Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

§8.4 The Tradition
this little child is greater in the
kingdom of heaven. 5 And
whoever welcomes one such
little child in my name
welcomes me".
37 "Whoever welcomes one of
such little children in my name
welcomes me. and whoever
welcomes me welcomes not me
but the one who sent me".
"Whoever welcomes
this little child in my name
welcomes me, and whoever
welcomes me welcomes
the one who sent me; for he
who is lesser among all of you,
that one is great".
The basic picture is the same as before. The constants are clear: the disciples'
dispute about who was greater; Jesus' rebuke by drawing a little child into the
company; and the core saying which climaxes the story. Each retelling elaborates
the basic outline in the Evangelist's own way (Mark 9.35; Matt. 18.3-4; Luke
9.48c). Mark and Luke were able also to use the fuller tradition of Jesus' speaking
about 'the one who sent me' (Mark 9.37b/Luke 9.48b). And here again the
low degree of verbal interdependence tells against literary interdependence,
whereas the mix of constancy and flexibility is more suggestive of an oral mode
of performance. 209
v. The Widow's Pence
Mark 12.41-44
41 He sat down opposite the treasury, and
watched how the crowd gut money into the
treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42
A poor widow came and put in two small copper
coins, which are worth a penny. 43 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. 44
For all have contributed out of their
abundance; but she out of her poverty
has put in all she had, her entire life".
Luke 21.1-4
1 He
looked up and saw rich people putting into the
treasury their gifts; 2 he also saw
a needy widow putting in two small copper
coins.
3 He said, "Of a truth I tell
you, this poor widow has put in more than all of
them;
4 for all those have contributed out of their
abundance for the gifts, but she out of her poverty
has put in all the life she had".
The episode is brief, being almost entirely taken up with the identifying details
(the contrast between the rich people's giving and the two small copper coins of
the poor widow), and with Jesus' observation which evidently made the episode
so memorable (and which was consequently retained close to word for word).
With such a brief pericope the scope for explanation in terms of Luke's editing of
Mark is stronger. But even so, the flexibility of detail in the build-up to the climactic
saying bespeaks more of oral than of literary tradition.
209. Here again Taylor's discussion in terms of 'fragments loosely connected at 35 and
36' and 'fragmentary stories' (Mark 403-404) betrays the assumption that there must have been
an original story or original stories of which only fragments remain, and thus also his failure to
appreciate the character of oral tradition.
221