In Mark 13:1, after Jesus leaves the Temple, one of his disciples says to him to look at the “magnificent buildings” and the “impressive stones.” Jesus is not dazzled by the structures, but he instead replies that the buildings will one day be “completely demolished.” The disciple was merely looking at the outward appearance while Jesus was looking at its future fate.Ĭombining the story of the Widow’s Mite and the other two mentioned above, we learn that the meaning of this story is to show the difference between the things that we see and the things we cannot.
What follows the Widow’s offering is just as thought-provoking. He mentions how these false teachers devour widow’s houses and so, in a way, was preparing the listener for the character of the widow. It is interesting to see that before Jesus points out the widow, he was teaching the people in the Temple to beware of the hypocritical teachers of religious law who do things only to be seen by people. To get a clue as to the meaning of the Widow’s Mite, it is helpful to not only look at the story itself but also at the surrounding scriptures before and after the account. He explained that the others had given a small amount out of the surplus they had, but she gave everything she had to live on. In this teaching moment, he told his disciples that the poor widow had given more than everyone else. Jesus saw the rich dropping their donations, but when he saw a widow drop in two small coins, he called his disciples over. But he did not just sit to rest, he sat and watched people as they were dropping money into any one of the thirteen receptacles provided for giving. The story takes place at the Herodian Temple, specifically in the court where the tithes and offerings were collected.Īfter a long day of teaching and answering questions from the religious leaders, Jesus went to sit in the Temple court across from where the offerings were collected. The story of the Widow’s Mite or Widow’s Offering is found in two of the four synoptic Gospels: Mark 12:41-44 and Luke 21:1-4. 4 The Widow’s Mite What Does the Bible Say About the Widow’s Mite?
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