You Have The Poor With You Always, But Me You Have Not Always!

---

These words were made by the Saviour of the world, the good and loving Jesus, and remain one of those statements that can be quite emotive were they to be made by somebody else. People can sow their opinions broadcast today, and without doubt,  even during the first century when Christ made them in Bethany. Fortunately, everything Christ did and said was right and righteous, including this rebuke. 

Again, this story is captured in all four gospels, so we are sure to have a responsible coverage of the account. As we consider it, you may have a lot of questions to grapple with: Did Christ mean that there are times we should not help the poor? Was he in any way bashing the needy and being insensitive to them, while Judas was more sensitive? We see that in a few. Let us start by understanding what Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote about the story.

NKJV Matthew 26:6-13

And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table.  But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.” But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always.  For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”

NKJV Mark 14:3-9

And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head.  But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, “Why was this fragrant oil wasted?  For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they criticized her sharply. But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.

NKJV Luke 7:36-39

Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.  Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”

NKJV John 12:1-8

Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.  For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”

With the contextual reading, I hope your eyes have been opened to a deeper understanding of the text beyond a subjective consideration of the rebuke. Here is a woman who has dedicated her entire life’s fortune to a Saviour who has given meaning to her sin-sick, sin-soaked life.  Judas, seeing how costly the alabaster ointment was, thought that would mean a huge financial leverage that would mean to the kitty (from whence he occasionally squandered for his personal affairs) and could not help but condemn the woman for being wasteful. To be politically and theologically correct, he contextualized his reservations with the welfare of the poor. 

The spikenard oil cost 300 denarii. That is a lot of money in modern terms. Just to help you understand, the 30 pieces of silver that Judas received as the price of Christ’s betrayal was sufficient to secure a piece of land in Jerusalem, the metropolis of Judea. This was a huge some. Judas felt it was a huge waste and hid behind helping the poor.

I want to share two important lessons from this account that you can easily  miss:

1. Think About the Woman

Think about the woman. The synoptic gospels refer to her as a woman or a sinful woman. Maybe that was deliberate to preserve her identity. John, in his account, identifies her as Mary, the sister to Lazarus and Martha, Mary of Bethany, whom many people know as Mary Magdalene. She practiced her trade of the ‘merchandise that is not sold to kinsmen’  in the Jewish Town of Magdala, hence the name Mary of Magdala or simply Mary Magdalene. 

One morning, while trying to fix Christ, the Pharisees brought her to Jesus with intentions of stoning both woman and Christ, having caught her red-handed, committing adultery. We still don’t know where the man is. Christ saved her from shame and apparent death, not by excusing her sins, but by asking the guiltless to cast the first stone. 

If somebody ever loved Jesus, this woman did. She thought of what to do to show her gratitude, and she settled on the most costly alabaster oil, the cost of which would deplete her life savings. She poured it on Christ, filling the entire room with its commanding scent. She was the only one who made it on time to prepare the body of Christ for the tomb. The women who brought their spices on Easter Sunday were too late; He had risen. 

Having done this, she heard murmurings and condemnation from the disciples. She was confused and could have gone back deeper and deeper into the world. Christ saved her by rebuking such an insensitive condemnation. This very act stamped her salvation. She never left her choice of sitting at the feet of Jesus. I want to meet her in heaven. Christ promised her that her story would always be retold. 

2. The Poor Will Never Cease Among Us

NKJV Deuteronomy 15:11

For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land.

If Judas meant it that he was so concerned about the poor, then he has an everlasting assignment because the poor will never cease in the land. He had forever to be nice to the poor. 

While hospitality and generosity to the poor were required of the Israelites, this did not negate the annual feasts and celebrations that God appointed. Here is a great lesson that we need to learn even more today. We can be generous and philanthropic to those who need our generosity and philanthropy, even as we throw a party just to celebrate God’s goodness. 

The poor among us should not be an excuse for not giving gifts to the LORD. After feeding street families, educating orphans, donating to children’s homes, and giving some donations to widows, we are not excused to return tithes and offerings. We have forever to do that, and we must do it. 

Again, it is not wasteful to celebrate with friends and family. Don’t be that person who thinks every time people meet together, the ‘alabaster oil’ should be sold and the proceeds be distributed to the poor. There is no harm in breaking the alabaster bottle and filling the room with its life-giving fragrance. As you reach out to the poor, don’t forget friends and family.

Conclusion

When you lift the statement, “For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always,” out of its context, you can easily be misled and suffer misunderstanding. Contextually, however, you realize that the destiny of a woman just reclaimed from the servitude of sin is at stake; her condemnation is inspired by greed traveling so close to philanthropy, and everyone in attendance seems to be in need of such a lesson. If you really mean that you want to help those dealing with poverty and the dearth of life’s fundamental necessities, you will always have enough space and time to do it. Only stop thinking that life must revolve around it. When you see someone celebrating, don’t think they are being wasteful.