The Giver God Blesses

Scribes as judges also often denied widows justice in court. We remember the parable Jesus told about the widow and the unjust judge in Luke 18. He says: “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent. For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out” (Luke 18:2-5). Scribes tended to exploit widows and deny them justice.

Scribes were usually affluent citizens. Immediately after warning His disciples to beware of them, Jesus observes people putting their offerings into the Temple Treasury. Verse 41 states that “many rich people were putting in large sums.” Doubtless some of the scribes were among these rich folks making large contributions. Now enter the poor widow. Just how poor was she? The word “poor” suggests she was “utterly helpless, completely destitute, living in such absolute poverty that perhaps even needed necessities for survival such as food and shelter were lacking.” It was highly probable that she did not have another male relative to provide for her needs—no father, son, brother, or even a brother-in-law.

The gift she offered was very small, only two mites. The King James text tells us that this amounted to the value of a farthing, a former British coin equal in value to one quarter of a penny.

Who was the better steward? Which offering did Jesus bless? The rich people gave out of their surplus, out of their abundance, meaning they gave “large sums that they simply did not need, but this poor widow “gave all she had to live on.” She gave God everything, her entire livelihood. She gave not from her abundance but out of her want, her need, her poverty; she literally “put in all she owned.”

God will always honor and multiply the “widow’s mite.” Actually “the widow’s mite” is a misnomer. She gave “two mites,” not one. A “mite” was the smallest coin used by the Jews just as the farthing was the smallest one among the British. “The widow’s mite” has come to symbolize “any small gift or contribution freely given by one who can scarcely afford it.” It is given out of true love and devotion to Jesus and the desire to fulfill of His Great Commission through the Church. It is an act of total obedience, surrender, and commitment to Him.

Let me share a personal story from my home Church as an illustration. I could share several good illustrations from my library, but as a teenager personally knew, loved, and respected this lady. My parents and I often took her home from Church on Sunday mornings. “Mrs. Hazel Ramsey was a widow with no close relatives. She did not own a home but rented an upstairs apartment over a local business. Her husband had been a policeman. She had one son who had married and had two children. He too had died. His widow moved to Florida with the children, and they rarely saw Mrs. Ramsey.”