Mark 12 - Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

‘And he say down opposite the Treasury and watched how the crowd dropped money into the Treasury, and many who were rich dropped in large amounts.'

‘The Treasury.' This probably referred to the thirteen trumpet shaped receptacles which were placed against the wall of the Court of the Women, the actual closed box being presumably behind the wall. Each had a separate purpose. One was for the purchase of materials for sacrifices, one was for the upkeep of the Temple, and so on. Alternately it may have been an opening on the outside of the Treasury making possible gifts to the Treasury.

‘He sat down opposite -.' He wanted to watch men as they gave so that He could bring home a lesson to His disciples from it. No doubt some of the richer walked up ostentatiously with large sums of money and publicly dropped them in. They were no better than the Rabbis previously described. They were buying publicity and respect, not giving to God. And then there were others, humbler and truly expressing gratitude to God.

The Poor Widow Who Gave More Than Everyone Else (12:41-44).

In contrast with the greed of some of the Scribes (Mark 12:40), and the love of money of the rich young man (Mark 10:22), we now have drawn to our attention the generosity and self-sacrifice of a humble poor widow. Here was ‘true discipleship' from one who was not yet a disciple. And the main point that comes out from it is that God sees her as having given more than everyone else because He measured all their giving by what they had left.

Analysis.

a And He say down opposite the Treasury and watched how the crowd dropped money into the Treasury (Mark 12:41 a).

b And many who were rich dropped in large amounts (Mark 12:41 b).

c And there came a poor widow, and she dropped in two mites which make a penny (a few cents) (Mark 12:42).

d And He called to Him His disciples, and said to them (Mark 12:43 a).

c “Truly I say to you, this poor widow dropped in more than all those who are dropping money into the Treasury” (Mark 12:43 b).

b “For they all dropped in out of what they had to spare” (Mark 12:44 a).

a “But she of her want did drop in all that she had, even all that she had to live on” (Mark 12:44 b).

Note that in ‘a' many threw gifts into the Treasury, but in the parallel only one threw in all that she had. In ‘b' the rich dropped in large amounts, and in the parallel they did so out of what they had to spare. In ‘c' the widow dropped in a tiny amount, and in the parallel she was seen as having dropped in more than all of them. Centrally in ‘d' His message was directed at the disciples.

‘And there came a poor widow, and she dropped in two mites which make a fraction of a penny (a cent or two).'

And lastly there was a poor widow. No one apart from Jesus noticed the poor woman who crept unobtrusively up to the trumpets and dropped in her two mites, with no display at all (Mark uses a Roman term for the coins (‘quadrans') which was commonly in use in Palestine). The ‘two should be noted. She could so easily have kept one. But she did not feel that she could withhold it from God. She knew, of course, that her gift was hardly worth noticing and would buy little, especially as compared with the magnificence of the Temple. Did I say no one would notice? Jesus noticed, and God noticed as well. Only two among so many. But what a two! And the trumpets of heaven blared, and the angels stopped what they were doing and looked at each other (even though the woman never knew). For here was a gift that was almost worthy of God. And no one else on earth ever knew, but she had laid up a rich treasure in Heaven. It is probable that there would be no food on the table for her next meal, but she would one day feed sumptuously at Messiah's table (Mark 10:41). Note that in the section chiasmus this parallels the self-seeking of the disciples (Mark 10:33-35). No wonder Jesus now draws attention to it.

‘And he called to him his disciples, and said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow dropped in more than all those who are dropping money into the Treasury, for they all dropped in of what they had to spare, but she of her want did drop in all that she had, even all that she had to live on.” '

There is a deliberate contrast here between the Rabbis who ‘devoured widows' houses' (Mark 12:40), and the widow who unselfishly gave all that she had to God. There is also a contrast with the rich and wealthy ostentatiously giving their gifts (how else did Jesus know?) while she gave unobtrusively. And there is the verdict. That she was the one who gave the most. For God judges our giving, not by how much we give, but by how much we have left. She alone received the Messiah's commendation. And although she did not realise it she was being watched by the One Who would Himself, by the offering of Himself, give more than any other ever could.

There is a further contrast. As they leave the spot the disciples will point out the splendours of the Temple. They had not been too impressed by the widow's gift, but the Temple was something else. It had so taken up their attention that Jesus' words had almost passed them by. However, God did not see things as they saw them. He was not concerned about the Temple. His gaze was still focused on the woman's gift. For the fact was that while what the woman had given would last for ever in men's memories and in the record of heaven, God would arrange for that splendid Temple shortly to be razed to the ground and become almost forgotten because it had rejected His Son.