Now it may well be doubted whether there be a man upon earth who would not have disapproved of this act, if our Lord himself had not expressly commended it : they would have blamed it as unnecessary, as useless, as presumptuous •' unne- cessary, because God could not require any offering at the hands of one who was so indigent ; useless, because a farthing towards the expenses of the temple was literally no more than a drop in the ocean ; and presumptuous, because to cast away her all, was to tempt God, and to expect a further supply from him, when she was throwing away the supply he had already afforded her.
But our blessed Lord took pains, (if we may so speak,) to express his approbation of it. " He called his Disciples to
him," to inform them of it, and to declare to them his senti- ments respecting it. We do not apprehend that he knew the circumstances from any conversation he had had with her : he had no need to be informed by others, because he himself was omniscient: and he declared without hesitation, that this do- nation of hers, small as it might appear, and highly indiscreet, was indeed both, great and good: it was great, inasmuch that it exceeded all the accumulated presents of the rich who had contributed ; since they had only given a part of their pro- perty, "out of their abundance ,-" whereas " she, of her want, had given all that she possessed, even all her living :" it was also good, because she had given it with a single eye to the glory of God ; and God, who knew the motive by which she had been actuated, accepted it as " an offering of a sweet-smelling savour."]
Let us now tarn our attention to, II. The instruction to be gathered from it —
Among many other lessons we may learn from it,
1 . How to estimate chanty —
[We are apt to estimate it by the amount that is given on any occasion : but this affords no proper criterion for judging of real charity : that must be judged of, first, by the proportion which the donation bears to the ability of the donor ; and, next, by the disposition and design of him that gives it. Donations that are large in the actual amount, may yet be small, when taken in connexion with the donor's opulence : whilst the smallest gifts, as in the instance before us, may be truly great, on account of the indigence of him that bestows them. This is told us by St. Paul, who says, that " God accepts them ac- cording to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath nota :" if only there " be a willing mind," the amount of the gift makes no difference in his eyesb. That which gives every thing its chief value is, its being done with an unfeigned desire to please and honour him. Without that we may give all our goods to feed the poor, and yet have not one atom of that charity which will be approved of our Godc.]
2. How to practise it —
[Much was there in the conduct of that poor widow that is deserving of imitation. We should dispense our charity secretly. We are well assured, that there was nothing of ostentation in her upon this occasion ; else our Lord would not have bestowed such commendation upon her. She wanted none to be spectators of her liberality; it was sufficient for
a 2 Cor. viii. 12. h 2 Cor. viii. 12. <= 1 Cor. xiii. 1 — 3.