One day, He saw a very poor woman—she was a widow—drop two mites—that is, less than a farthing—into the box that was placed for men to give money to the Temple. And Jesus said to His disciples, "This poor widow has cast in more than they all, for the rich men could spare all they gave, but she has given to God all the living she had."
You see, God does not mind how small the gift is that we offer to Him, if it is all we can do; He loves the gift of the poor.
THE WIDOW'S MITE.
One day some of the wicked people who wanted to find fault with Him, came and asked Our Lord if it was right to pay the tax to the Romans. Jesus said, "Show me a penny;" and when they brought it He said, "Whose likeness is on it and what name?" They said, "Cæsar's." Then said Jesus, "Give to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's, and to God the things that are God's."
It was of no use to teach these men; they would not believe though they heard how wisely Jesus spoke and saw the wonderful works He did. Some of the chief rulers believed on Him, but they were afraid of the Pharisees and would not say that they did; for the Bible tells us they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
It was on one of the first days of this week, that some Greeks came to the Apostle Philip and said, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip told Andrew, and they went together to tell Our Lord. Jesus said that the hour was come that He should be glorified, and He spoke to the Greeks, and told them that if any man served Him, God would honour him; and ended His words by saying, "Father, glorify Thy Name," and there came a voice from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again." Some of the people who stood by said that it thundered; but others—perhaps the Greeks, who were nearer—said that an angel spoke to Him. Our Lord told them that the voice came not for Him but for their sakes. It was meant to make them believe in Jesus, and these good Greeks must have gone away sure now that He was indeed the expected Christ.
Now, Our Lord had told the apostles to get Him a room in which He would eat the Passover with them, and, when they were there, Our Lord took a towel and poured some water into a basin and began to wash His disciples' feet, and wipe them with the towel. But, when He came to Peter, Peter said, "Lord, Thou shalt not wash my feet."
He thought it was not fit that Our Lord should do as a servant would.
But Jesus said, "If I do not wash you, you have no part in Me." Then Peter let Him do it. Why did Our Lord wash His apostles' feet? To show us that we must not be too proud to do anything for one another.