What does the Widow’s Offering really teach us?

mcarans said:

I present some interpretations of the well known widow's offering story:

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go on then, present what you have to say.

mcarans said:

It's in the link.

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Where posters won't say what they are interested in I won't follow a link.

From the linked web page:

The story isn't informing those who have little to give everything they have, it is speaking to those who have plenty urging them to do much much more.

I agree.

W2L said:

From the linked web page:

The story isn't informing those who have little to give everything they have, it is speaking to those who have plenty urging them to do much much more.

I agree.

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I don't. The article is peddling a narrative that is not there. From the linked page just prior to the sentence you quoted.

"I see parallels to the earlier Mark 10 story in which Jesus tells a young wealthy man to sell all his possessions to gain eternal life, a story that is sadly often watered down by "clever" interpretations. The focus on the heroic altruism of the widow removes the spotlight from the rich who aren't pulling their weight."

I agree with the author that there is a parallel between the two incidents. The widow gives all she has without being asked and the rich man is told to do so but walks away. Nowhere does Jesus say that only the rich man ought to give everything or that if the rich man would have given something less than everything in order to "pull his weight" that would have ben sufficient. So I would say the parallel is demonstrating to us that only complete commitment is acceptable and what resources one has is irrelevant to that particular point . The point where the amount of resources one has becomes relevant is the point at which one finds the possession of those resources takes precedence over a commitment to Christ so that one will walk away from Christ in order to keep them.

grasping the after wind said:

I don't. The article is peddling a narrative that is not there. From the linked page just prior to the sentence you quoted.

"I see parallels to the earlier Mark 10 story in which Jesus tells a young wealthy man to sell all his possessions to gain eternal life, a story that is sadly often watered down by "clever" interpretations. The focus on the heroic altruism of the widow removes the spotlight from the rich who aren't pulling their weight."

I agree with the author that there is a parallel between the two incidents. The widow gives all she has without being asked and the rich man is told to do so but walks away. Nowhere does Jesus say that only the rich man ought to give everything or that if the rich man would have given something less than everything in order to "pull his weight" that would have ben sufficient. So I would say the parallel is demonstrating to us that only complete commitment is acceptable and what resources one has is irrelevant to that particular point . The point where the amount of resources one has becomes relevant is the point at which one finds the possession of those resources takes precedence over a commitment to Christ so that one will walk away from Christ in order to keep them.

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Right before this story we see Jesus talking about the pharisees who devoured widows homes. This reminds me of a story i saw about an old lady who gave all she had to a famous TV preacher. She did this hoping to be healed. She was never healed and died.

W2L said:

Right before this story we see Jesus talking about the pharisees who devoured widows homes. This reminds me of a story i saw about an old lady who gave all she had to a famous TV preacher. She did this hoping to be healed. She was never healed and died.

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Sad story. That is a story of a woman who misunderstands what commitment to Christ is about being conned by a person that doesn't care what commitment to Christ is about. Jesus often uses money and material assets when making a point about something other than money. If we think he is only making a point about money then we are very much mistaken. I've been told that Jesus talks about money more than anything else but when I have looked at the times he talks about money , he seems to be making a point about something else entirely and using money as an analogy to drive the point home in a way that one would hope those he is speaking to( which includes all of us) will understand.

grasping the after wind said:

Sad story. That is a story of a woman who misunderstands what commitment to Christ is about being conned by a person that doesn't care what commitment to Christ is about. Jesus often uses money and material assets when making a point about something other than money. If we think he is only making a point about money then we are very much mistaken. I've been told that Jesus talks about money more than anything else but when I have looked at the times he talks about money , he seems to be making a point about something else entirely and using money as an analogy to drive the point home in a way that one would hope those he is speaking to( which includes all of us) will understand.

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What point is Jesus trying to make if its not about money?

We had some talk about this in bible study last week. Apparently our pastor had done a research paper on this in Seminary....

And without making a big boring thesis of it....

Apparently there was some sort of a “You must give to receive” theology being practiced/taught at the time. Much like some of the ideas going around today that tithing and offering puts God into debt to you.. Sort of like a Heavenly Lottery.

And so poor people were being encouraged to contribute everything they had to offerings in the hopes of God richly blessing them with a windfall as a scheme towards raising more offerings.

His take was that Jesus statement was not a commendation - notice Jesus says nothing good and makes no mention about her being blessed.. Rather expressing shock and dismay that the religious establishment was more interested in her cash value to them than they were with helping her in that they were only interested in trying to steal even the little that God had provided to her.

W2L said:

What point is Jesus trying to make if its not about money?

