Signs Before the End
and He saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. Luke 21:2 · Berean Standard Bible
Then Jesus sees a poor widow put in two tiny copper coins — practically nothing in monetary value. But Jesus sees something everyone else misses.
Two small coins. In any bank, they're worthless. But Jesus is about to reveal that this is the biggest gift in the whole temple.
Jesus observes what no one else bothers to notice — a poor widow's tiny offering.
She's invisible to everyone else. A poor widow dropping in pocket change while the rich make their impressive donations. But Jesus is watching, and He sees the whole story.
Jesus notices a poor widow (chēran penichran) putting in two small copper coins (duo lepta) — the smallest denomination in circulation, worth about a few minutes' wages combined.
The lepton was the smallest Jewish coin, worth 1/128 of a denarius. Two lepta together constituted practically nothing in monetary terms. Luke's description of her as 'poor' (penichran, used only here in the NT) emphasizes her destitution.
Luke narrates Jesus' observation of a destitute widow's tiny offering.
Amid the parade of wealth, a destitute widow drops in two nearly worthless coins. No one else notices. Jesus notices everything.
1Then Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury,
2and He saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins.
3“Truly I tell you,” He said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.
4For they all contributed out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”
Read all of Luke 21 — A widow drops two coins into the treasury, and Jesus foretells the destruction of the temple. The end is coming, but so is redemption.
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