The failure of interpretation—an erroneous example for discipleship

In His teaching He was saying: “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.” And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on” (Mark 12:38–44).
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 There is some irony to the two typical reactions (that is, the two interpretations) to the story, which I call the poor widow vs. duplicitous scribes episode: one holds it up as an example of faithful devotion and sacrificial giving, while the other sees judgment, lament, and tragedy. Everything about this short story, in Mark 12, suggests that the widow is being taken advantage of by a temple leadership that does not have her best interests in mind. Although it might be advantageous for churches and Christian ministries to see the poor widow as an example of sacrificial giving, this interpretation, however, turns the text 180 degrees contrary to its context and is disconnected from the plot Mark has developed through his Gospel narrative. This leads to a failure of interpretation that distracts the Christian community from developing biblically authoritative and analogous application from this text.
 
This episode fits within Mark’s paradigm for Christian discipleship; but, what does it require of the Christian community? How does it inform the Christian call to discipleship? Is the widow the focal point, or is the failure of temple leadership the crux of the story that should form the church’s understanding of discipleship? Mark does draw a narrative correspondence between the widow giving her whole life [my translation for holon ton bion autēs, 12: 44c] and Jesus’ imminent sacrifice, the giving of his own life. Some take this to mean that “we, too, should give our lives and resources sacrificially like the widow and Jesus.”
 
No!
 
This is an inappropriate analogy and is an ill-fitted correspondence to the text and its context. While the link to Jesus is certainly there in the Gospel story, the larger issue is the burden that was improperly, even maliciously, laid on the poor widow by the temple establishment—the poor widow should not have had to give her whole life (v. 44c). This is the point here: as God’s representatives, the scribes and, as well, the whole of temple leadership should have been her advocates, not the cause of her destitution. The link to Jesus is simply that he will step up to be her advocate and will give his life on her behalf.

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Furthermore, interpretation of this scene should not be dependent on the inner disposition of the widow. Addison Wright insightfully points out that the “inner disposition and outward bearing of the widow are not described or hinted at in the text” and in the end “there is no praise of the widow in the passage and no invitation to imitate her, precisely because she ought not to be imitated.” We do not know her inner motivation—faith, love of God, works, despair, fear, guilt, or obligation? At this point, this is all speculation. Any comment about the inner disposition or motivation of the widow is achieved only by reading into the text. Thus, any application that stems from “her motivation for giving all that she had” will be misguided.

Any comment about the inner disposition or motivation of the widow is achieved only by reading into the text.

It is lamentable to watch this act of the poor widow in the presence of such wealth and religious duplicity. We can fail to notice there is a tragedy happening that day, right there in the temple courts.

Nowhere does this text describe the widow’s piety. It seems more reasonable to assume that Mark is drawing our attention to the duplicitous character of the scribes and the sad state of the poor widow, which are in the text. Concentrating on the widow as an example fails to take into account the obvious thread of opposition that Jesus has with many of the existing temple activities and his conflict with its leadership (e.g., Mark 1:21–22; 2:1—3:6; 7:1–13; 11:1—12:37). Such a positive reading also neglects to consider the final destination of the widow’s coins—that is, the temple that will be destroyed (13:2)—and the eventual judgment on temple authorities (12:40c; 14:53–65). In the end, our reading of this text should cause, at a minimum, a reaction of displeasure because the “widow’s donation to the temple is a misguided gesture” [Waetjen, Reordering of Power, 183–96], a waste, and a contributor to her continued impoverishment.

Jesus’ observation of a poor widow who had given the last of her financial resources for which her whole life depended can just as equally be read as “downright disapproval” [Addison Wright] and not as praise. The contrast between the scribes and the widow is not about piety, but for illustrating and emphasizing the duplicitous conduct of the scribes. It is lamentable to watch this act of the poor widow in the presence of such wealth and religious duplicity. We can fail to notice there is a tragedy happening that day, right there in the temple courts.

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*From “Widows in Our Courts (Mark 12:38–44):  The Public Advocacy Role of Local Congregations as Discipleship,” chapter 1 of Wasted Evangelism. All royalties from sales of Wasted Evangelism is given to support our church planting efforts and ministry in The Hill community of New Haven, CT.