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.
Mark 12:41-44
Jesus seems to praise the sacrifice of a poor widow who in apparent desperation for help and blessings casts all her money into the treasury of the temple. Can we just imagine the widow wondering what she is going to do? If she has children, how will she feed them? How will she feed herself? What will happen to her and her family? With nowhere else to turn, she turns to the Lord, hoping He will somehow reward her great sacrifice and faith.
But, also read verses 38-40, especially the phrase in verse 40, "which devour widows' houses."
Yes, the Lord is praising the faith and sacrifice of the widow. But even more than that he is criticizing the society. A society in which the scribes and pharisees (hypocrites) enjoy the chief seats and the upper rooms in feasts--the praise and honor of men and all of the perks that come along with the job--while a poor widow is facing potential starvation and is allowed to cast her two last mites into the treasury in a desperate hope for miraculous salvation.
Is this an arrangement the Lord would approve of?
