SR 19
September 19
Mark 12:41 to end. Christ commends a poor widow.
The time was drawing near when the Lord Jesus would leave the temple, never to return. Before he left it, he sat for a while in the court called the women's court. The inner court was called the court of Israel, and there no one was permitted to sit down; but in the women's court sitting was allowed. Under the pillars that adorned the court eleven chests were placed, and upon each chest was written the purpose to which money cast in it, would be applied. None of them were for the relief of the poor; all were set apart for the supply of the various sacrifices and services of the temple.
The people presented their offerings within the view of Jesus. Many who were rich cast in much. It is probable these rich men were Pharisees. The Lord had lately upbraided them for their covetousness. He did not now applaud their liberality. He knew that though they gave much, they kept more. He saw also their motives, and he was acquainted with their secret practices. But while he passed over the rich, his eye rested upon a certain poor widow, who cast in two mites, which made a farthing. It is said in one place that two sparrows are sold for a farthing— that farthing was the fourth part of a penny; this farthing was the FORTIETH part of a penny—the fortieth part of the wages of a day-laborer.
There is very little recorded concerning the poor widow; neither her name, nor her parentage, nor her history, nor her abode. But she was well known to Jesus. He knew not only what she put into the treasury, but also that she had nothing remaining. He knew all her circumstances in this life—the depth of her poverty, and how she fell into it. It may be that she was the victim of one of those proud Pharisees, who devoured widows' houses. He knew not only her circumstances, but her heart —the feelings with which she approached the treasury and cast in her mites. It may be that she had just received some great deliverance, and that she testified her gratitude by her gift. It may be that, like the aged Anna, she derived her chief consolation from attending the services of the temple, from listening to the psalms sung continually within its walls, and from joining in the worship which accompanied the daily offerings. It is probable that she had heard the Savior's gracious words within that sacred place, and had found salvation through faith in his name. She must have been a believer in the promises of God, or she could not have presented an acceptable offering. For it is written, "Through faith Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." (Heb. 11.)
The believing poor still present their farthings to the Lord—their mites are still precious in his sight. They may not be noticed by men, but they are not overlooked by God. He knows where all the money comes from that enters into his treasury; and he can distinguish the guinea which dropped out of the overflowing coffers of a rich man, from the last farthing of a poor one. There are some in our days who have displayed the same faith that actuated the widow.
There was a man who spent his all in going from city to city, from country to country, to plead for the souls of the poor. Wherever he went, he stirred up his fellow-Christians to form town-missions, which might penetrate into every dark abode of ignorance and misery. He died in the midst of his years and of his labors, and left not enough to procure his winding-sheet, much less to sustain his infant family. But God raised up friends who honorably buried him, and comfortably provided for his widow and her babes. Our gracious Lord is faithful, and never forsakes those who put their trust in him. We may feel assured that the widow who cast in all her living into the treasury, was not permitted to pine with need the day after. And every one who has faith to act as she did, will be approved as she was, and sustained as she was, and at the last day acknowledged as she will be.