Two Mites and Falling Rocks

Two mites. It was all that she had and she gave it away. She tossed those small coins into the treasury at the Temple in Jerusalem, according to Luke 21.

There, amid the large donations dropped in by the wealthier ones in the community, these mites would seemingly get lost. They were not lost to Jesus, however.

He saw her, a widow unnoticed in the throng gathering on the Sabbath. He saw what she did and He celebrated her.

I think the Savior heard the sound of those mites as they fell. They put forth sweet notes to Him. They were sounds of surrender. Here, in the holy house that had been turned into a den of robbers, Jesus saw someone with a heart after God. A widow gave away everything about herself.

This little vignette seems oddly placed at the start of Luke 21. But I have always counted Luke among the most intentional of the New Testament writers. His gospel and the book of Acts are well-sourced and particularly organized. The beloved physician, as he was nicknamed, used a classic rhetorical style in documenting the ministry of Jesus and the early church.

The story of the woman who gave her two mites comes just before Jesus gives His last days discourse. We read about the widow and her mites and then the Son talks about things to come – big things, really big things.

The point here is that the little things matter to God far more than we realize. He did declare that “the last shall be first” – He did so a number of times. The stuff we classify as small, insignificant, useless is what Heaven rejoices over.

Doomed Temple

Jesus saw the widow; others on hand were enamored by the Temple. It was prodigious, an opulent display. It glittered on the surface for much of it was covered with a gold veneer.

People got caught up in the big-ness of it. They were captivated by the surface shine  on the stones, though underneath these stones were cold and hard, just like the hearts of many who refused to heed what they heard from Jesus.

And the very stones that so impressed them were destined to fall; all of them would crash to the ground. Judgment was coming and it would begin with the house of the Lord, the literal house of God at Jerusalem.

God had allowed this to happen before, in the Babylonian days that we read about in Jeremiah, 2 Kings, and 2 Chronicles. The splendid Temple structure erected under Solomon’s watch was emptied, toppled, and burned down.

This latest iteration of the Jewish religious center, a project funded by the Roman ruler Herod and his family over the course of more than four decades would also be leveled. It happened just a couple decades after this talk. The Romans, exasperated at constant Hebrew uprisings and anti-imperial sentiments, slaughtered thousands, ruined Jerusalem, and ransacked and wrecked the Temple.

When?

At these words of Jesus in Luke 21, the disciples snapped to attention. They had to know more. “When will this happen? Will there be a sign we should look for?”

Jesus sat down on the Mount of Olives and taught them. The setting for this discourse carries importance. Zechariah speaks of the coming of the Messiah to plant His feet on the very place. That arrival will be the climax and culmination of the divine plan. Accompanying His arrival will be a hill-splitting earthquake. The end of all perfection is written about in detail by John in his Revelation.

Jesus warned His followers to be wise about Him. Pretenders were going to show up and claim to be Him. Only those who really understand His reality and His nature will be safe from the deceptions.

Be wise. Take heed how you hear, He said. Gain the discernment you will need. Know the Son and the character of His Word.

Wars will come. Kingdoms will rise and fall. Nations will battle it out.

The earth will shake. Famines and plagues will terrorize populations. Even the sky will seem to be falling at times.

These catastrophic happenings will not be lost on the people of Christ’s Kingdom, however. These ones, fervent followers of the Son, will have endured much before these signs are on the increase.

Jesus was sober in His instruction. The reality, He said, was that many who are His would be hunted and hounded because of their faith. Kings and armies would search them out. He told them to count on their very families disowning them and putting them out and turning them in. Bitter cups would be theirs to drink.

Many, He said, would be baptized with the baptism of martyrdom and see their blood spilled for the Gospel’s sake. Yes, persecution was to be reckoned as an expectation, a promise even, as Paul wrote:  “All who live godly shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).

Luke describes the beginning of the attacks on Jesus people in Acts. He highlighted this with story of the stoning of the deacon Stephen (see Acts 7).

Be steadfast and immovable and abound in the work of God. This is your calling and great reward awaits those who abide faithfully. Share on X

Looking back to Luke 21, can you picture these disciples as they heard Jesus? Did they get what He was telling them?

The Savior knew that some would be given to strategizing and battle plans. These kinds of people would start to prepare ready responses for the interrogations they expected to face.

Don’t over-think things, Jesus said. He unveiled the secret of the Spirit who would be sent to empower and embolden them as they witnessed. Answers would be given as needed. Every sentence given will carry the weight of Heaven to confound all opposition.

Be quiet. Be confident. God will supply.

As for your bodies, Jesus will provide for those as well. He knows the number of hairs upon each one’s head, and not one of these hairs will fall to the ground in vain. The Lord knows those who are His.

Be steadfast and immovable and abound in the work of God. This is your calling and great reward awaits those who abide faithfully.

He continued to describe the serious and tragic realities to come. The total falling of the sacred city and its religious system was ahead. Its devastation would leave the world unglued. All were to feel something of the effects. Panic and confusion shall reign.

Watch and Wait

These are the days of ripening. The fruit of the purpose of God can be seen by those with eyes to see. Watchful ones will be ready to stand at that moment for they will know Kingdom Come as the fulfillment of their Spirit-taught expectations.

Eternal words, these were — the kind that cannot wither and fade away like the grass of a field.  Jesus exhorted them to guard their hearts and redeem their moments.

How are we to take these things? As words of authority, just as some of those sitting there took them.

It’s easy to grow so relaxed. The writer of Ecclesiastes cautioned about this: “In the day of prosperity, be joyful; in the day of adversity, consider” (see Ecclesiastes 7:14). In other words, tough times require solid thinking.

Sound-mindedness, rooted in the love of God, and real surrender to Him – that’s what the Son calls us to embrace. Take your two mites and cast them to the Lord. Don’t be tight-fisted with your life; give all of it to Him. He knows. He sees. He rejoices over those who do this.

Can we do this? Seems impossible, does it not? But the Spirit is with us and in us. By Him we can live out a different manner of life in this lost and dying world.