THE WIDOW’S WAY

Jesus told the story of the widow that “put in all the money she had to live on” and out of this decision of faith it must have required her to live differently than before (Luke 21:1-4). Who knows what she had to do? To begin with, she was “a poverty stricken widow” (v.3) and the two coins represent a great deal to her economically. On the other hand, Jesus started this teaching with, “he saw rich people putting their offerings into the treasury” (v.1) and “these are putting in money they could spare” (v.4). The contrast is ‘what you have to live on’ and ‘what you have to spare’ and the difference is both economical and philosophical.

The money is real and the amount is real, but the greater issue is poverty and riches. The parable is aimed straight at our consumer society and our mania for ‘producing more’ without stopping to wonder what kind of life and people we are producing. The rich and the poor are frequent subjects in the teaching of Jesus. The core of the messages has money and possessions as the theme but it is always a person’s heart and not their pocketbook that is the final factor.

 “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them.” Jesus