Is Your Giving a Sacrifice?

A Balanced View of Contributions

AFTER teaching the people many things in the temple, Jesus “sat down with the treasury chests in view and began observing how the crowd was dropping money into the treasury chests.” (Mark 12:41) What followed was the well-known account of the widow’s mite. But why did Jesus sit there and watch the people make their offering? Did he not tell his disciples that they should not even let their left hand know what their right hand was doing when they made their gifts of mercy?​—Matthew 6:3.

Earlier, Jesus had strongly denounced the religious leaders for using unscrupulous methods to devour “the houses of the widows.” He said that these religionists “will receive a heavier judgment.” (Mark 12:40) In order to teach a lesson, he then turned his attention to what the people were doing there at the treasury chests. Today, when we hear so much about the big money involved in church organizations, the misuse of such funds, and the lavish life-styles of those in charge, we would do well to listen closely to what Jesus had to say.​—Please read Mark 12:41-44.

The Treasury Chests

The account relates that Jesus “sat down with the treasury chests in view.” This was evidently in the Court of Women, where a number of chests, or boxes, were placed along the walls for the people to drop in their offerings. Jewish tradition tells us that there were 13 boxes in all. In Hebrew they were called trumpets, because they had a small opening at the top in the shape of the bell of a trumpet. It is said that ‘no one entered the temple without putting something in.’

The French professor Edmond Stapfer, in his book Palestine in the Time of Christ (1885), gave a rather detailed description of these treasury chests. His account gives us some insight into the religious life of the people of the time, especially with respect to their contributions toward the services at the temple.

“Each chest was for a different object, indicated by an inscription in the Hebrew tongue. The first was inscribed: New shekels; that is, shekels set apart for the expenses of the current year. The second: Old shekels; that is, shekels dedicated to the expenses of the previous year. Third: Turtle doves and young pigeons; the money placed in this chest was the price to be paid by those who had to offer two turtle doves or two young pigeons, the one as a burnt offering, the other as a sacrifice for sin. Above the fourth chest was written: Burnt offerings; this money covered the expense of the other burnt offerings. The fifth had the inscription: Wood, and held the gifts of the faithful for the purchase of wood for the altar. The sixth: Incense (money for buying incense). The seventh: For the sanctuary (money for the mercy-seat). The six remaining chests bore the inscription: Freewill offerings.”

“Out of Her Want”

All of this only emphasizes Jesus’ illustration about the poor widow’s small contribution, which she no doubt dropped into one of the boxes marked “Freewill offerings.” As a widow, she was not required to give the head tax, and with limited means, she was probably not able to meet the minimum requirements for the burnt offerings or the wood or incense offerings. Yet, she wanted to do something to show her love for Jehovah. She did not want to be counted out or just leave it to those who could ‘afford it.’ Jesus said: “She, out of her want, dropped in all of what she had, her whole living.”​—Mark 12:44.

There are many valuable lessons we can learn from this account. The most outstanding one, perhaps, is that while all of us have the privilege of lending support to true worship by means of our material possessions, what is truly precious in God’s sight is, not our giving what we can do without anyway, but our giving what is valuable to us. In other words, are we giving something we will not really miss? Or is our giving a real sacrifice?