Reflection on Luke 21:1-4: Jesus and Bad Mathematics?

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Monday, November 23, 2020

Jesus said, “I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood.”

Those who counted the treasury money will sharply disagree with Jesus. How can someone who put in two cents in the collection box be said to have given more than those who put in $1000, $2000, and $5000? By human calculation and judgement, it is simply a bad mathematics. But as God himself says, “...My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways” (Isaiah 55:8). After the wealthy had given a fraction of what they had to the temple, they still remained wealthy. The amount of money they donated for the upkeep of the temple didn’t dent their wealth. Remember the chief tax collector named Zacchaeus who promised to give half of his wealth to the poor after he encountered Jesus? While we commend him for his virtue of restitution, the truth is that he remained wealthy even after he gave half of his possession to the poor. If Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet, Bill Gates etc decide to give half their wealth to the poor, they will still be rich and super-wealthy. Half of their possessions to the poor will not affect they way they live. They will still be among the wealthiest people in the world. 

Jesus praised the poor widow and considered her offering as having more value than those who donated more money. Why? The rich gave from their excess abundance that never affected them in any way, but from her deficiency, insufficiency and abject lack, the widow gave everything she had. She offered her whole livelihood. The word “livelihood” means “life” and by extension the means of sustaining it. The widow could have kept one coin to herself, but she put in all the means that she had to live on. She put in her entire livelihood, while the rest gave their leftovers. 

Now, it will be a mistake to reduce this gospel only to mere giving and donation of money to the church. It will be a mistake and and a sin too to use this money to exploit the people. Although the story is about giving money to the church, but it is much more than that. Jesus said the poor widow gave “her whole livelihood.” Like I said before, livelihood literally means “life” and the means of sustaining life. That’s what the poor widow offered in the temple. She gave her entire life and the means of sustaining her life to God. She placed it all into the loving hands of God. She believed and trusted that God will provide— Jehovah- Jireh (the Lord provides). Everyday you wake up, practice the act of trusting and commending into God’s hands your very life and the means by which you sustain it. 

God bless you!