The widow who has given "all she had to live on" foreshadows the coming contribution of Jesus to his mission of proclaiming God's Good News of non-violent justice in the face of Rome's violent injustice. Like the widow, Jesus holds nothing back.
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Having successfully bested all challengers from the Jerusalem elites, Jesus now honourably moves to the offensive. However, as we move into the denunciation of these elites and the Temple, it is good to remember the Scribe we met earlier today whom Jesus praised with the high honour of being "not far from the Kingdom of God." Which is another way of remembering that what is being condemned is behaviour, and not a whole class of people.
And of course, before we get wagging our fingers at these Scribes, we should also remember to examine our own behaviours first. Are there any among us who have felt entitled to be greeted with respect, to have our favourite seat in church or the honoured place at the potluck. Do any of us live in ways that impoverish others - while reciting long prayers? Let those without sin cast the first stone I say. Well, actually it was Jesus who said that.
As Malina and Rohrbaugh note (see footnote below), Jesus has just condemned the Scribes for bankrupting widows, and then we see a widow giving her last coins - perhaps as part of her personal piety and devotion - but certainly in keeping with the various Temple obligations. She is bankrupted by religiously sanctioned regulations.
Jesus does not comment on how women's utter economic dependence on men because of social and religious customs and traditions forced all but a fortunate few widows into poverty. So we need to be cautious that his praise of her example doesn't cause us to lose sight of the broader social-systemic issue - Why is this widow poor?
But we also need to not lose sight of Jesus' observation:
The wealthy have contributed out of their surplus in a way that does no harm to their continuing to be wealthy.
The widow has contributed all she has.
That the widow has contributed all that she has is subtly underlined by the fact that she put in TWO small coins. Having two coins means that, poor though she was, she could have kept one coin for herself. But her devotion is total, no half-measures for her!
The widow who has given "all she had to live on" foreshadows the coming contribution of Jesus to his mission of proclaiming God's Good News of non-violent justice in the face of Rome's violent injustice. Like the widow, Jesus holds nothing back.
She - and Jesus - set a standard that challenges us to re-examine just where-who-what we think our wealth is.
David Ewart,
www.holytextures.com,
Short, easy to use, faith inspiring explanations of the meaning of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John for your sermon, homily, bible study, or reflection.
Short, easy to use, faith inspiring explanations of the meaning of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John for your sermon, homily, bible study, or reflection.
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