A Widow Devoured

Luke 21:1-4 | Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."

This story is undoubtedly familiar to you. As young as I can remember, I have been encouraged by church leaders to be like the widow who gave her last two mites. Her sacrificial giving and trust in the Lord’s provision is a saint-like example to follow. Leaders often add it’s not the size of the gift that matters, but the heart behind it. And though men and women may not notice such a small gift, the Lord sees all.

Simply put, I’ve been taught this is a story of celebration. It’s a story with a hero, the widow, and how we are to follow her example.

Should you give generously and sacrificially? Yes, that’s biblical (cf 2 Cor 8). But to come to this passage to defend that idea undermines the tragedy that is happening here.

The widow giving her last two mites is not about sacrificial giving. This is a story of how an institution has failed to care for a person God had given explicit instructions to care for.

This is no celebratory moment. This is a story of spiritual exploitation.

•••

He had probably grown accustomed to the murmurs, the anticipation, and even the expectations of His ministry. He undoubtedly knew His people were hoping for a conqueror. After all, they were truly an oppressed people.

So when Jesus shows back up in Galilee, after His baptism and wilderness temptation, you can sense in the pages of Scripture the excitement building as the whispers of His teachings spread throughout the countryside and synagogues (Luke 4:14-15).

The early fever pitch hits a critical crescendo moment in His hometown of Nazareth as He shows up in synagogue and is handed the scroll of Isaiah.

What will His first message be? What direction will His ministry take? What will He come to do for His people? How will He respond to their oppression?

You know the story. Jesus grabs the scroll. Finds what we now refer to as Isaiah 61 and reads “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor … to set at liberty those who are oppressed” (emphasis added, Luke 4:18-19).

The first recorded mission of His public ministry: To proclaim good news to the poor.

•••

Fast forward approximately three years and the oppression Jesus was coming to conquer starts to come into focus (at least for those with the benefit of hindsight). His people were truly oppressed. But the oppression had infiltrated their world more than they realized. The problem wasn’t just “out there” with Rome. It was internal. The Temple leadership was oppressing its very own. The household of God was taking captives from inside the nation of Israel.

[Important aside: To be abundantly clear, the problem of man’s ultimate oppression starts with their own proclivity to sin and the oppression of the soul that ensues. This was ultimately the oppression Jesus was coming to set all people free from.]

Up until now, God’s plan had been for Israel’s spiritual leadership to lead the nation toward spiritual health. They were the ones to shepherd the flock, to care for the oppressed and to defend (not exploit) the widow and the orphan (Ex 22:22-24, Is 1:17).

For God has always had a special eye on those in poor, weakened, fragile positions.

Yet sadly, Israel’s spiritual leadership had a propensity to feast on the weak not specially protect them. This failure of shepherding results in deep warnings from several different prophets. None more clear than Ezekiel’s warning:

“Ah, shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? … The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them … Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I am against the shepherds” (Ezek 34:2,4,10).”

•••

Returning to the grounds of the Temple and before Jesus’ gaze picks up the widow’s two mite offering, Jesus is in the middle of an Ezekiel 34-esque condemnation of the nation’s spiritual leadership. “Beware of the scribes who like their long robes, their special greetings, the best seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at feasts” (Lk 20:46 paraphrased). In short, the current shepherds of Israel have been feeding themselves just like Ezekiel had warned against.

And how had they done so? The passage continues … by “devour[ing] widows’ houses.” Israel’s shepherds were cheating the vulnerable and oppressed out of their property and resources to prop up their own rich extravagance. Instead of showing special care for widows, they exploited and bled them dry.

So what happens next in the middle of Jesus’s condemnation?

Proof.

For in the next verse (Lk 21:1, after a very unfortunate chapter break), Jesus eyes a widow with nothing left but two mites. And in her effort to be a part of a communal system that was designed to care for her, she hands over her last resources probably on the heavy pretense from her leaders this would please God and bring her salvation and blessing.

BUT, make no mistake. We are not watching a widow make a sacrificial, exemplary gift worthy of imitation. We are watching a widow be devoured by a system, by an institution and by leaders claiming to represent the Lord’s heart.

Jesus doesn’t celebrate the gift. He just remarks she gave all she had to live on. He is making a factual observation about her situation.

And while everyone else around Him marvels at the Temple and its stones and the offerings taking place (21:5), Jesus foretells of its doom (21:6).

Jesus and His kingdom is not glorified by a corrupt system getting rich off the impoverished, by bleeding people dry and then likely casting them out of the community when they have nothing more to give. May it never be!

Jesus came to proclaim good news to the poor, not bankrupt them.

•••

Fast forward approximately 2,000 years and there are similar lessons for us to learn from this story. Let me say clearly: many pastors and churches genuinely care for their people and labor faithfully to shepherd well. Praise God! Yet the patterns Jesus condemned in His day can still surface in ours. And it deserves sober attention.

It’s ironic to me this passage is used by so many institutions (read ‘churches’) today to teach about sacrificial giving, when in reality it was originally a warning and condemnation to the Temple institution. If not properly taught and considered, the subtle call to a church congregation is to give everything you have for the sake of the institution. And further, the implication is if you are giving to the institution, you are giving to the Lord and furthering His glory.

As I reflect deeper upon this passage, I think I’ve watched this story play out again and again where I’ve attended church. I’ve watched some people give and give (time, talent, and treasure) in an effort to please church leadership and catch their eye so they might feel a sense of special belonging. And yet, when their time of true spiritual need came – when burnout or confusion or disillusionment or disorientation set in – they were discarded cheaply into the night for they had nothing left to offer and had only become a burden to the institution’s leadership.

I’ve even seen crowds praise their institutions, marveling at “how it was adorned” (Lk 21:5) completely oblivious (or maybe intentionally ignorant) it has come at the expense of the utter exploitation of their fellow sheep.

Over the past few years, I’ve sat with so many friends, new and old, who have been proverbially “chewed up and spit out” by their local churches. Their stories are each unique, but the place they land is all too familiar and deeply soul-crushing. It will make the calmest of us begin to rage.

But instead of raging, let’s turn our eyes to see what God does next.

•••

We don’t know how our Luke 21 widow fared after this moment. But I’m convinced Jesus specially cared for her. God is a defender of such people (Psalm 68:5). In fact, after God’s condemnation of the shepherds of Israel in Ezekiel 34, He pivots to a beautiful, gospel promise, “I myself will search for my sheep” (Ezekiel 34:11). I doubt she left the Temple grounds that day empty-handed left to fend for herself. I’m convinced Jesus sought her out.

In fact, I wouldn’t be the least surprised if this widow even became a bedrock figure in the formation of the early church.

Thankfully Jesus sees far deeper than man does. For even if an institution is exploitative, Jesus sees the heart within those who give all they have. Regardless of how the gift is sometimes misused, I do believe so many give and give of themselves because of their love for Jesus. They have trusted in His gospel grace which has canceled the debts of their poor souls (Col 2:14). And so they gladly would spend and be spent for Jesus and the sake of the salvation of others (2 Cor 12:15).

God has His eyes on such people. He searches them out.

•••

I believe there continues to be a reckoning in the American evangelical church today. Make no mistake, it is no coincidence there is a rising number of moral failures, leadership crises, and disoriented sheep. For far too long, many evangelical churches have sought to prop up the institution at the expense and exploitation of their sheep (granted, unintentionally in many cases).

But I’m equally convinced those disoriented sheep won’t walk away empty-handed.

And I wouldn’t be surprised if they are the foundation stones of God’s next great work in their communities.