A Searching Light

"And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.” Luke 21:1-4 NKJV

This is an unusual story of our Lord Jesus Christ. It reveals a great truth which reveals what is really going on in the kingdom of heaven. We would have never been known the truth unless it wasn't told. The Bible is not necessarily written in chronological order, though it is in part. All Scripture is inspired by the Holy God and good for teaching, reproach, correction, and instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:17).

The theme of this story is not money but motive in heart. God is Spirit, so He knows where our hearts are (John 4:24). The clue to understand this is given before and after the story. In the previous chapter of Luke's Gospel, Jesus warned the scribes who wanted to gain honor and respect from men. Right after it, the author of the gospel, Dr. Luke, put the teachings of the Lord Jesus on the signs of end times, dreadful and perilous times. In between the warning and the teachings on the end times, Luke puts this tiny story of our Lord Jesus.

God is not in want of any materials that we may bring. All are His. So, no matter how much the rich put into the treasury on a Sabbath morning, it didn't impress Jesus at all. But there was one who drew our Lord's attention so powerfully, a poor widow who put two mites. Widow in the scriptures is the symbol of poverty. What she had all offered God out of her poverty. It's far from the truth if we think that she didn't concern tomorrow. She did concern of her well-being. She understood what it meant to offer two mites.

It isn't too difficult to imagine how the two put  money into the treasury. Obviously, the rich was proud of putting a pretty big amount as Jesus described in the previous chapter. It was quite a social norm for the rich that they were paid attention by the crowd and put the money. Whereas, the poor widow was not adequate, feeble, and trembling as all she had was little. 

Dr. Luke recorded another story Jesus told that two men came to pray -- one Pharisee and one tax collector (Luke 18:9-14). In that story of our Lord Jesus, the Pharisee stood in the midst of people and looked toward into heaven with two arms stretched and prayed arrogantly with himself, not with God. Whereas, the tax collector couldn't even raise his eyes to heaven, standing afar off and beating his breast, and cried out for mercy, "God, be merciful to me a sinner!" Our Lord Jesus added a comment on this, "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 18:14)

Do you see the point? God searches for the poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3). Those who have reached to the point of bankruptcy in spirit are the poor. Paul reached to the spiritual bankruptcy, saying "What a wretched man I am!" (Romans 7:24) We shall not pretend what we aren't. What God is after is a broken and contrite heart, not the sacrifice of burnt offering. "For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;You do not delight in burnt offering.The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise." (Psalm 51:16-17 NKJV) When we are poor in spirit, we shall be found by God. Jesus says, "Blessed are poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:3 NKJV)

God is interested in our attitude and motive as much as deeds through faith. No one has ever seen God who is invisible (1 John 4:12). But He is real and searches where our hearts are with the mighty searching light, the word of God. So, we fear the Lord with respect and honor and humbly ask for His mercy. A wise man says, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all." (Ecclesiastes 12:13 NKJV)