Every person who has decided to follow Jesus will have multiple times when giving an offering (“doron” in Greek) will not be easy. Many ways exist for us to make an offering to God. An offering is not just money. Romans 12:1 states we are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices. This passage concerns giving coins (the widow’s two “leptos” in Greek – 21:2; Mark 12:41). However, it can also apply to other offerings.
Jesus was sitting opposite where the offerings were put, which he had done before (John 8:20). Perhaps this would have been unavoidable because the religious leaders had placed many offering wells throughout the temple courts. Most definitely, it was deliberate.
Jesus noticed both the rich and the poor widow’s offerings. He did not mention the large amounts the rich gave (1). He did, however, praise the two copper coins the widow gave. The Greek word can also be translated as “thin”, “small”, and “flake”. Jesus said she gave more than the rich because “she, out of her poverty, gave all she had to live on”.
Offerings are not just supporting the church staff and buildings (Numbers 18:20-32). For Jesus, offerings are a matter of faith and obedience. 2 Corinthians 8:11-12 states, “Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.”
