Luke 21

Luke 21:1-4 . THE WIDOW'S TWO MITES.

1. looked up--He had "sat down over against the treasury" ( Mark 12:41 ), probably to rest, for He had continued long standing as he taught in the temple court ( Mark 11:27 ), and "looking up He saw"--as in Zaccheus' case, not quite casually.
the rich, &c.--"the people," says Mark 12:41 "cast money into the treasury, and many rich east in much"; that is, into chests deposited in one of the courts of the temple to receive the offerings of the people towards its maintenance ( 2 Kings 12:9 , John 8:20 ).

2. two mites--"which make a farthing" ( Mark 12:42 ), the smallest Jewish coin. "She might have kept one" [BENGEL].

3. And he said--"to His disciples," whom He "called to Him" ( Mark 12:43 ), to teach from it a great future lesson.
more than . . . all--in proportion to her means, which is God's standard ( 2 Corinthians 8:12 ).

4. of their abundance--their superfluity; what they had to spare," or beyond what they needed.
of her penury--or "want" ( Mark 12:44 )--her deficiency, of what was less than her own wants required, "all the living she had." Mark ( Mark 12:44 ) still more emphatically, "all that she had--her whole subsistence." Note: (1) As temple offerings are needed still for the service of Christ at home and abroad, so "looking down" now, as then "up," Me "sees" who "cast in," and how much. (2) Christ's standard of commendable offering is not our superfluity, but our deficiency--not what will never be missed, but what costs us some real sacrifice, and just in proportion to the relative amount of that sacrifice. (See 2 Corinthians 8:1-3 .)

Luke 21:5-38 . CHRIST'S PROPHECY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM AND WARNINGS TO PREPARE FOR HIS SECOND COMING, SUGGESTED BY IT--HIS DAYS AND NIGHTS DURING HIS LAST WEEK.

8. the time--of the Kingdom, in its full glory.
go . . . not . . . after them--"I come not so very soon" ( 2 Thessalonians 2:1 2 Thessalonians 2:2 ) [STIER].

9-11. not terrified--(See Luke 21:19 Isaiah 8:11-14 ).
end not by and by--or immediately, not yet ( Matthew 24:6 , 13:7 ): that is, "Worse must come before all is over."

10. Nation, &c.--Matthew and Mark ( Matthew 24:8 , 13:8 ) add, "All these are the beginning of sorrows," or travail pangs, to which heavy calamities are compared ( Jeremiah 4:31 , &c.).

12. brought before, &c.--The book of Acts verifies all this.

13. for a testimony--an opportunity of bearing testimony.