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Its about commitment. The widow commits totally. The rich young man is willing to commit only up to a point. What they are seen to commit in the stories is their money but the commitment is not meant to be only about money but about everything one possesses. To say the widow 's commitment of everything would be anywhere like the same thing as the rich young man's "pulling his weight" misses the point. The rich young man is not told to pull his weight, he is told to sell everything. So the lesson for us is not to give more money( pull our weight) to some clergy person or to the denominational structure of some organized church body , it is to give everything to Christ. The rich young man is not told to give to the Temple (which is what the widow does) in order to pull his weight, he is told to give the money to the poor. Is he told to do that for the sake of the poor? No, he is told to do that for his own sake. The widow is giving all with the idea of doing it for the sake of the Temple not to gain salvation for herself. The parallel breaks down if one makes it only about money. It breaks down further if one tries to make it about what the money will be used for. The parallel only seems apt if one sees it as the characterization of opposite reactions to the same challenge of total commitment.

JohnC2 said:

We had some talk about this in bible study last week. Apparently our pastor had done a research paper on this in Seminary....

And without making a big boring thesis of it....

Apparently there was some sort of a “You must give to receive” theology being practiced/taught at the time. Much like some of the ideas going around today that tithing and offering puts God into debt to you.. Sort of like a Heavenly Lottery.

And so poor people were being encouraged to contribute everything they had to offerings in the hopes of God richly blessing them with a windfall as a scheme towards raising more offerings.

His take was that Jesus statement was not a commendation - notice Jesus says nothing good and makes no mention about her being blessed.. Rather expressing shock and dismay that the religious establishment was more interested in her cash value to them than they were with helping her in that they were only interested in trying to steal even the little that God had provided to her.

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Listen to this teacher. He says that harvest responds to seed, not prayer. This of course seems to contradict scripture. Jesus says to pray for our daily bread. Paul says to be anxious about nothing but in all things by prayer present our requests to God. But this man says no, you gotta pay first.

We have to take our mind off of money and material wealth, to see the meaning of these stories. It doesnt matter what you give, if it is not everything you have. What you have constitutes everything you came into the world with.....and everything you will leave with. We are too busy worrying about the material and the continue to ignore and therefore, keep a firm grasp on the only thing we own....the thing God desires that we give.....

mcarans said:

I present some interpretations of the well known widow's offering story.

The well known passage seems to have a simple message - that the widow shows full and complete devotion to God and we should too. That's certainly a true and positive message, but downplays other truths that this story reveals. Read more here:

What does the Widow’s Offering really teach us?

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To have Faith that The Lord will provide. Despite all circumstances, He will provide, for He knows what we need, even before we ask. I could fill many books of Him doing just that, me, a poor man and yet Rich.

If it was about the widow’s being “Fully committed” then why didn’t Jesus commend her or offer her blessing for doing this. He was able to get the temple tax out of a fish Peter caught - so it’s not like Jesus was without blessings to offer... Yet it stands out that there is no blessing or consideration offered to that widow....

Notice that in the Mark account Jesus blasts the religious leadership for consuming widows houses for their own gain one sentence prior to this account. (Mark 12)

Notice that in the Luke account - the next sentence Jesus proclaims the coming complete and total destruction of the temple. (Luke 21)

It sure feels like this is part of Jesus testimony and witness against the religious establishment - that they were only concerned about getting rich off the backs of everyone else...

Guys, you got to read what is in the link.

The message is all about putting your rmoney where it belongs.

RaymondG said:

We have to take our mind off of money and material wealth, to see the meaning of these stories. It doesnt matter what you give, if it is not everything you have. What you have constitutes everything you came into the world with.....and everything you will leave with. We are too busy worrying about the material and the continue to ignore and therefore, keep a firm grasp on the only thing we own....the thing God desires that we give.....

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I agree. The parable of talents has much to bear on Jesus' point in this text.

timewerx said:

Guys, you got to read what is in the link.

The message is all about putting your rmoney where it belongs.

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The OP'er message in about money, not the Scripture.......

And it is a little puzzling that they have us click a link to read 3 paragraphs which could have easily been pasted into the OP.....maybe the message is concerning money and site hits.

JohnC2 said:

If it was about the widow’s being “Fully committed” then why didn’t Jesus commend her or offer her blessing for doing this. He was able to get the temple tax out of a fish Peter caught - so it’s not like Jesus was without blessings to offer... Yet it stands out that there is no blessing or consideration offered to that widow....

Notice that in the Mark account Jesus blasts the religious leadership for consuming widows houses for their own gain one sentence prior to this account. (Mark 12)

Notice that in the Luke account - the next sentence Jesus proclaims the coming complete and total destruction of the temple. (Luke 21)

It sure feels like this is part of Jesus testimony and witness against the religious establishment - that they were only concerned about getting rich off the backs of everyone else...

Click to expand...

Jesus is very adept at the use of language to convey messages. He can even
deal with more than one point at a time.