Should You Give Your Last 2 Pennies? - Mark 12:41-13:2 Series

Mark 12:41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But one poor widow came and put in two leptas, worth only a quadrans. 43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything-- all she had to live on."

Introduction

The teachers of the law had backed away from Jesus in the crowded, Passover temple court, but they were still there, behind the crowd, glaring at Jesus. Fuming. Plotting. Once in a while Jesus looks their way, and they shoot daggers back at him. They know better now than to try to engage Jesus publicly again, but they want to stay within earshot to hear what he’s telling the crowd.

He finished his teaching, now the crowd around him is finally dispersing. “Good. It’s about time. Now will he leave?” They watch. He doesn’t leave. Instead, he makes his way into the treasury area where people gave their offerings. They had 13 different receptacles, each one labeled with what those gifts would go to. All of them were for the Temple in one way or another—building, maintenance, supplies, etc. They also had a system for giving to help the poor, but that was a different system. This area was for giving to support the Temple.

So they watch Jesus move into this area. “Is Jesus going to give an offering? That would be nice. If the people see him put something in, giving will go way up.”

“Oh, doesn’t look like he’s putting anything in. He’s just … sitting there.”

Mark 12:41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury.

He takes a break from teaching and just does a little people watching. That’s a little ominous. “Why is that ominous?”

I’ll explain why it’s ominous in a minute, but first let’s look at what Jesus sees as he watches the people giving their offerings.

41 … Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But one poor widow came and threw in two leptas, worth only a quadrans.

You’ve heard this story referred to as “The Widow’s Mite”—that comes from the old King James Bible. They translate the word “lepta” as “mite” because back in the 1600’s they had coins called mites. This is also the origin of the saying, “Putting in your two cents.” The NIV says they were worth only a fraction of a penny, so people in our culture think of this as being two pennies.

Leptas were kind of like pennies in that it was their smallest denomination. It was worth 1/64th of a denarius, and a denarius was one day’s wage for a day laborer. In our culture a day laborer would make over $100, but if we figure a day’s wage as $64, then a lepta would be exactly one dollar. So it might be a little more like saying she put in her last $2, rather than her last 2 pennies, but either way, she gave everything. The NIV says, in v.44, “all she had to live on”—the word he uses refers to anything of earthly value. She gave everything she had that was of any earthly value.

43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything-- all she had to live on."

The Traditional Interpretation: A Lesson on Giving

So what’s the purpose of this passage? The traditional interpretation, which enjoys almost universal agreement, is that this is a lesson on giving. Jesus just wanted to take a break from talking about the Temple and give us a quick little object lesson on sacrificial giving. Nestled here in the middle of all this rhetoric about how the Temple authorities will be punished most severely and the Temple itself will be destroyed lies a nice heart-warming story about a poor widow who gave her all. And the lesson for us is that we should follow her example and give sacrificially.

Almost every sermon I listened to on this passage said, “This amazing woman set the standard for giving. If this poor widow can give every last penny she had to live on, surely you can dig a little deeper and help out the church building fund. You don’t have to give your whole life savings like she did, but you can at least give a large, sacrificial gift to the church.”