be careful what you quote
Over the years I have had many people tell me that I am naïve to speak about poverty as though it is something that can be overcome. This happened most recently when I was wearing a ONE Campaign T-Shirt that has the words, “The campaign to make poverty history.”
What is interesting to me is that the ones who most often condescendingly make comments to me, are ones who call themselves “followers of Jesus.” More times than I care to count I have people ask, state, or remind me of the Bible by quoting Jesus who said, “Just remember, Jesus said, ‘The poor you will have with you always …’” My usual response is to ask, “And what words comes directly after that?”
According to the Gospel of Mark, the rest of the sentence is, “…and you can help them any time you want.” Jesus says this because some of the disciples are upset about how money is being used, and claim it could go to help the poor. But there seems to be another layer to Jesus’ teaching.
Jesus’ statement about the poor, is his quote of Torah. Perhaps Jesus was using an ancient artful teaching tactic called remez. Which means “hint”. Rabbis did this by quoting one piece of a verse in Scripture in a teaching or a discussion. Remember, that many in Jesus’ day would have had much of the Hebrew Scriptures memorized. So if they quoted one part of a verse, they knew that their students would know the context of the verse, and probably be able to quote the rest of the verse.
Jesus used this method of teaching often. When Jesus told the religious that had made the temple into a “den of robbers” he was quoting the prophet Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 7, the prophet says to the people of Israel, “Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, "We are safe"—safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you?”
Jesus is saying a little more than, “You are ripping people off.” He is calling them murderers, adulterers, liars, and pagans.
We see this again in Matthew 21 where it says, “… when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things [Jesus] did and the children shouting in the temple courts, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David,’ they were indignant.” How did Jesus respond? With a hint, or remez? He quotes Psalm 8 saying, “have you never read, ‘From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise’”? The Psalmist also writes in this Psalm, “…you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.”
Jesus is communicating something to them using remez. He is telling them they are his foe, and God will silence them.
When he is chided by his disciples, he quotes what has become a familiar verse related to poverty. Many have used this verse to excuse themselves from pouring themselves into helping the poor. The attitude seems to be, "If Jesus said, 'The poor will always be hanging around ...' then what good is it going to do to help them?" But Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 15, saying, “The poor you will always have with you …” Which is interesting because the full context of this portion of Scripture says,
“There need be no poor people among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today.”
Interesting. God says, “If you do things my way there will be no poverty.” But God seems to know that even his own people will not do things entirely right so he speaks about the fact that there will be poor people in the Land. So he continues,
“If anyone is poor among your people in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need … There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward those of your people who are poor and needy in your land.”
So for those who so quickly want to quote Jesus saying, “The poor will be with you always …” I say quote away! You are only reminding all of us that if we follow God there does not need to be poor among us, and if there is that we should be openhanded toward all of those who have need.
What is interesting to me is that the ones who most often condescendingly make comments to me, are ones who call themselves “followers of Jesus.” More times than I care to count I have people ask, state, or remind me of the Bible by quoting Jesus who said, “Just remember, Jesus said, ‘The poor you will have with you always …’” My usual response is to ask, “And what words comes directly after that?”
According to the Gospel of Mark, the rest of the sentence is, “…and you can help them any time you want.” Jesus says this because some of the disciples are upset about how money is being used, and claim it could go to help the poor. But there seems to be another layer to Jesus’ teaching.
Jesus’ statement about the poor, is his quote of Torah. Perhaps Jesus was using an ancient artful teaching tactic called remez. Which means “hint”. Rabbis did this by quoting one piece of a verse in Scripture in a teaching or a discussion. Remember, that many in Jesus’ day would have had much of the Hebrew Scriptures memorized. So if they quoted one part of a verse, they knew that their students would know the context of the verse, and probably be able to quote the rest of the verse.
Jesus used this method of teaching often. When Jesus told the religious that had made the temple into a “den of robbers” he was quoting the prophet Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 7, the prophet says to the people of Israel, “Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, "We are safe"—safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you?”
Jesus is saying a little more than, “You are ripping people off.” He is calling them murderers, adulterers, liars, and pagans.
We see this again in Matthew 21 where it says, “… when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things [Jesus] did and the children shouting in the temple courts, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David,’ they were indignant.” How did Jesus respond? With a hint, or remez? He quotes Psalm 8 saying, “have you never read, ‘From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise’”? The Psalmist also writes in this Psalm, “…you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.”
Jesus is communicating something to them using remez. He is telling them they are his foe, and God will silence them.
When he is chided by his disciples, he quotes what has become a familiar verse related to poverty. Many have used this verse to excuse themselves from pouring themselves into helping the poor. The attitude seems to be, "If Jesus said, 'The poor will always be hanging around ...' then what good is it going to do to help them?" But Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 15, saying, “The poor you will always have with you …” Which is interesting because the full context of this portion of Scripture says,
“There need be no poor people among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today.”
Interesting. God says, “If you do things my way there will be no poverty.” But God seems to know that even his own people will not do things entirely right so he speaks about the fact that there will be poor people in the Land. So he continues,
“If anyone is poor among your people in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need … There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward those of your people who are poor and needy in your land.”
So for those who so quickly want to quote Jesus saying, “The poor will be with you always …” I say quote away! You are only reminding all of us that if we follow God there does not need to be poor among us, and if there is that we should be openhanded toward all of those who have need.