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Luke 21:1-2
‘As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.’
Jesus is still preaching in the Temple courts. He is talking to his disciples, but there is a crowd listening in to what is being said. It is in this public forum that Jesus speaks to his disciples about leadership; he does it by contrasting the attitude of the Scribes and a widow.
The Scribes were experts in the Law who helped the people to understand and apply the scriptures. Widows were usually without income and dependent on their family or welfare for support.
As Jesus gives this example the people in the crowd hear what Jesus has to say to the disciples about leadership, and so the world already has an expectation of how followers of Jesus should live their lives, and the expectation that Jesus sets is rigorous.
In the past the disciples have shown a desire for positions of power with regard to leadership (Luke 9:46). The disciples are doing what comes naturally to most of us: desiring greatness.
So Jesus points out to them that the greatest doesn’t always look like the greatest, or get the recognition that they deserve. The widow gives a small amount of money, but she actually gives all that she has. Jesus shows that the giving of the large gifts is not bad, nor does he romanticize what the widow offers. The offering of everything is great.
If we give everything we have, and do it unnoticed, then what do we gain and who do we become? As Pope John XXIII said, “Strive to be unknown”.
