Mark 12:38-44

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• Reading the Text:
  • NRSV (with link to Anglicized NRSV) at Oremus Bible Browser.
  • Greek Interlinear Bible, ScrTR, ScrTR t, Strong, Parsing, CGTS, CGES id, AV.
  • The Bible Gateway: NIV, NASB, CEV, The Message, KJV, etc.
  • The Blue Letter Bible. KJV, alternate versions, Greek text with concordance, commentaries.
  • The World Wide Study Bible includes commentary & sermons.

• Historical References, Commentary and Comparative Texts:
  • The Five Gospels Parallels, John W. Marshall, University of Toronto.
  • Comparative World Scriptures from United Communities of Spirit: Donations.
  • "Of David's Lineage," The Jesus Database, an online annotated inventory of the traditions concerning the life and teachings of Jesus. Dr. Gregory C. Jenks, FaithFutures Foundation.
  • Vision III.9, Shepherd of Hermas. (c.145)
  • XXXII.12-13, 15; XL.32-33, 35; Tatian's Diatessaron (c. 150-160).
  • VI.13, Stromata, Clement of Alexandria (c 200)
  • From the Catena Aurea, Patristic Commentary by St Thomas Aquinas.
  • From the Geneva Notes.
    • "The doing of our duties which God allows is not considered worthy according to the outward value, but instead according to the inward affections of the heart."
  • From Matthew Henry's Commentary.
    • "If the common people hear these things gladly, while the learned and distinguished oppose, the former are happy, and the latter to be pitied. And as sin, disguised with a show of piety, is double iniquity, so its doom will be doubly heavy."
  • From Wesley's Notes.
    • "See what judgement is cast on the most specious, outward actions by the Judge of all! And how acceptable to him is the smallest, which springs from self - denying love!"
  • From the Commentary on the Whole Bible (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871).
    • "They took advantage of their helpless condition and confiding character to obtain possession of their property, while by their "long prayers" they made them believe they were raised far above "filthy lucre." So much the "greater damnation" awaited them."
  • From The People's New Testament, B.W. Johnson, 1891.
    • "The worth of a gift is to be determined, not by intrinsic value, but by what it costs the giver. The measure of that cost is what is left, not what is given. For the widow to give her mites was noble; for one well off to give "his mite" is contemptible."
• Contemporary Commentary, Studies, and Exegesis:
  • Commentary, Mark 12:38-44, Pentecost 23B, Henry Langknecht, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2009.
    • "Most sermons I've heard have her hiding humbly in the shadows until she builds up the nerve to approach the coffers. But the tragedy of the scene is highlighted differently if the widow approaches with faithful dignity because the ambiguity and tension come when we consider that the widow gives her all in spite of the fact that the institution (broadly speaking) to which she remains faithful devours poor widows' houses!"
  • Comments (commentary) and Clippings (technical notes for in-depth study), Chris Haslam, Anglican Diocese of Montreal.
  • A Brief Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 11 - 12, Carl W. Conrad. (Click superscript numbers for commentary.)
  • Exegetical Notes by Brian Stoffregen at CrossMarks Christian Resources.
    • "The word for rich (plousios) is used elsewhere in Mark only in reference to the rich man who can't part with his property in order to follow Jesus (10:25). A related word is used in 4:19 as one of the things that can choke the word so that it produces nothing."
  • "Extravagant Generosity," Resources for Prophetic Worship, Speaking to North Carolina Justice Issues, North Carolina Council of Churches, 2006.
  • "A Poor Widow Gives Everything to Temple," Michael A. Turton's Historical Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, "a complete verse-by-verse commentary on the Gospel of Mark, focusing on the historicity of people, places, events, and sayings in the world of the Gospel of Mark."
  • Progressive Involvement Lectionary Blogging, John Petty, 2009.
    • "She is not a positive example, but rather the (barely) living representative of a crying shame.  She represents the on-going exploitation of the poor by the Temple elite."
  • "First Thoughts on Year B Gospel Passages in the Lectionary," Pentecost 23, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
    • "God’s way is the way of self giving love and God’s community needs to be a place where love has freed people to be like that and that includes its leadership, which can often become an instrument of violence."
  • "Preaching the Lesson," O. Wesley Allen, Jr., Lectionary Homiletics sample.
    • "This text does indeed call for a stewardship sermon, but its focus should not be on the stewardship of the individual sitting in the pew. The preacher should focus on the church’s stewardship of money given on behalf of those sitting in the pew, standing in soup kitchen lines, and lying on the streets."
  • Holy Textures, Understanding the Bible in its own time and in ours, Mark 12:38-44, David Ewart, 2009.
    • "The widow who has given 'all she had to live on' foreshadows the coming contribution of Jesus to his mission of proclaiming God's Good News of non-violent justice in the face of Rome's violent injustice."
