Mark 12:41–44

How little did these people know whose eye was watching them as they cast in their offerings! How little they thought that One was examining them! His eye could reach the deepest depths of their hearts and read the motives behind what they were doing. Maybe the showy Pharisee was there, displaying his wealth and making a proud show of his religion. Jesus saw it all, weighed it all, judged it all.

Contrasted with the hypocrisy of the scribes and the showy generosity of the rich, our Lord singles out the poor widow whose heart is in what she gives, a gift measured not by its apparent worth, but by its character. And He still sits opposite the treasury and watches what we cast into it.

His enemies having been silenced, in faithfulness the Lord now warns against their sanctimonious pride (38-40) and contrasts their covetousness, which would devour widows' houses, with the devotion of a poor widow who would cast all her living into the treasury (41-44). This last, Mark and Luke alone record.

"Lepton" is the smallest coin. "Quadrans" equals 2 lepta.

Reader, did you ever notice the shape in which she had her living? Why does the Spirit take such care to say "Two mites, which make a farthing"? Why not be content to say, "She threw in a farthing"? Ah, this would never do. That would have hidden the real beauty of it, the true touch of wholehearted devotion. If she had had it all in one piece, she must have either given all or nothing. Having it in two, she had the option of keeping half for her own living. Most of us would call it extraordinary devotion to give half of all we had in the world to the Lord's cause. But this poor widow had a whole heart for God.

God does not go by the amount. He judges not by what you put in, but by what you keep back for yourself. In her case she kept back nothing — she gave it all. Those who gave out of their plenty kept the greater part for themselves. The test of generosity is not what you give, but what you keep. The much that you hold back for your own enjoyment proves how little you gave. But when nothing is left, and everything goes into the treasury of God, there you see divine love and faith truly at work. This poor woman was a widow, and it might have seemed that she of all people had a right to keep what little she had; but no — little as it was, all was for God.

And yet the widow gave her two mites to the temple chest that received contributions for the upkeep of the temple building! The Lord had already turned His back on the temple and now was pronouncing its doom. She did not know this. Her understanding was a little behind the times, yet the Lord accepted her gift and valued it by the devoted heart behind it. What a comfort this fact is!

Perhaps the widow's mite helped to pay Judas. But she gave it to the Lord, and her heart, taken up with that small coin, did not escape the Lord's eyes or the notice of His love.

Now, calling this incident "The Widow's Mite" is a mistake. The widow did not contribute her mite; she gave both her mites — all that she had. Her wholehearted, self-denying devotion drew out the Lord's praise and approval. She gave up all her living to the service of God.

How little did these people know whose eye was watching them as they cast in their offerings! How little they thought of the One examining them! His eye could reach the deepest depths of their hearts and read the motives behind what they were doing. Perhaps the showy Pharisee was there, showing off his wealth and making a grand display of his religion. Perhaps the cold, going-through-the-motions worshipper was there too, dropping his usual coin into the treasury with no heart in it. Jesus saw it all, weighed it all, judged it all.

God does not go by the amount given; He judges not by what you give, but by what you keep back for yourself. In this case she kept nothing back — she gave it all. Those who gave out of their plenty kept the greater part for themselves. The test of generosity is not what you give, but what you keep. But when nothing is left, and everything goes into God's treasury, that is the true working of divine love and faith. That is what God values. It expresses not only generous giving, but complete confidence in Him.

Reader, did you ever notice the form in which she had her living? Why does the Spirit take such care to say "two mites, which make a farthing"? Why not simply say, "She threw in a farthing"? Ah, that would never do. It would not have brought out the real point of beauty, the true touch of wholehearted devotion. If she had had it all in one piece, she would have had to give either all or nothing. Having it in two, she had the option of keeping half for her own living.

Never were coins so wrongly spoken about as these two mites. Someone asks a rich man with thousands to give to a good cause. He writes a cheque for £5 and says with an easy smile, "Well, here is the widow's mite." Is that so? The widow did not give the one mite, but the two, and that was all she had. The widow's mite would be half the rich man's fortune; the two mites, everything he owned. Still, the Lord's commendation of this poor widow's act is very cheering to those who can spare only a little. The Lord appreciates such wholehearted giving.

Here the Lord denounces the scribes who corrupted the word of God which they claimed to explain. They kept up the form of godliness. They wanted their own glory and other people's money — even the money of widows, whom they got close to by pretending to be devout. So their judgment would be all the more terrible. But God does not forget His own among the hypocrisy of people who only look religious. They may make mistakes. Perhaps the widow's mite helped to pay Judas. But she gave it to the Lord, and her heart, taken up with that mite, did not escape the Lord's eyes or the notice of His love.

She was poor. Her total assets came to one farthing. Yet if she was poor in pennies, she was rich in grace. Like the churches in Macedonia, her deep poverty overflowed in the riches of her generosity. She could not give more than two mites; she would not give less, though it left her with nothing. And you may be sure that He who noticed her noble gift saw her empty purse too, and provided for her, as He loved to do.

God does not go by the amount given. He judges by what you keep back for yourself, not by what you hand in. In her case she kept back nothing — she gave it all. Those who gave out of their plenty kept the greater part for themselves. The test of generosity is not what you give, but what you keep. Keeping much for your own comfort proves how little you really gave. But when nothing is left, when everything goes into God's treasury, you see the true working of Divine love and faith. That is what God values. It expresses not only generous giving, but complete confidence in Him.

Why does the Spirit take such care to say "two mites, which make a farthing"? Why not be content to say, "She threw in a farthing"? Ah! this would never do. It would have missed the real point of exquisite beauty — the true touch of whole-hearted devotion. If her money had been in one piece, she would have had to give all or nothing. Because it was in two, she could have kept half to live on. Most of us would call it remarkable devotion to give the Lord's cause half of all we had in the world. But this poor widow had a whole heart for God.

The widow did not contribute her mite; she gave both her mites — all that she had. She handed over all she had to live on for the service of God. That whole-hearted, self-denying devotion is what drew the Lord's praise and approval.

First comes the warning against the showy scribes, who talked well but lived badly. Then comes the Lord's praise for the poor widow, whose self-denying offering stood against the greed of the scribes and Pharisees.

God does not forget His own in the middle of all this hypocrisy from people who only seem religious. They may make mistakes. The widow's mite may even have helped to pay Judas. But she gave it to the Lord, and her heart, taken up with that little coin, did not escape the Lord's eyes or the notice of His love. The rich had given much, but the widow offered herself as a living sacrifice to the Lord; she gave everything she owned. She might have used it better. But she gave her mite to the Lord from the bottom of her heart, and He accepted it. We should think about this.

It is fairly easy to give tens, hundreds and thousands out of our savings. It is hard to deny ourselves a single luxury or comfort, let alone something we really need. But she gave all her living to the house of her God. This is what gave her a spirit so close to the blessed Lord's own. He could say, "Zeal for Your house has consumed Me." She could say, "Zeal for Your house has consumed my living." So she was very near to Him.

By throwing in all she had to live on, she had reached the extreme of destitution and left herself in absolute poverty. She was a widow and she was poor, yet she loved the interests of the Lord and the honour of His house. With a faith and devotion that put others to shame, she threw her two mites into His treasury. That was her "all." But One saw what she had done, and fully valued such unusual self-denial. Did she suffer? Did she lose? Was her Lord to be her debtor? No. The blessed hand that recorded her hidden act of devotion for us to copy would enrich her a hundredfold in this present life, and answer her faith in His own generous way.