Mark 14:7
The Poor Always Among Us
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.
Jesus teaches us three things in these short statements...First , is the poor will always be among us...He does not talk about the poor and make this statement in an uncaring way...Neither does He make the statement in a despairing way...The world will always have poor people in it...He makes this statement as a matter of fact (in which it is)...And yet, this is a worldly statement and there will be those who suffer in poverty...Also He knew the world would have rich nations and poor nations in the future...Yet He knows that even though their will be much wealth on earth (both then when He physically walked the earth and now) there will be those poor people in both the wealthy nations and the poorer nations...Jesus knew this two thousand years ago...
Second, He speaks of charity and we can help the poor any time we want to...He talks about the poor in His Sermon of the Plain...Jesus teaches us that blessed are those who are poor for the Kingdom of God is theirs...Blessed are those who are hungry now, for those will be satisfied...But woe to those are rich, for they have already received their comfort...And woe to those who are well fed now, four you will go hungry (Luke 6:20-21 and Luke 6:24-25)...He teaches us about charity when in His Sheep and Goat Parable, when we help the least of our neighbors, we are helping Him (Matthew 25:31-46)...
The third thing He teaches us in verse seven is that He will not always be on earth...In a short while, He would be leaving the face of the earth...He physically would not be on earth for us after He resurrects and goes to heaven...So, the people who were lucky enough to have seen Him and get to know Him and been on earth at that time we extremely blessed...They saw Him physically in the flesh...The saw God's Son incarnate...They saw and were eyewitnesses to the second part of the Trinity...This was the most important time on earth, because He is the most important historical figure we have ever had to walk the earth...Again, He makes this statement quietly and humbly, and as a matter of fact...Jesus will not always walk the earth with us (even though He could, because He is divine)...
Jesus makes the statement later about the poor and that we can help them at anytime throughout our history...The poor and needy will need hope and help...He teaches us to help the poor throughout His teachings...The poor will always be on earth and among us...Two thousand years later His statement is still true...
We would have Jesus physically with us on earth, for only thirty short years...So for the vast majority of human existence, we are without our Master and LORD on earth...It is interesting Jesus teaches us the poor would physically be with us always, and He would leave...But one of the most important things He teaches us, that even though He would physically have to leave us on earth, He would resurrect through the Sign of Jonah...And then gloriously we would, also, always have Him among us...