Jesus watched the people approaching the treasury-boxes to cast in their offerings. He saw lordly men make their ostentatious gifts, and rich men give of their superfluity; He noticed others who came quietly past and gave cheerfully with an obvious sense of privilege.
But one figure held His attention. She was alone and in mourning. It was painfully evident from her appearance that she was desperately poor. Almost afraid to mingle with the other worshippers, she paused for a moment—and then went purposely forward and dropped into the treasury the two mites which represented the smallest offering legally acceptable. Her gift presented to God, she went her way and was lost in the crowd. . . . The woman went to her lonely home and meagre fare oblivious of the One who had watched her. To have known that her two mites had been singled out would have covered her with confusion; had she suspected that she had been contrasted favourably with the wealthy and the great she would never have understood.
But her humble gift, like Mary’s precious perfume, has shed its fragrance down the years.
Reflections on the Potter and the Clay