Upside-Down Christmas: Luke 21

Luke 21

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It wasn’t uncommon to see someone making a spectacle at the offering box. Maybe it was a ring with a jewel—very valuable—and they’d tell of how it had been in their family for generations, but that now it was being given to the Lord and to his temple. And maybe they were sincere; but many of them were just doing it for show. They wanted to be in the spot light. They wanted not to just be generous but to have a reputation of generosity. Many donors—it was less about the donation or even the Lord, and much more about them. They wanted glory in front of their fellow man.

Welcome back to the Upside-Down Christmas podcast, our Advent series where we’re looking at how Jesus turns things upside down. And this week, we’re looking at Luke 21.

Now, at this time in the life and ministry of Jesus, he’s in Jerusalem, and his habit was to go to the temple—the central religious fixture—and to teach. And as he’s there, he’s observing people putting money into the donation box, no doubt many who were rich and made a boast of their offering. But Jesus zeroes in on one woman in particular, a poor widow.

Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts in to 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.” (Luke 21:1-4)

And I love that because Jesus is pointing out that the amount that’s given is less significant than the sacrifice that’s made, and that sacrifice is relative to the person. You see, widows were often poor because they didn’t have a man to look after them. And that’s not a sexist comment—like women are incapable; no, it’s that, in that society, women were not free to participate in the economy the way that men would have been; it just wasn’t done. And so widows, especially if they had no sons, would have been at the mercy of the community around them. And that meant that they often ended up poor. That’s why her contribution—something like two pennies—was worth so much in the eyes of Jesus. It was all she had.

And that demonstrates love and faith, doesn’t it? Love for God to give to his temple. And also faith that somehow you will be taken care of even as you give away the last of what you have.

But more to our point, I love that Jesus praises her in front of everyone. She and her contribution—they both would have been easy to ignore. We tend to marvel at the big gifts with lots of zeroes. But Jesus commends this woman publicly for her great act. (By they way, how many do you think decided they would make big donations on that day because Jesus was sitting there? Just wondering.) Anyways, he exalts this lowly woman and holds her up as an example of what faithfulness looks like.

The one who is low becomes exalted; and the exalted ones are brought low. The humble is elevated while the proud are brought down from their pedestals. The ignored are foregrounded while the ones who seek the spotlight are moved into the background. It’s all upside down.

Lord, we humble ourselves before you because we know that you exalt the humble and you reject the proud. We don’t want to be proud before you, Lord. Please forgive us for the ways that we have sought the accolades of men rather than God. Teach us to pursue your glory rather than our own, for we are your servants. And teach us to give sacrificially, entrusting all that we have to you. Amen.

Family Devotionals:

Read Luke 21: 1-4

We learn here that God cares more about the heart behind our giving (all we have) than the amount. 

Often times back in Jesus’ day rich people would make a big show about their offering; it made them feel important and it made them look important too. Rich people gave lots of coins, but it was really only a little of a lot. However, a poor widow gave just two tiny coins—a lot from a little. Jesus said she gave the most because she gave all she had.

What does it mean to give?

What things do you give away?

How can we give our all in other ways?