The widow's tuppence

I really like Joel Green’s commentary on Luke, not least because it makes me think.

Here he is on Luke 21:1-4

The second half of the scene Luke paints is often taken as a counterexample, pitting the concern with status honour evident among legal experts over against the sacrificial generosity of the widow. This may be the case, but the points of contact between 20:45-47 and 21:1-4 (see above), and especially the characterisation of the scribes as though they were wealthy benefactors, suggests a quite different reading. In this case, just as Jesus indicts the religious leadership for consuming the homes of widows, so now he laments the travesty of a religious system that has as its effect the devouring of this widow’s livelihood. Note that in no way does Luke suggest that Jesus finds the widow’s action exemplary of praiseworthy. How could he, when the religious system was supposed to care for such as these (cf. Acts 6:1-6), not render them utterly destitute?

Now I need to think about whether I agree with him. But it had never even occured to me, before reading that, that the widow’s offering was anything other than an example of generosity. Instead, it may be an instance of the devestation caused by the scribes’ selfishness and pride.