Luke 21:4

of their abundance--their superfluity; what they had to spare," or beyond what they needed. of her penury--or "want" (Mar 12:44) --her deficiency, of what was less than her own wants required, "all the living she had." Mark (Mar 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 Co2 8:1-3.)

In this chapter we have, I. The notice Christ took, and the approbation he gave, of a poor widow that cast two mites into the treasury (Luk 21:1-4). II. A prediction of future events, in answer to his disciples' enquiries concerning them (Luk 21:5-7). 1. Of what should happen between that and the destruction of Jerusalem - false Christs arising, bloody wars and persecutions of Christ's followers (Luk 21:8-19). 2. Of that destruction itself (Luk 21:20-24). 3. Of the second coming of Jesus Christ to judge the world, under the type and figure of that (Luk 21:25-33). III. A practical application of this, by way of caution and counsel (Luk 21:34-36), and an account of Christ's preaching and the people's attendance on it (Luk 21:37, Luk 21:38).

21:4 The amount given counts for less than the heart attitude of the giver.