From the Lectionary for 10 November 2024 (Proper 27B)

Mark 12:38-44 (NRSV)

As he taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

~

"More sermons than not this Sunday, I suspect, will... use a rather uncritical equation of Temple=church to say that Jesus wants us to give more money to the church, trusting that God will take care of us if only we have the courage to pledge more.

"There's one problem with this reading. Actually, I have to amend that. There are MYRIAD problems with this reading, but let's start with the biggest one: Where do you see any suggestion at all in the text that Jesus thinks it's a wonderful thing that this poor widow put her last two coppers - all she had to live on - in the Temple treasury, going away destitute?

"It just isn't there. If anything, the text suggests the opposite. The passage starts with Jesus warning his followers to beware of those who like to walk around in long robes, receive the seats of honor, put on a good show of prayers, and DEVOUR WIDOWS' HOUSES. That last bit is particularly important because of what follows: Jesus watches a bunch of guys in long robes take a widow's last two coins - all she has to live on.

"Then Jesus says something. What he says boils down to “and just in case you thought I was making stuff up on that point, check out this woman - she just put literally her last cent, all she had to live on, in the treasury to maintain this lovely building.”"

- Sarah Dylan Breuer, Proper 27B, of “Dylan’s Lectionary Blog.” (https://www.sarahlaughed.net/.../11/proper_27_year_.html)

~

"This pericope [of "The Widow's Offering"] is an example of the rapacity [of the scribes] described in 12:40. The docile contributions of the crowd show that it and the temple are in league. Then Jesus singles out one person from the crowd, a poor widow who gave her whole life (holon ton bion autes, 12:44). She is swallowed up by the temple and its supporting crowd. She is a scapegoat figure.

"This text is usually read as a moral comment on the relatively greater importance of intention compared to action. Because of the total commitment of the gift, it is worth more than all the other gifts that cost their givers less. But we are left wondering about the fate of the widow, now that she has given her all to the system. How will she live? Is this sort of prodigality really being commended, or are we being shown an example of why [in verse 37] the crowd heard with gladness the announcement of the end of the system? We think that the latter message is the more likely, even though the crowd does not understand how the system depends on its complicity. Despite its complicity, the crowd understands the scapegoating method of the temple system.

"This story picks up the theme with which the section on the temple began, the theme of the faith of the individual over and against the barren system (11:22-25), and shows how the demands of the system make the life of the individual difficult if not impossible. It tells us that the intention of the individual, misguided and betrayed as it is, is nevertheless worth more than all the crowd’s participation in this oppression, and it presents the culminating indictment of the system as it prepares for the climactic announcement of its destruction."

- Robert Hamerton-Kelly, The Gospel and the Sacred, pp.33-34

~

"Now, [Jesus] doesn't say that [the widow is] being meritorious, it doesn't say that she's getting something [of] value for this. In fact, and this is a reading which I strongly urge you to suggest, [Jesus] says this with a certain sadness. It takes nothing away from her goodness, but what on earth is this poor woman doing contributing to this thing which is about to be swept away, which is about to go out of existence? She's wasting her money. It doesn't at all stop her from having a beautiful heart. The future disciple of Jesus will be like her in giving away, but not to the Temple built with hands [cf. Hebrews 9:24] [but] giving away to others.

"And that will be the form of blessedness that's going on, which is why the Church gives us the reading from Elijah today [(1 Kings 17:10-16)], with Elijah receiving the very little that the widow of Zarephath had to give him, not keeping the temple going but recognizing a prophet and receiving a prophet's reward. That's going to be the shape going forward of how we contribute to the [true] Temple, out of our nothing, we contribute and we will be given what enables us to survive.

"But once again, what's going on here is the Temple - how it's going to be destroyed, how all this contribution to it is worthless. There's an amazing indifference by Jesus to this at this stage. He's already said it's over, he's not angry with it. He's just looking in amazement as sees both pointless goodness given out of abundance from those who are keeping the thing going, and maybe getting 'brownie points' as you hear the big clunking of their coins as they go in, but also of the genuine devotion and generosity of someone who is giving all that she has, which is the sign of what it's going to be like when there is no temple."

- James Alison, from "Homily for Sunday 32 in Ordinary Time 2021" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3MNoa3yAmM)

[Source of Robert Hamerton-Kelly quote and link to Sarah Dylan Breuer blog, and for analysis and discussion on all this week's lectionary texts: https://girardianlectionary.net/reflections/year-b/proper27b/]