Read: Mark 14:3-9 NLT – Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the – Bible Gateway
“You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to.” Mark 14:7 NLT
Jesus said many things recorded in Scripture, all true by the way. When Mary anointed Jesus before His crucifixion with an extremely expensive perfume, $53,000 in today’s economy, people were outraged. Why this waste they responded in a scolding tone. That money could have been given to the poor. “But Jesus replied, ‘Leave her alone. Why criticize her for doing such a good thing to me? You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to. But you will not always have me.” (Mk.14:6-7 nlt)
We cannot deny the truthfulness of Jesus’ statement, ‘You will always have the poor among you.’ All we need to do is look around and we see that Jesus was right. Jesus went on to say, ‘you (we) can help them (the poor) whenever you (we) want to.’ The world is looking at poverty the wrong way. Poverty is never going to be eliminated. Jesus said so. So, what do we do, especially Christians. We help the poor. It is an on-going work. Yes, there will be many who see their way out of poverty and we rejoice in that, but there will always be others who will take their place. Jesus said so.
Our focus today as Christians should be to do the work of helping the poor as Jesus said in Scripture to help them. It is the Chrisitan thing to do. Mary’s sacrificial offering of the rich ointment poured over Jesus’ head was of the absolute best showing her love and devotion to Him. When we give to the poor may we give our best to show our love for Jesus and His love for us as He sacrificed His life for us, poor in spirit sinners, that we may receive the glorious riches of His salvation.
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