Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Mark 12:44

"for they all did cast in of their superfluity; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, [even] all her living." — Mark 12:44 (ASV)

The disciples were not sitting with Jesus, so he called them to him. The lesson he wanted to teach them was important enough for them to be there, both to see for themselves and to hear what he had to say. The widow’s offering was more than all the others in proportion and in the spirit in which she gave.