Can you imagine a world without poverty? Or is it a problem that simply can't be solved?

After all, Jesus said, "The poor you will ALWAYS have with you."

It's right there in Scripture. John chapter 12. Verse 8.

So, how does this jive with Jesus’ stated mission to bring Good News to those at the bottom of the heap? Because inevitably, when we start talking about serving the poor, feeding the hungry, or welcoming refugees, someone wheels out this old chestnut, “That’s all very well Sonny-Jim but don’t you know? The poor you will ALWAYS have with you.”

It’s as though some Christians are hell-bent on seeing serving the poor, as a losing battle. Poverty will always be here, so tone down your revolutionary rhetoric and give up the fight!

But consider this. I reckon Jesus actually meant the OPPOSITE of what we usually take him to mean here.

In fact, it seems to me that Jesus was actually advocating radical generosity and concerted action to eradicate poverty, rather than hands-up-in-the-air, shoulder-shrugging apathy.

Here's my reasoning.

You know how some catch-phrases are just so well known, that everyone knows the ending - you don't even really need to say it?

Here’s one: "Sticks and stones."

Everyone already knows the ending, "Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me." Just saying Sticks and Stones is enough for you to catch my drift right?

It just so happens that in saying "The poor you will always have with you," Jesus was quoting another super well-known Biblical phrase - from a famous passage of the Jewish Torah. Everyone hearing him back then would have caught his drift. Here's the full original quote:

“If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be...For the poor you will always have with you in the land. Therefore, I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’" (Deut 15:7-11)

So, reading Jesus' words in their original context you can see that His words were meant to spur generosity towards those who are marginalized. "The poor you will always have with you, so open wide your hand!" The command to be open-handed towards the poor comes directly from Yahweh himself.

It’s the very OPPOSITE of how lots of Christians use these words. Jesus isn’t calling for apathy and tight-fistedness, but generosity and engagement.

So, memorize this passage properly. And the next time someone says, "The poor you will always have with you..." Be sure to complete the sentence: "Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land."

But wait, there’s more.

The other important thing to note about this story is that Jesus specifically uses these words to rebuke Judas who was being mean towards the downtrodden. Judas was scornful towards a woman for pouring out her perfume on Jesus:

He 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. (John 12:6)

So, when we use Jesus' words to justify not caring, we are actually repeating the very sin of Judas himself, who was robbing those most in need of compassion.

This is not just theological gymnastics. Everything I have said here lines up consistently with the rest of Jesus' life and teachings, starting with the revolutionary freedom song sung by Mary while Jesus was still in the womb (that everyone ignores):

"He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty." (Luke 1:53)

You can literally see Jesus fulfilling this freaky prophecy in the feeding of the 5000. Here’s the link - the same word from Mary's Song, "filled", is found in John 6:12, where we hear that that motley crowd of 5000 all ate and were "filled".

5000 hungry people had their immediate needs met in that place and time because ONE little boy was willing to be "open-handed" towards the poor and needy.

Later, after Jesus' death, the early believers also took these teachings on open-handedness seriously:

And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were NO needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. (Acts 4:34-35)

There were no needy persons among them! Poverty was eradicated in their midst. That was the natural outcome of taking Jesus' teachings seriously.

Jesus' upside-down Kingdom is coming. He calls you and I to be part of it. The poor are going to be lifted up. The hungry are going to be fed. Your call, and my call, is to be open-handed and generous.

So if, like me, you have experienced that metaphorical pat on the head, don’t let the misuse of this verse take the wind out of your passion for justice.

Instead, quote the full verse and context. And then get on with what Jesus has called us all to do – love and serve, and bring “good news to the poor”!

Perhaps, "The poor you will always have with you," doesn't mean what you think it means