EXPOSITION:
At the temple in Jerusalem, Jesus sits opposite the treasury and observes the crowd put money into the bowl. The rich put in large amounts of money. And then, here comes this poor widow who puts in just “two very small copper coins” which is said to be worth “only a fraction of a penny.”
One would have thought that Jesus would have commended the rich for their contributions. Surprisingly, he does the opposite instead. He tells his disciples how pleased He was with the widow’s contribution. Jesus valued the widow’s mite over all the huge sums of money because “they all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything- all she had to live on.”
A lot of Christians today have been made to believe that God is only pleased by the amounts of monies we give in his service. But how does the story of the widow teach us to please the Lord in giving?
Jesus demonstrated the Lord’s view of giving in contrast to that of men. As 1 Samuel 16: 7 would have it, “…Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”God is more interested in what we do or give from the heart rather than what we put out there for men to see. Giving abundantly is not bad, but one must be careful not to miss the point; what God loves is a “cheerful giver” and not the “highest bidder.” This is our service well-pleasing to Him.