Luke 21:1–9

Read the passage.

After mentioning widows who were easily victimized by the shallow religious teachers, Jesus sees a very poor widow come into the temple. Along with the rich folk, she put her offering into one of the collection boxes. At this time, these boxes had trumpet-shaped openings to funnel the coins inside. They were probably made of metal, so when coins were dropped in, they would make a lot of noise as they slid in. The rich used this as a public signal of their piety because everyone present could hear how many coins they were donating.

This widow put only two tiny coins in, but Jesus recognized that she couldn’t afford even that much, but she showed trust and devotion to the Lord with it. This is why He says she put in more than the rich with their bags and bags of coins.

Later on, some people were speaking about the beautiful stones that had been used to build the temple. Jesus says they shouldn’t get too attached to them because the temple would be destroyed one day, with no stone stacked on another. This is an alarming proclamation, so they ask for more details. Instead of answering, He tells them to be wise when they hear reports of the Messiah’s coming or of wars and disasters. The Messiah’s coming will be obvious to everyone, and other things are going to happen before the final days. We are not to be terrified by the things that happen around the world because God is in control of it all.

We trust in You because You are powerful and work all things out for the good of those called according to Your purpose.