“Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. ‘But not during the festival,’ they said, ‘or the people may riot.’
While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, ‘Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.’ And they rebuked her harshly.
‘Leave her alone,’ said Jesus. ‘Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.'” Mark 14:1-9
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard Christians justify doing nothing for the poor and the homeless by quoting the words of Jesus found in Mark 14:7: “The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.”
Now, besides the obvious irony of using the words of the same man who told the parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son, the same man who highlighted the significance of the widow’s generosity, and the same man who constantly warned of the dangers of greed, in order to excuse not lifting a finger to help the poor, there is also another fundamental problem.
No one would argue that Jesus didn’t know the Jewish Scriptures. No one would argue that he was ignorant of what the texts of Moses and the Prophets actually said. Over and over again, Jesus is referred to as “Rabbi” or “teacher.” One of his most common activities was going to the local synagogues and teaching the Scriptures to his fellow Jews.
Even if you don’t believe he rose from the dead or performed miracles, whether or not Jesus understood and taught the Torah is not in question. So here he is, having a woman lavish him with very expensive perfume, and he defends her actions by quoting from Deuteronomy 15:7-11:
If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward them. Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.
It was not uncommon for Jesus to reference the Scriptures with a fill-in-the-blank teaching style. In this case, everyone would have known that when Jesus says, “There will always be poor people in the land”, what came next was, “…therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.”
So just to be clear, before you quote this one verse as a sort of shoulder-shrug, or “what can you do” response to the needs of the poor and the homeless, just remember that Jesus wasn’t suggesting that singing songs for thirty minutes on Sunday morning somehow excuses you from the commands of God. Jesus so overtly identified with the needs of the poor that in another gospel story, he is quoted as saying that whatever is done for one needy person, is done to him (Matthew 25:34-40).
Can we agree that whatever implications can be drawn from the words of Jesus in Mark 14:7, he is not saying, “Just make sure that you do a bunch of spiritual stuff like pray and go to church because that’s what really matters?” I’m no scholar, but it seems more likely to me that Jesus is connecting the dots between the excessive generosity that was poured out on him, and the kind of generosity that is commanded in Deuteronomy 15.
As it turns out, this woman was living out the commands of the Torah more faithfully than any of the religious leaders who reclined around the table. I think that Jesus was pointing out that her generosity was the standard by which all generosity will be measured. In verse 9, Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
Having worked at New York City Relief for over seven years, I can tell you that offering our homeless neighbors our best is always more impactful than offering our leftovers. I happen to believe that Jesus did rise from the dead and actually did perform miracles. I also think that if we are going to accurately reflect the heart of Christianity to a skeptical world, we need to start treating the poor and the homeless a little more like this woman treated Jesus, instead of hiding behind her generosity in order justify our own greed. Just sayin…
