The Poor Woman's Gift
From the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 12: 41-44 - November 12, 2006
One day, Jesus and his friends went to the Temple in Jerusalem. The Temple was a big, beautiful place where God's people worshiped. They came from many different places. Sometimes they had to travel for many days to get to the Temple. But the long journey was worth it, because the Temple was a very special place. It was a place to feel very close to God.
When people came to the Temple to worship, they brought valuable things with them to give to God. They brought the best fruits and vegetables that they had grown. They brought their most beautiful animals. And they brought money. The people brought these things to God's house in order to show God how thankful they were for all the ways that God had blessed their lives. Giving a gift to God was one way they remembered how generous and loving God was to them.
On this particular day, Jesus and his friends went inside the Temple and sat down near the place where people brought their gifts of money. Jesus and his friends watched people come and go, dropping their money into large covered boxes. Clatter! Clink! Clank! The coins made such a loud noise as they fell into the boxes!
Jesus was glad that people gave money to the Temple. He knew that the money would be used to fix things that got broken in the Temple, or to buy food for people who worked there. But Jesus didn't like the way some people bragged about how much they gave, or why they gave it.
He watched one man dressed in fancy clothes walk up to the collection box. His servant was carrying a large, bright-colored bag full of coins. "Look at me," he said in a loud voice. "See how much money I am giving to God!" He took the bag from his servant, opened it up, and dumped a huge amount of gold coins into the box. Then he walked away, bowing and waving to those who had stopped to watch him.
"I'm giving even more money that that!" said another rich man, dressed in even fancier clothes. He had two servants with him who carried a large chest full of coins. "Look at how much I am giving! I am such a wonderful person. Surely God will like my gift better than all the others!" And he ordered his servants to put his money into the box. Away they went, bowing and waving.
Jesus shook his head.
Then a poor woman came by, all by herself. She wore a plain brown dress. On her head was a tattered scarf. She walked quietly up to the box, reached in her pocket, and took out two small coins that she dropped into the box. Her coins hardly made any noise at all. Then she turned and walked away.
Nobody noticed her - except for Jesus and his friends. He turned to them and said, "That poor woman's gift was bigger than all the others."
Jesus' friends were surprised. "But all she put in was two tiny little coins," they told him.
"I know that," Jesus said. "The rich people did put in more coins - you are right about that! But they only gave some of what they have. They kept the rest for themselves. I bet they still have plenty of money left over to spend on other things. It wasn't hard for them to give because they have so much. They probably won't even miss it! But it was hard for the woman to give. She has so little to start with."
"But ... " his friends started to say.
"When those rich men go home tonight, they will have lots to eat. But the poor woman won't, because she gave all that she had to God."
Questions to ponder:
How do you think Jesus felt watching the people put their gifts into the Temple boxes?
How do you think the rich people felt giving so much money?
I wonder how they decided how much money to put in?
I wonder why the woman was poor?
How do you think she felt giving her money?
I wonder how she decided to give what she did?
How do you think Jesus' friends felt when Jesus told them, "She gave more than all the others"?
I wonder what you could do to show God how thankful you are?