"You Will Always Have the Poor With You..."

Remember in Mark’s Gospel when Jesus says, “For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish: but you will not always have me.” 14:7

The context of the story is that Jesus is at the table with a leper. Jesus is making an assumption about his disciples’ continuing proximity to the poor.

“Jesus is making an assumption about his disciples’ continuing proximity to the poor. He is saying, in effect, ‘Look, you will always have the poor with you” because you are my disciples. You know who we spend our time with, who we share meals with, who listens to our message, who we focus our attention on. You’ve been watching me, and you know what my priorities are. You know who comes first in the kingdom of God. So, you will always be near the poor, you’ll always be with them, and you will always have opportunity to share with them.”
-Jim Wallis, God’s Politics