The Crucible Act 3 Scene 1-14 Summary

Imagine being one of the disciples, sitting with Jesus and a witness to the scene described in Mark Chapter fourteen, verses three through nine. It says, "...During dinner, a woman came in with a vase made of alabaster and containing very expensive perfume of pure nard. She broke open the vase and poured the perfume on his head. Some grew angry. They said to each other, 'Why waste the perfume? This perfume could have been sold for almost a year’s pay and the money given to the poor.' And they scolded her. Jesus said, 'Leave her alone. Why do you make trouble for her? She has done a good thing for me. You always have the poor with you; and whenever you want, you can do something good for them. But you won’t always have me….” From that scene one could make the argument that Jesus didn't care for the poor. However, knowing the character of Jesus one could also surmise that this was not an excuse for inaction among Christians. Jesus was habitually made known His purpose for coming. That purpose always included the poor and disenfranchised, as mentioned in Luke

One can’t automatically assume this scripture in question was meant to excuse inaction or diminish the importance of helping those in need. I believe that this was Jesus’ way of paraphrasing a previous text, with the intent of calling to mind the larger passage it came from. He did this by quoting Deuteronomy chapter fifteen, verse eleven. Likewise, the sole intent and purpose was for the disciples and Christians to remember the instructions on how to deal with the poor and debt. In the Deuteronomic Law their were laws put in place for the purpose of people eluding poverty. If someone owed a debt they had the option of working off the debt for up to, but no longer than seven years. After the debt was paid their land and valuables were then returned to them. In Deuteronomy, perpetual poverty was