PROPER 27 (32) – Year B
25th Sunday after Pentecost — November 10, 2024
Gospel Lectionary Text
Mark 12:38-44
12:38 As he taught, he said, "Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces
12:39 and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets!
12:40 They devour widows' houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation."
12:41 He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums.
12:42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny.
12:43 Then he called his disciples and said to them, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.
12:44 For all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on."
CONTEXT
Welcome to the 25th Sunday after Pentecost. This week, we find Jesus teaching in the temple, watching a poor widow placing her last coins into the offering. It’s tempting to celebrate her generosity — we should all give like she does! But what if her gift is actually a sign of fraud, not faith? Not hers, but the broken spirit of the religious institution. After all, Jesus rebukes the performative and predatory nature of religious leaders who "devour widows' houses."
And then, as if it were a living parable, Jesus sits across from the temple treasury, watching the rich and self-righteous juxtaposed with the lowly widow. She gave “everything she had” — death by donation. The system that was supposed to protect her, preyed upon her.
It’s easy to get lost admiring the widow’s faith (which is all the more heartbreaking for being genuine) and miss the fraud of the system itself. The disciples did. In fact, by the next chapter, they seem to have forgotten about her altogether. Her poverty should have been seen as a sign of the system’s failure; her self-sacrifice, a sign of its predatory transformation.
Instead, they’re captivated by the temple’s grandeur, still unable to see that the building meant to house God’s presence is actually crushing those for whom it exists. Jesus foreshadows the temple's impending collapse, a sign that God will not uphold any institution that holds others down — not even His own.
Question
What keeps us from recognizing when we are part of something — designed for good, whether religious or secular, conservative or liberal — that sacrifices people instead of serving them?
Prayer
Come, Holy Spirit, wild and free. Do as you please. Shine your light on me that I might see things as they are, not as I am. Free me to act in your name with courage, creativity, and compassion. See the complete prayer
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"Did you see the offering of the widow?" Jesus asks his disciples. "In case you think that the warning I just made about the scribes is unwarranted, this woman has just deposited all she had into an offering used to maintain the very oppressive system that has devoured her house in order to build another."...
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