry is not dependent on wealth but on personal commitment and sacrifice of one’s resources, including time, energy, and finances. Jesus already taught his disciples that the poor are blessed (6:20). Part of that blessing comes in their sacrifice to believe in God even when they have little in this world.

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