John 12:4, 5 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?”
John goes on to explain that Judas wasn’t as interested in the poor as he was in adding to the bottom line of the group’s reserves because he sometimes helped himself to those funds. But he was a disciple. He had left all to follow Jesus just like Peter and James and John. There may have been some genuine concern about the integrity of the ministry in his question, we might never know. It makes Jesus’ response all the more startling. Jesus implied that his death was in some way more important than feeding the poor. I guess great cathedrals have been constructed and personal jets bought for preachers when the money would have been better used to feed the poor. But Jesus elevates himself here, at least in connection with his death. All four gospels focus on the cross and the events leading up to it. Why was it so important? How would answer that question this week?
Logan Memorial Presbyterian Church 