Of all our childhood fairy tales, some of our favorites, and most feared, have to do with wolves. Can you name a few? 

The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, The Wolf and the Fox, Peter and the Wolf. These are a few of the many tales we tell with wolves in the villain’s character. Why? 

Because wolves are known not just as carnivores but as “opportunistic predators.” Most often preying upon their victims in packs, they attack the ill, the injured, the weak, the small, and the old, completely devouring their prey until nothing at all is left, not even their bones. Wolf attacks reveal multiple bite and slash marks on a victim’s body. Attacking them from behind unawares, they have no qualms in consuming their victims while they are still alive.[1]

Terrifying? Gruesome?

Ever see their usually docile relative, the dog, go after a rabbit? It’s not a pretty sight. It’s in the wolf’s nature to prey and devour the helpless!

Scripture mentions wolves often. In the gospels, we see Jesus and the prophets comparing the religious authorities to wolves, more than once!

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” (Matthew 7:15)

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16)

“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Therefore watch, and remember” (Acts 20:28-31)

"Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain” (Ezekiel 22:27)

"But he who is a hireling, and not the shepherd, whose sheep are not his own, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees: and the wolf catches them, and scatters the sheep” (John 10:12)

"Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey ("tereph") to their teeth" (Psalm 124:6)

The wolf symbolizes everything distasteful, predatory, and cowardly about those who “devour” the weak.

In today’s scripture, we have another such reference. Although the word “wolf” is missing from the text, the description of the “pack” of religious leaders who devours widows’ houses is unmistakable. 

Jesus is in the midst of another one of his “teachable moments.” He and his disciples are sitting in the Court of Women at the Jerusalem Temple. Interestingly, the Court of Women houses the Treasury, in which receptacles invite the offerings of the faithful. This is the only place in the Temple in which women can enter –in order to pray or give their offerings. 

Jesus describes with distaste the Temple scribes, who monitor and encourage peoples’ monetary gifts, as those who like to be treated like royalty. They dress in long robes, like to be given high respect, take the best seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets. And to cover up the fact that they “devour” widows’ houses (meaning they prey upon them, taking everything they have and leaving them destitute with nothing to live on), they act the “religious fervent” and say long, publicly visible prayers.

That’s quite a description, isn’t it? Jesus describes the scribes as a vicious, unmerciful, predatory pack of wolves, those who prey on the poorest and weakest.

Now look what happens next, because this next scripture has been equally as misinterpreted and misappropriated still among today’s most religious!

“He sat down opposite the treasure and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two   small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 

Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Now, first, how many of you in the past have heard this passage used by Stewardship Campaigns and Pastors to praise this old widow for giving all that she had and for encouraging people to give more in their tithes?

Now look at this passage in context! Jesus is not praising the widow. He’s admonishing the scribes! He’s with his disciples watching his critique of the scribes play out right before their eyes!

He’s pointing out that this poor woman has been preyed upon by the scribes, who have convinced her that it is her religious duty to give everything that she has, so that she has nothing left to live on.

This is not an example of pious giving that we should celebrate. No. Jesus and his disciples are witnessing the “devouring” of a widow by the Temple system, a system run by wealthy scribes, that has encouraged this woman to give to the point of destitution, convincing her that this is what God expects of her, telling her that this is what it means to be “faithful.”[2]

This passage is a sharp critique of the misuse of religious office. For God never desires anyone to support any system to the detriment of their livelihood. Instead, God desires that those with means bless, help, and care for the weak and the destitute.

This passage defines Jesus’ entire ministry to the poor, the weak, the voiceless, and the unregarded.

Here we see a widow. But she could also be anyone else: a man with leprosy, a blind beggar, a child, or a childless woman, a foreigner, or one who has met with misfortune.

Jesus ministry is not a ministry of consumption, but a ministry of grace.

Why is he showing them this?

Because Jesus is not only critiquing the scribes. He is also critiquing a system, which misappropriates the meaning of “giving” and “sacrifice.” God is interested in a sacrificial heart, not in condemning his people to destitution. God is interested in the formation of an alternative community, a “kingdom” community, in which those with means care for those without, and in which community all God’s faithful are equal members. For worthiness in God’s kingdom does not depend on how much money you have or how much money you give. It depends upon the kindness, love, and mercy that flows from your heart. 

This would be the vision of the early church –a church made up of both rich and poor, Jew and Greek, sick and well, young and old. No one excluded. No one judged.

Jesus is not saying that no one should give. He is saying that those with enough means should give. Those who can’t give should be embraced just the same as part of the community body and not made to feel ashamed. Their presence and membership (whether Temple or Church) should never depend on their ability to give.

For every person of God is a gift.

Every person of God has gifts to offer.

How does your church welcome into your fold the foreigner, the weak, the poor, the infirm? The answer will reveal the character of your faith: a theology of consumption or a theology of grace.
 

[1] “Hunting and Feeding Behavior,” International Wolf Center, https://wolf.org/wolf-info/basic-wolf-info/biology-and-behavior/hunting-feeding-behavior/.

[2] The word in scripture is the Greek katestheio (see Strongs 2719). It means to devour, consume, squander, make prey of, plunder, or injure. The word in other places in scripture has been used to indicate the devouring by a dragons, by wolves, or for exploitation of people. Interestingly, the word for widow means “to be cut off” or to be “stripped bare.” The widow has already been deprived of livelihood with the death of her husband. She will have little to live on and needs the care and protection of the Jewish community to survive.