Are we offended by this statement? This occurs in Bethany, near Jerusalem. Mark and Matthew parallel this story with it occuring in the house of Simon the leper. John remembers it in Lazarus' house. These differences do not bother me as they used to. People's memories are faulty. I am the worst at that, as my family is quick to remind me. But that does not disqualify the major ideas of this story.
Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy 15:11. The context in Deuteronomy is the Sabbatical year. Any fellow Jew that was sold into slavery must be released in the 7th year. And one must not be hard hearted, calculating when the time will be up and deciding not to help someone because debts must be forgiven soon. No, one must be generous, open-hearted when it comes to helping a fellow Jew. So Deuteronomy concludes, "The poor will be with you always." Implied in this is that you must freely open your hand to help.
It is not the same to take money from rich people and redistribute it to the poor. This is not what God tells us in Deuteronomy. God tells us to help the poor. But too many people misinterpret this to mean government entitlements. This lets us out of helping the poor. I gave at the office, so to speak. But it does not.
The government is basically buying votes. An despite the billions redistributed we still have the poor with us. There are still those who need our help, if we only look around. The personal touch is so important. God is saying we need to be compassionate. The personal touch often helps people to find a way out. Unfortunately the government approach ruins people's initiative.
Jesus is not saying not to help the poor. What is he saying? Well firstly he is rebuking those criticizing the woman, using a false disingenuous reason. They do not care about the poor. They hope to dip into the treasury themselves.
But secondly he is saying helping the poor is not our only occupation. We are also to bless Jesus, to thank God often with sacrifice. It is important to spend money on God as well. In Jesus' time many people gave to his ministry. It is good to do that. Today it is also good to give to the ministry of those who are telling others about God, both to churches and to missionaries, and to para-church organizations.
Jesus says "You will not have me with you always." Yes, he is now in heaven. We can no longer see him. Yet he is with us, through the Holy Spirit. He is present to us. And giving to his agents who are in ministry is a good thing. To me it is part of Jesus admonition to give to him, while you have him. We have him. It is good and right to give to his ministry.
