Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, 'Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in all she had to live on.'
Mark doesn't explain what Jesus means. He just leaves the statement: she gave all she had to live on. The rich gave from their surplus. She gave from necessity. He's honoring her gift not because poverty is noble but because she trusted completely. She had literally nothing left after giving. And she gave anyway. That's faith in its starkest form.
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