I Tell You the Truth, The Poor Widow Has Put More into the Treasury than all the Others

I Tell You the Truth, The Poor Widow Has Put More into the Treasury than all the Others

“I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They gave out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in everything—all that she had.” Mark 12:43–44

It is unclear how these women freed themselves from the familial and financial structures of first century Palestine; it is clear that Jesus gratefully accepted their support. The reciprocity of these relationships is clearly seen between Christ and Mary of Bethany. Because of her love and gifts of hospitality, he allowed her to sit at his feet and learn. In response, as recorded in John 12, she took an “alabaster flask of pure nard, very costly,” and anointed him. The oil was worth about 300 denarii—almost a whole year’s wages for a vineyard worker. Her sense of the greater purpose of Christ’s mission inspired her to make this costly temporal sacrifice.

In New Testament times women were restricted from roles of leadership. The apostle Paul, within these limitations, followed Christ’s example of acceptance and validation of female support. He cites three women who supported churches within their homes: Priscilla, who was in business with her husband Aquila, Chloe in Corinth, and Nympha of Colosse. These hostesses must have had some wealth to use as a bridge of authority between the domestic and ecclesiastical realms.

Lydia, another businesswoman of the early Church, is described as a “dealer in purple” (Acts 16:14). Though a Gentile, she attended Jewish services and supported the synagogue. She became the first convert from Paul’s preaching in Europe, and established and supported a church for the people of Thyatira, as well as a refuge for Paul.

Two of the five basic offices established in Acts and the Epistles were made up of women: “widows and deaconesses.” Both were ministries of charitable service. Leadership was maintained through service. Paul describes Phoebe, a deaconess in the church at Cenchreae, as a prostatis. In its technical usage this term referred to a legal representative of strangers who were deprived of civil rights, or to a patron. Phoebe, “a helper of many and of me [Paul] as well,” (Rom. 16:22) apparently provided financial aid, and possibly legal assistance.

Early Servants

Widows and deaconesses continued their charitable work throughout the early centuries of the Church. Olympias (368–408), a deaconess in the church at Constantinople, used her inheritance to buy the freedom of hundreds of slaves, give to the poor, relieve suffering, and to build a monastery. She, along with many other Christian women in her time, chose the humility of poverty over the comforts of wealth.

In the late fourth century, the Church Father Jerome was supported by several dynamic and affluent patronesses, including Paula, an aristocratic Roman widow. After her conversion, Paula lived an ascetic lifestyle, protesting against materialism and giving to the poor. She built monasteries, churches, and hospitals, and then followed Jerome to Bethlehem, where, with her money, they founded three nunneries and a monastery that served as sanctuaries for the needy. She helped Jerome in his work of translation, and bought rare books and manuscripts essential to his task. Jerome wrote of her, “What bedridden man was not supported with money from her purse?”

Halvorsen, Karen. “The Benevolent Tradition: The Charity of Women.” Christian History Magazine-Issue 19: Money in Christian History: Part II 1988 : n. pag. Print.