Mark 12:41  And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.
42  And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.
43  And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:
44  For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

The most precious thing in life is the soul of man. It is the soul that lives on. It is the soul that needs to be satisfied. Material things can never satisfy the longing of the soul. Adam had everything he needed, but he did not value the precious place of his soul, prior to his fall. Adam was unique in that he was created without sin. He was not a god, but he was created without sin. God showed him the way of blessing. Adam was created with freewill and he chose to disobey God and he became a sinner.
Adam did not work to be good. He was created very good by God. Adam worked to lose what he could never earn. He became a sinner and all humanity is born in sin because we are all descendants of Adam.
Jesus Christ is the promised seed of the woman that would bruise the head of the serpent. Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God/Son of man. Jesus Christ willingly and obediently left heaven’s glory and became a man, a servant obedient even unto death. Jesus Christ is such a precious gift to man, and yet we all have dismissed this precious gift as unnecessary and unappreciated at some point in our lives. A few heed the convicting work of the Holy Spirit and are born again. At the new birth, the few are granted eternal life as a gift of God. Due to the new nature we receive at the new birth, we can and must show forth the glory of the Work of God in our hearts. The joy of the Lord is found in serving the Lord faithfully.
In our text, we find Jesus observing what the people were giving into the temple treasury. Some people complain that all that churches want is their money. Some years back I pastored a church in a town where there was a “Gospel Hall” religion. They prided themselves in their name. They placed a large banner outside their meeting place advertising that they never took up an offering. They were able to draw some people with that deceptive ad. That advertisement was just one of several deceptive practices of that group. They did take up offerings but they just used different terminology to get the money from the people.
Giving to the work of God, whether in Old Testament times or New Testament times is a matter of the heart. God expects His people to give of what He has given them. The motivation should be out of a heart of gratitude for all that God has blessed us with.
In today’s world different groups use different types of gimmicks to try to coerce people to give to their cause. Most groups try to entice people to give with the promise of a tax receipt that they can then use to avoid paying some income tax.
A true child of God needs to understand that the blessings of God are so bountiful, that we do not need a tax incentive to give to the Lord. Jesus taught that there is a separation between God and Caesar. The governments of the world should be submissive to God, but the reality is that they are not. Most of them are actively working against the will of God.
The temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. There has never been another temple since that time. God replaced the temple with true local churches. God also replaced the animal sacrifices that were part of the temple services, with the perfect sacrifice of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. His shed blood makes it possible for all people to be forgiven and saved. Most miss out on this great privilege because their pride does not allow them to accept God’s precious gift. Most people are not willing to accept the fact that they are born as lost sinners in need of a Saviour.
Giving to the work of the Lord is not a burden for those who are truly saved. At the time of Christ, the offerings were given into a box and the money was used to cover the cost of keeping the temple in good condition. It was also used to pay the Levites who served in the temple. Since most of the Jews had lost the significance of the temple by the time of Christ, there was much corruption involved with the tithes and offerings of that time.
Giving to the temple treasury became a competition. It was a way for the rich to show off their “generosity”. They were giving because of the “kickbacks” they hoped to receive from those who were in charge of the temple. They did not believe in the true God and thus were not expecting anything from Him. Some of them assumed their giving would be a good-luck charm to help them in their greedy business ventures.
Jesus noted that among all the rich that were casting in much money, there was a certain poor widow. We are not given a name for this widow. We are told that she cast in two mites. The mite is assumed to be worth about one fifth of a cent. It truly was not a very large sum of money.
Jesus called the disciples to Him and taught them an important lesson here. Jesus told His disciples this widow had given more money than those who cast in large sums of money. It is important to note that those who gave, did not put their names on what they gave. The rich had other ways they tried to show how much they gave.
The poor widow woman was not looking for attention. She would not have been noticed if it were not for the Lord Jesus Christ’s attention to the offering box. Jesus not only saw the outward actions of those who were giving, He saw the hearts of the people. He knew the financial state of each person who was giving. He also knew the spiritual state of each person. This widow woman had legitimate needs. She was not skimming off the cream of the crop. She was given of the necessity of her life. She would not lack anything important by her giving. In fact she would gain much more than the others. She would know the blessing of God in her heart due to her love for Him.
This woman would know the promises of God in a real way. She would realize that He could indeed supply her needs. She could rest in God’s promises. God wants us to be able to rest in His promises as well. Knowing God is about so much more than material things. God blesses different people in different ways. His peace and joy are not dependent upon what we have. They are dependent upon knowing Him.
Pastor Bartel