Luke 21:1

Except for the first four verses detailing Luke's account of the widow and her two mites, this whole chapter recounts Jesus' Mount Olivet discourse regarding the destruction of the temple, the destruction of Jerusalem, the Second Coming of Christ, and the end of the world. It is well to keep in view throughout the chapter that the prophecies involve multiple future events and that the distinction of what is meant in every instance is hard to determine.

That such multiple prophecies are indeed commingled here is clear from Matthew 24:3, where three separate questions by the apostles are given as the subject of the discourse. "In this passage the fall of Jerusalem and the end of the age so blend that the features of each cannot be precisely determined."[1]

For an outline of the chapter, the following has been adopted from Spence.Luke 2p. 184.">[2]

1. The episode regarding the widow's mites (Luke 21:1-4)

2. Jesus' prophecy of the temple's destruction, and by inference, the destruction of Jerusalem (Luke 21:5-6)

3. The disciples' request to know the sign and when (Luke 21:7)

4. Apparent signs not to be mistaken for real (Luke 21:8-18)

5. The true sign, with destruction to follow at once (Luke 21:20-24)

6. Signs of the Second Coming and the End (Luke 21:25-27)

7. Practical applications and warnings (Luke 21:28-36)

8. Summary of Jesus' final actions before the Cross (Luke 21:37-38)

This chapter regarding Jesus' prophecies uttered from the slopes of Olivet is paralleled in Matthew 24 and Mark 13. Matthew's account is the fullest; but it is easier to make a separation of the prophecies regarding Jerusalem and those regarding the Second Coming, in the account here.

[1] Donald G. Miller, The Layman's Bible Commentary (Richmond, Virginia: The John Knox Press, 1959), Vol. 18 (Luke), p. 145.

Luke 2p. 184.">[2] H. D. M. Spence, Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1962), Vol. 16, Luke 2p. 184.

THE WIDOW'S TWO MITES

This wonderful story has captured the imagination of every generation, and this woman's sacrificial gift has been the inspiration for countless gifts in all ages since then.

And he looked up and saw the rich men that were casting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw a certain widow casting in thither two mites. And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, This poor widow cast in more than they all: for all these did of their superfluity cast in unto the gifts; but she of her want did cast in all the living that she had. (Luke 21:1-4)

The omniscience of Jesus appears in his knowledge of the financial condition of all the givers, this being another example of the emphasis on this attribute of Jesus on the part of the synoptic writers.

The treasury ... Bliss stated that "The exact position of the treasury is not certainly known";[3] but, following the studies of Lightfoot, most scholars have located it in the Court of the Women, in which were placed "thirteen boxes in the wall, for the reception of the alms of the people."[4] These are called "trumpets" because of the trumpet shape of the metal devices on top of the boxes, flaring out at the bottom and narrowing upward to a small opening at the top where the monies were deposited.

Two mites ... The word for this coin is noted by Barclay thus:

A LEPTON was the smallest of all coins; the name means "the thin one"; it was worth one-sixteenth of a penny; and therefore the offering of the widow was only half a farthing. All she had in the world was two LEPTA.[5]

Plummer revealed that "According to Jewish law at the time, it was not permissible to cast in less than TWO gifts."[6] Thus, this woman's gift was the very smallest legal gift possible!

More than they all ... Jesus commended this gift, making it larger in his sight than all of the other gifts combined, evidently basing such an evaluation upon the following: (1) it manifested trust in God, being all that she had; (2) it was given in harmony with God's laws, even to the point of the Pharisaical rule that it had to be plural (two); (3) it was sacrificial, there being nothing at all left. If God still measures gifts by the rule of what the giver has left, many a handsome gift must appear deficient. Of course, we must believe that God does so evaluate all gifts to his kingdom.

Spence observed that, "As far as we know, Jesus' comment upon the widow's alms was his last word of public teaching."[7]

[3] George R. Bliss, An American Commentary on the New Testament (Valley Forge, Pennsylvania: The Judson Press, n.d.), Vol. II, Luke, p. 299.

[4] H. D. M. Spence, op. cit., p. 182.

[5] William Barclay, The Gospel of Luke (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1953), p. 265.

[6] Alfred Plummer, The Gospel according to Luke (New York: T. and T. Clark, 1929), en loco.

[7] H. D. M. Spence, op. cit., p. 183.