Sometimes, people get forgotten.
Jerusalem was a company town. The Temple was not only a religious institution – but it was also an economic one, as well.
The Temple employed hundreds of employees, if not thousands, during the high holidays.
A lot of people do not know that the Temple served as a central bank and as a treasury for the nation.
Temple priests and scribes tended to live high on the hog, as it were.
It is “a known fact” that the priests and scribes received a cut from every Temple sacrifice. And sometimes, those sacrifices went on – around the clock.
The priests and the scribes were also the beneficiaries of a five-shekel tax on every first-born child. Several other offerings – or better yet (Temple Taxes) brought in even greater wealth…for them.
So much so – that many priests actually got into the business of “lending money.” They could also “foreclose” on a property if the debt was not paid. This was often the case with widows.
For the record, commercial activity had been actually going on in the Temple for “a very long time.” It was nothing new. It shocked or surprised no one!
The “money changers” conducted their business on behalf of wealthy Jerusalem families. That was true of many of those who sold animals for sacrifice, as well.
“Exorbitant rates of exchange” were to be expected. Common currency, foreign currency was not acceptable in the Temple. The Temple had become a “den of thieves.”
Whenever Jesus would challenge the chief priests, the scribes, the elders, the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Herodian’s…he always did so “to the great delight” of the crowds. They loved it and encouraged him.
The treasury itself was located in the Court of the Women. It consisted of 13 flute shaped chests into which people threw their offerings…
It was an “open procedure” … donors would state publicly the amount of their gift and the purpose for which they were giving it.
That “this system” – would generate some “showing off” would not at all be surprising. Some people made big productions out of dropping off their gifts.
So as Jesus and his disciples sat opposite the treasury they could observe easily the comings and goings of many, many people.
Jesus simply drew a contrast between the “many rich” who were throwing in much – and “the one-poor-beggar-woman-who-happened to be- a-widow…who threw in very little.”
Remember, their giving (unlike our own) was verbally announced. These individuals were quite literally flinging, tossing or throwing their money and announcing it as it is goes into the fluted chest.
Jesus and the twelve are for whatever reason – watching closely how the Temple takes advantage of “others” – especially the poor and the needy!
Jesus’ comment (and that’s all it really was) is that, “all threw out of their abundance, but she threw” out of her dire-poverty. She gave her all. She gave everything she had. She quite literally threw in – all of her life.
But the point here is not her “giving,” but rather “HOW” the Temple continues to take advantage of people even in their poverty. It is a matter of “exploitation.”
It is a matter of “using people.” The behavior of the Temple is “offensive.” Obviously, the system has gone awry.
Perhaps Jesus was remembering the timeless words of Isaiah. Isaiah wrote, “Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not defend the orphan, and the widow’s cause – does not come back before them.”
Is it any wonder that Jesus attempted to disrupt the buying and the selling in the Temple proper?
The widow’s offering is certainly in keeping with the various Temple obligations. She is doing pretty much what the law required.
The point is – she is being bankrupted by religiously sanctioned regulations…and “that” (for Jesus) this is not ok. It is wrong.
Israel as a nation, as a people are to care for the poor, the widow, the orphan and for the resident alien. And here, the Temple is abusing them.
Jesus could not take it – any more!
Sometimes we lose our way – and it becomes about the money instead of being about the people. Jesus had it right, along!