“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” John 12:7-8

Verse eight is often used by many groups of people to justify their actions as it relates to the poor. I’ve heard the whole gambit from we shouldn’t help the poor to we should definitively help the poor, and both arguments made sense! But that’s not the context of what Jesus said.

First of all, in context, Jesus was responding to Judas the Thief. Judas voiced his opinion that Mary use the expensive perfume more wisely. Of course he didn’t care about the poor; Judas cared about Judas to the very end.

It must have taken great restraint on Jesus’ part not to call out Judas’ hypocrisy at every instance for he knew Judas. He saw right through him.

Perhaps we can learn a great deal from this historical account of Judas and Jesus. Just as Jesus could discern motives and ambitions and sin in Judas’ heart, so Jesus can do with each of us. There’s no place to hide (Psalm 139) from the penetrating eyes of the Master. None. We don’t always remember that but if we did I doubt we’d sin or gossip or curse or insult our brothers and sisters ever again. Now that is a great thought.