Episode 121: The Widow's Two Mites

This episode explores a pretty powerful and fitting end to the way Jesus has interacted with the religious leaders around him, offering a very big exclamation mark on all that has been recently covered. I have sought to offer a balance of thought and hope you're able to see this here. Some modern writers seek to point out the face value story of a widow's faith in a way that appears to ignore the surrounding context. I do think there is value in considering the faith of this lady, and the example she becomes because of the way Jesus points her out. But doing this ends up reducing the point to the subject of far too many modern offering talks! There are others who point out the culture of hypocrisy all around her, and that context certainly matters. The leaders around her most certainly 'devoured widow's houses.' This episode gives considerable attention to this idea also. But this view can highlight the apparent victim status of the widow - she is seen as being coerced into giving in order to religiously fit in. While I agree she should be more a recipient of the temple treasury than a contributor to it, there is also a clear element of faith and pure devotion in play that cannot be ignored. So, I've kept all that in mind while making this episode, and I hope I do the passage justice!