Two Leptas Worth of Piety Please

Mark 12:41-44 (NA26) ⁴¹ Καὶ καθίσας κατέναντι τοῦ γαζοφυλακίου ἐθεώρει πῶς ὁ ὄχλος βάλλει χαλκὸν εἰς τὸ γαζοφυλάκιον. καὶ πολλοὶ πλούσιοι ἔβαλλον πολλά· ⁴² καὶ ἐλθοῦσα μία χήρα πτωχὴ ἔβαλεν λεπτὰ δύο, ὅ ἐστιν κοδράντης. ⁴³ καὶ προσκαλεσάμενος τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ἡ χήρα αὕτη ἡ πτωχὴ πλεῖον πάντων ἔβαλεν τῶν βαλλόντων εἰς τὸ γαζοφυλάκιον· ⁴⁴ πάντες γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ περισσεύοντος αὐτοῖς ἔβαλον, αὕτη δὲ ἐκ τῆς ὑστερήσεως αὐτῆς πάντα ὅσα εἶχεν ἔβαλεν ὅλον τὸν βίον αὐτῆς.

⁴¹ And after he sat down across from the offering box, he was observing how the crowd cast copper money into the offering box. And many wealthy persons were casting much. ⁴² So when one poor widow came, she cast two leptas (which is equivalent to a Roman quadrans). ⁴³ Then after Jesus called his disciples along side him, he said to them, "Truly I say to you that the widow - this poor one - cast into the offering box more than all of those who are casting. ⁴⁴ For they all out of their abundance cast; but she out of her poverty cast in all, as much as she had - her whole life." (writer's translation)

Have you ever heard someone say, "Jesus talks to us about money more than any other subject"? In a sense that is very true and rightly so, for wealth can become a terrible snare for us. However, I am not so sure that the only lesson in the above passage is 'give all your money to the Temple.'

Luke testifies to Jesus saying, "Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the Kingdom of God." Matthew writes, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." I think Jesus is interested in teaching us greater and more painful lessons than simply 'do you give enough money to the Temple?'. Money, wealth and poverty are the symbols, much like words, through which Jesus teaches us about the state of our souls before Him. We are as paupers who stand on street corners proclaiming our wealth, only demonstrating a sad psychosis.

The widow gave her whole life to the Temple. That is the lesson to Christ's disciples then and now. The Temple has always represented the place of God's presence; hence, giving to the Temple was to give to God. The word βίος (bios) is a word that does in fact mean life and here would seem to be used as a double entendre, having a double meaning. The second sense of the word is that of a person's subsistence, related to how the support themselves. Yes, the widow gave all of her subsistence to the Temple; however, Jesus is using this living picture to teach us to give our whole lives, all that we have and are to him.

Forget your checkbook for a second. How much of ourselves do we withhold from Christ who bought us in our totality? How much of our minds do we block off for our own purposes and pleasures? We parade ourselves as knowing what true pleasure is, and all the while we have shunned Him, that is the True Pleasure who is Christ. We have settled for little when Christ has given much. Lord have mercy on us, your people, that our appetites might be ravenous for Christ and Him alone. Amen.

³ We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. ⁴ Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; ⁵ in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; ⁶ in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; ⁷ in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; ⁸ through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; ⁹ known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; ¹⁰ sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. (2 Cor 6:3-10 NIV, emphasis mine)