Would you like it better if his name was Judas?
well that was the challenge question that was programmed at the pool
'Judas Priest'
Interesting thing about Judas, John attributes this to Judas:
http://biblehub.com/niv/john/12.htmBut one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5Why wasnt this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a years wages.b 6He 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.
7Leave her alone, Jesus replied. It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8You will always have the poor among you,c but you will not always have me.Mathew and Mark have more to write about the situation:
http://biblehub.com/niv/matthew/26.htmhttp://biblehub.com/mark/14-5.htmWhile Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, 7a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.
8When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. Why this waste? they asked. 9This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.
10Aware of this, Jesus said to them, Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 11The poor you will always have with you,a but you will not always have me. 12When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.I don't believe that wherever the gospel is being preached throughout the world, that what the woman in Bethany did, is also being told. I think that is something that has to happen for the preaching of the gospel throughout the world to be authentic, and considered done.
Furthermore:
"The poor you will always have with you,a but you will not always have me."This brings up what I call the Judas contrapositive: If I (Jesus) am with you, we should celebrate. We should give it to the poor, then I (Jesus) am away from you.
The contrapositive is a logical construct: If p then q; *q then *p (that is not q then not p). p=I am with you; q=we should celebrate;*q= we should give it to the poor; *p=I am away from you. So in other words, the logical consequence of Jesus being ascended and away is that we should spend money on the poor, which is exactly what this project aims to do.
I always think of that statement 'the poor you will always have' as a statement of the futility of the promises of communism and socialism. Or as its rebranded today 'basic income'. The idea that poverty can go away if we only redistributed the wealth. In other words, no matter what mechanisms man comes up with Jesus tells us that the poor in life will always be a fact.