Welcome to those who are new to the blog. This is a brief reminder before today’s post that our journey this year is to discover “everything Jesus commanded us”, because this is so central to our lives as disciples of Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20). This year, I have already combed through Matthew thoroughly to highlight Jesus’ commands to His disciples (see the past posts). Because Mark covers much of the same material as Matthew, I am now skipping any commands in Mark which we have already covered in Matthew. I trust this explanation makes sense of the way we are currently skimming through Mark.
Right … on we go.
Prayer
Briefly prepare your heart in silence, and ask the Holy Spirit to awaken your sense of anticipation that God is about to speak to you through His Word. Then, before you read, I invite you to pray this prayer based on Psalm 112:4-5
LORD, You have promised that light will dawn for those
who are upright, gracious, compassionate and righteous.
and that good will come to those
who are generous, lend freely, and conduct their affairs with justice.
Please show me how to live like that! Amen
Reading
‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on.’
Mark tells us that many wealthy people “threw” large amounts into the temple treasury (v.41). This “throwing” was a means of boastfully drawing attention to the size of their gifts. In Jesus’ day, the receptacles for the temple offering were positioned in the outer courtyard of the temple. They were trumpet-shaped bronze bowls with a long neck and a rounded base. This was to prevent anyone with “long fingers” from fishing coins out.
So, while it was possible to gently place your coin in the opening and let it slide down the angeled neck into the bowl, it was also possible to throw it into the neck in such as way as to produce a loud clatter. In Mark 12, the wealthy givers were showing off by throwing their many coins in with a great clatter. They were “trumpeting” their generosity.
Everyone would have been very impressed by their “generosity”, and hardly anyone would have noticed the tiny “swoosh” of the widow’s two small coins sliding in gently. But Jesus noticed, and He commended her for being much, much more generous than the wealthy.
I think I see two commands under the surface here.
Firstly, in relation to what others give to the Lord, I perceive a warning never to judge anyone else for the size of their offering. Only they and the Lord know whether they are being sacrificially generous or merely giving a very comfortable amount. And its only between them and the Lord. So stop judging.
Secondly, in relation to our own giving: Jesus’ disciples should have a different metric for our own giving to the King and His Kingdom. Generosity is not measured by how much we give. It is measured by how much we hold back for ourselves by comparison. Generosity is determined purely in proportion to our means. And true generosity is not given in such a way as to gain attention or approval for ourselves. After all, then we are gaining from our giving and it is selfish. Our Lord expects us to give secretly, joyfully and sacrificially to the Kingdom’s cause.
Contemplation
Please take time to ponder what Jesus has commanded us. Turn these declarations over and over in your mind. Keep them in mind throughout the day and live in step with Your King, Jesus.
As a disciple of Jesus Christ:
- I will not judge anyone else’s generosity. That’s not my business.
- I will give to the King and His Kingdom with secret, joyful, sacrificial generosity.
LORD, help me to live in joyful and sacrificial generosity,
to lend freely, and to conduct my affairs with justice. Amen.
Dave's Diary 
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