  • "The Churchmen and the Widow," Rev. Bryan Findlayson, Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons, Pumpkin Cottage Ministry Resources. Includes detailed textual notes.
  • "Hannah and 2%," Gospel Analysis, Sermons from Seattle, Pastor Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle, Washington. Detailed background and exegesis.
  • "We Boast of Christ Crucified," Timothy J. Hoyer, Sabbatheology, The Crossings Community, 2009.
    • "We cannot say that the widow's deed is admired by Jesus, as if by some other standard her deed was great to God. That changes nothing. The widow, one of those who was prey to the scribes, still, in the midst of hardship, trusted God's promise to be her God."
  • Marginally Mark, by Brian McGowan, Anglican priest in Western Australia.
  • "The Church of 'No' Needs Our Gifts," Jeremiah Bartram, Gospel for Gays, 2009.
    • "The first reading for this Sunday (I Kings, 17, 10-16) provides the light we need to interpret this Gospel story."
  • "Widow's Mite: Praise or Lament? -- A Matter of Context," Addison G. Wright, S.S.
    • "...apart from the text, if any one of us were actually to see in real life a poor widow giving the very last of her money to religion, would we not judge the act to be repulsive and to be based on misguided piety because she would be neglecting her own needs? Do we really think that Jesus would have reacted otherwise? Do we really think that he would have enthused over such a donation?"
  • "With All Our 'Mite'," Candace Chellew-Hodge, Whosoever: An Online Magazine for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Christians, 2009.
    • "I suspect I am not alone in enjoying the self-righteous pleasures of cheap grace. In my glass house, I am loathe to toss too many stones at those in the fundamentalist camp. I admit, the widow outpaces me - my ability to be self-sacrificing pales in comparison to hers, and probably always will."
  • "Little - but Unique and Priceless," Ordinary 32B, Fr. Gerry Pierse, C.Ss.R., from Sundays Into Silence: Reflections on the Sunday Gospels in the Light of Christian Meditation. Claretian Publications.
    • "Each of us are also like the old woman. Each of us are unique before God. Each of us has a unique faith history and a unique gift that only we can offer to the world. Even if we wanted to, we could not compete because only we can offer what we are and have."
  • Wellspring of the Gospel, Ordinary 32B, Catherine McElhinney and Kathryn Turner, Weekly Wellsprings.
  • "The Widow's Mite," Darcy D. Jensen, Word & World, 1997.
    • "Now in the midst of worship, her family and friends surrounding her, she has given the last from Henry’s hand into the offering plate. A surrender. And a benediction. The final offering of a life so beloved."
  • "Widow's Walk," Mary W. Anderson, The Christian Century, 2003.
    • "...he praises the poor widow’s offering, and makes it clear that the standard measurement for assessing gifts is not how much we give to the work of God or how much we put in the offering plate, but how much we have left for ourselves."
  • "Virtual Virtuosity," commentary by Robin R. Meyers, The Christian Century, 2000. At Religion Online.
    • "My favorite Kierkegaardian parable is called 'The Man Who Walked Backwards'..."
• Articles & Background:
  • "Mark 12: Teaching the Crowd," "The Widow's Mite," wikipedia.
  • "The Changing Role of Women in the Early Christian World," Howard Clark Kee, University of Pennsylvania. Theology Today, 1992.
    • "If the church in our time were to take with full seriousness the radical openness toward women and their participation in the life of God's people that characterized the movement at the outset, it could result in a significant contribution toward renewal of both the church and the human race."
  • "Blurring the Boundaries: A Response to Howard C. Kee," Virginia Burrus, The Theological School at Drew University. Theology Today, 1992.
    • "...a blurring of religious or cultural boundaries in our historical reconstructions may cut against the smugness that frequently creeps into Christian discussions of Judaism and other religious traditions. The roots of a distinctive Christian feminism would appear to be entangled in Jewish and pagan traditions, rather than emerging in pure and radical opposition to those traditions. Second, a blurring of chronological boundaries in our historical reconstructions may cut against the tendency to locate orthodox or authentic Christianity almost purely in a statically defined "golden age" of the distant past. After all, how liberating is it for Christian women to be invited to focus exclusively on "the insights of Jesus and Paul"?"
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  • Anderson, Mary W., "Widow's Walk," The Christian Century, 2003.
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      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
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  • Burrus, Virginia, "Blurring the Boundaries: A Response to Howard C. Kee," Theology Today, 1992.
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      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
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  • Carl, William J, Jr., "The Single Mother's Mite," The Living Pulpit, 1997.
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  • Dampier, Joseph H., "The Scrolls and the Scribes of the New Testament," Bulletin of the Evangelical Theological Society, 1958.
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  • Dewey, Joanna, "Women in the Gospel of Mark," Word & World, 2006. (Section on this text begins on page 26.)
