Matthew 22:34-40
The Greatest Commandment
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Luke 16:19-31
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
John 12:4-8
We Will Always Have the Poor Among Us
4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 “Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
7 “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”
Jesus grew up poor and He teaches a lot about those who are poor...So He knew what it was to grow up poor and to be poor...And related to that is in teaching us the Two Greatest Commandments, we learn that we are to love God and to love neighbor...We should love our neighbors either rich or poor...
When Jesus was anointed at Bethany, He said that we would always have the poor...He made His point to talk about the poor, in this instance...And, of course He is right, today the poor are still here among us...Jesus tells us in these Two Greatest Commandments that we are to love God and to love our neighbor...It makes no difference if our neighbor is poor or wealthy...We are to love them...But let us think and reflect about this - loving a poor neighbor as well as the wealthy ones...One's social status should not make us love one over another...
The poor were in Jesus time and still in our times, the marginalized person is often just a part of the system and his surroundings and environment and how and where he was raised...Growing up poor in a society is often just being a part of that system and culture, and is difficult to get out...Jesus, actively, went to the poor and the needy, and was always helping them...He shows us the example of loving and helping our poor neighbors...He was perfectly committed to the poor and the equality of all men and women...Jesus did not care how much one had in material things...He LOVED everyone and treated each person as an equal...He did not concern Himself with the upper, middle, or lower class - He helped those in need...But in His teachings we see that He does have and actively went to the poor and the meek, and the poor in spirit...Hiss teachings are much about the poor, the meek, and those poor in spirit...
Roman Catholic Theologian Gustavo Gutierrez wrote, “But the poor person does not exist as an inescapable fact of destiny...His or her existence is not politically neutral, and it is not ethically innocent...The poor are a by-product of the system in which we live and for which we are responsible...They are marginalized by our social and cultural world...They are the oppressed, exploited proletariat, robbed of the fruit of their labor and despoiled of their humanity...Hence the poverty of the poor is not a call to generous relief action, but a demand that we go and build a different social order.”...And Gustavo Gutiérrez adds, “If there is no friendship with them [the poor] and no sharing of the life of the poor, then there is no authentic commitment to liberation, because love exists only among equals.”...