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Author: Stephen Weller
557 words, 3 minutes read time

Is Our Offering A Sacrifice?

Scripture: Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:2

With the previous lesson we covered the section about a warning Jesus gave to his disciples about not being misled by hypocritical religious leaders. With this lesson we will cover another short section with its focus on a very small gift made by a poor widow.

^{Mk 12:41} [Then Jesus] sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. ^{Lk 21:2} He [also] saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins, ^{Mk 12:42} which make a penny.

It is still Tuesday and Jesus is still in the temple, sitting opposite the treasury watching people as they put money into the offering box. He recognizes the amount each was depositing. He noticed that many rich people were putting in large sums, but then he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins, the value of a penny.

^{Mk 12:43} He called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. ⁴⁴ For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Noticing the amounts being put in by the rich people and the small amount put in by the poor widow, Jesus calls his disciples to him for an object lesson. He probably explained to them what he saw and then points out that the poor widow actually put in more than all those rich people with their large amounts. As Jesus was saying that, his disciples were probably thinking that a penny was much less that the large amount given by the rich people so how could her gift be larger? As their minds were trying to reconcile that statement, Jesus helps clear up their confusion by telling them that the rich gave from the surplus of their abundance while the poor widow gave out of her poverty and gave everything she had to live on.

The point that Jesus was making was that the value of one’s gift to God is not based on the size of the gift, but on the level of sacrifice. Is the gift given out of abundance or was it given sacrificially, causing us to give up something we might desire for ourselves.

In a place called Gethsemane, Jesus fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” He then surrenders himself to those coming to arrest him and allowed them to press false charges against him, convict him, and nail him to a cross. The gift that he gave was everything; it was his life to provide us with the gift of salvation.

Conclusion

The rich people were giving out of their abundance (their excess), the poor widow gave everything she had to live on, and Jesus sacrificed everything by giving his life. What is your level of sacrifice for the kingdom of God?