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  • DiCicco, Mario, OFM, "What Can One Give in Exchange for One's Life? A Narrative-Critical Study of the Widow and Her Offering, Mark 12:41-44," Currents in Theology and Mission, 1998.
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  • Dyrness, William, "Two Widows as Role Models," The Christian Century, 1994.
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  • Fleddermann, Harry, "A Warning about the Scribes (Mark 12:37b-40)," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 1982.
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  • Gomes, Peter J., "Veterans and Stewards," The Christian Century, 1997.
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  • Jensen, Darcy D., "The Widow's Mite," Word & World, 1997.
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      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
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  • Joy, David, "Markan Subalterns/the Crowd and their Strategies of Resistance: A Postcolonial Critique," Black Theology, 2005.
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  • Kee, Howard Clark, "The Changing Role of Women in the Early Christian World," Theology Today, 1992.
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      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Malbon, Elizabeth Struthers, "Fallible Followers: Women and Men in the Gospel of Mark," Semeia, 1983. (See epsecially the section on this text beginning on page 37.)
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  • Malbon, Elizabeth Struthers, "The Poor Widow in Mark and Her Poor Rich Readers,"  The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 1991.
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  • Meyers, Robin R., "Virtual Virtuosity," The Christian Century, 2000.
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  • Palmer, Maria Teresa, "Small Change," The Christian Century, 2006.
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  • Resner, André, "Reading the Text for Economic Justice: Mark 12:38-44 for Stewardship Season," The Living Pulpit, 2003.
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  • Rice, Richard J., "Breaking Down Barriers," The Living Pulpit, 1997.
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  • Smith, Geoffrey, "A Closer Look at the Widow's Offering: Mark 12:41-44," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 1997.
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  • Smith, Stephen H., "The Literary Structure of Mark 11:1-12:40," Novum Testamentum, 1989.
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  • Wenell, Karen J., "Contested Space and Visionary Kingdom Space in Mark 11-12," Biblical Interpretation, 2007.
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  • Wright, Addison, S.S., "The Widow's Mites: Praise or Lament? -- A Matter of Context," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 1982.
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• Reviews:
• Sermons:
  • "What God Values in Stewardship," the Rev. Dr. D. Scott Weimer, Day 1, 2009.
  • "Hannah and 2%," Sermons from Seattle, Pastor Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle, Washington.
  • "Against Giving," the Rev. Dr. Francis H. Wade, Day 1, 2003.
  • "Widow's Mite, Society's Sin," Fr. Walter Burghardt, S.J., 30 Good Minutes, Chicago Sunday Evening Club, 1996.
  • "Two Cents, a Jar of Meal, and a Jug of Oil," John Jewell, 2000.
  • Father Andrew M. Greeley, "Priest, Author, Sociologist," Commentary and Homily:
    • Ordinary 32, 2000
    • Ordinary 32, 2006
    • Ordinary 32, 2009
• With Children:
  • "The Widow's Mite," Charles Kirkpatrick, Sermons4kids.com.
  • "A Widow Gives Everything that She Has," Sunday School Lessons: Family Bible Study, art projects, music, stories, etc.
  • "God's ATM," Jim Kerlin, childrensermons.com.
  • Mark 11 & 12 Crossword, Don Crownover's Bible Puzzles.
• Drama:
  • "With a Whip in His Hand," "Two Copper Coins," from A Certain Jesus by Jose Ignacio and Maria Lopez Vigil. Ideal for catechetical and liturgical dramatization of today's gospel. Claretian Publications.
  • "Two Copper Coins," from A Certain Jesus by Jose Ignacio and Maria Lopez Vigil. Ideal for catechetical and liturgical dramatization of today's gospel. Claretian Publications.
• Graphics & Bulletin Materials:
  • Clip Art Images: Mark 12:38-44, Misioneros Del Sagrado Corazón en el Perú.
  • Mark 12:38-44 at Cerezo Barredo's weekly gospel illustration. Liberation emphasis.
  • Images for this week's readings, Pitts Theology Library Digital Image Archive.
  • Giving, Reverend Fun Cartoon, gospelcom.net. Check for printing permissions at right-hand side of destination page.
  • The Widow's Mite PowerPoint Slide Masters. Henry Martin, sermons4kids.com.
  • Commercial Site: "Two Copper Coins," Visual Liturgy/Film, The Work of the People.
• Hymns and Music:
  • "Jesus Sat and Watched the Crowd," Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, tune: HENDON.
  • Contemporary/Praise Song suggestions, Together to Celebrate, David MacGregor.
• Fine Arts Images Linked at The Text This Week's Art Index:
  • Widow's Mite
• Movies scenes with the following themes, listed at The Text This Week's Movie Concordance:
  • Sacrifice/Sacrificial Death
  • Generosity
  • Greed
  • Clean/Unclean
• Study Links and Resources for the Book of Mark