Mark 14:1-11
Jesus Anointed at Bethany
1 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. 2 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”
3 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.
4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 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. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world,what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. 11 They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
Luke 21:1-4
The Widow's Mite
1 And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, 2 and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. 3 So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; 4 for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”
Matthew 25:40
What We Do for the Least of our Brothers, We Do to Him
40 The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.
Growing up poor, I have found it difficult to be as charitable as Jesus teaches...But Jesus grew up very poor and taught about things, that He had been through...And Jesus gave everything to those who needed Him and to those who needed help...As one reads through the gospels, Jesus never said wait, let me think about this and He was not one to make alibis...His great wisdom and quick thinking on everything around Him, makes Him the Greatest Teacher, we have ever witnessed...When G. K. Chesterton said, "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried."...This found difficult and not tried is a complement to Jesus and to me says many things about His Divinity...Many things in life are difficult and one must sacrifice, and sometimes suffer to get where we need to be...But I quickly relate to my poor charitable ways to the Chesterton story and the "difficult category."...Jesus had many hard teachings and this is one of many, that I find myself struggling with...And while some of His teachings are hard for me to decipher, as one reads the above verses, these seem to be said very plainly...
Often Jesus teaches us multiple lessons in a short teaching span...We learn many things about Him, when He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the Leper...
Jesus was anointed at Bethany with some expensive perfume there...Some thought this was a waste of expensive perfume and they could have sold the perfume and given the money to the poor...The poor needs the money and the help, in Jesus' time, just as they do now...And Jesus speaks about this, I think in a very interesting and divine way...He frankly and in a direct manner says that we will always have the poor...There will those with resources and those who must do without...He does not talk about the poor despairingly, and He did not say things about the poor apathetically...He tells us, that as a matter of fact, we will have those who are poor, and thus those who have wealth...And those who have the resources can use charity their to help the poor...
The woman who anointed Him was chided, but He told all the people to leave her alone...She did this out of an act of faith...She believed in Jesus as Messiah and Master...And divinely He says, "The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want...But you will not always have Me."...We would not always have Jesus in bodily and human form...He soon would go to heaven, and we would lose His precious physical body that each of us could more easily relate to...