In the course of his teaching Jesus said to the crowds,
“Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes
and accept greetings in the marketplaces,
seats of honor in synagogues,
and places of honor at banquets.
They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext
recite lengthy prayers.
They will receive a very severe condemnation.”

He sat down opposite the treasury
and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury.
Many rich people put in large sums.
A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents.
Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them,
“Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more
than all the other contributors to the treasury.
For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth,
but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had,
her whole livelihood.”

A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury.  For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”

St. Mark would regularly employ a literary style wherein he would tell smaller seemingly unrelated stories as bookends to a greater story. Today’s reading is one of those smaller stories. The greater story is the explanation of the destruction of the temple and the rebuilding of it, which comes in the next chapter 13. The second small story comes at the beginning of Chapter 14, which is the anointing of Jesus by a woman (Mary of Bethany), using a whole jar of nard to anoint Him before His death. Nard was not cheap, it was an extravagant gift, and a great financial sacrifice.

So we begin with a woman woman in today’s reading, that gives two copper coins. She was widowed and very poor. Her gift was to give two copper coins. It is important to understand that these coins were of very little value (les than 1/64 of a daily wage). It might have been barely enough to buy a very small meal, but nothing filling or extravagant. But she gives everything she had (her whole life) anyway, even if it might be her last meal before she died.

The pharisees on the other hand were very wealthy, they paid themselves from the temple treasury, and lived like kings off of the people’s contributions. The gift that they gave would have been much more than the widow, but it would not be registered as a loss to them, because they gave from their excess wealth. But it is even worse than that because their contribution went back into the same treasury that they paid themselves from. So, you could almost even say that they were paying themselves not God.

So what is the point of these bookends, the first woman gave all that she had, to the old temple, her entire livelihood, as a gift to God and His church on earth. A gift to a temple that is ultimately bankrupt and destined to be destroyed. Nevertheless, it is still, an act of total trust and commitment that the God of the old law would not abandon his promises to the chosen people. After this story in Chapter 13, we hear of the foretold destruction of the old temple and subsequent rebuilding of it in the form of Jesus Christ. And then finally we have the story of the second woman giving her gift (of great sacrifice) to Jesus directly. Her gift was extravagant gift of hope of the resurrection, and the promise of the new temple that would be made in Jesus for the whole world, for all time.

Truly a beautiful message when you think about and ponder it. The gospel writer, adding these stories really points to the faithfulness of God to his promises and His people. So the message for us today is to trust like this widow. I don’t think Jesus is telling us that we all have to give our entire livelihood to the church, but He is saying that we need to care less about the things of this world, and the work that we do, and trust more, that God will provide.

Oh lord, There is so much in these reading to ponder and consider. Please help me make time today to think about it, and bring it into our hearts, so that it can change us and make us stronger, Amen.