Bible Thinker

I have often heard this passage used in ways that I don't think it was ever intended to be. In this study we are going through the anointing of Jesus by Mary, but unlike last time where we handled a rather complex set of questions about how this passage supposedly shows irreconcilable contradiction in the Gospels we are now looking at this passage to learn what we can from it in the way of answering a few questions. Why did Jesus say we would always have the poor with us? Does that mean we don't need to give money to the poor? What about those who say that taking care of the poor is the job of the Church and not the government (a phrase I have heard on the lips of pastors many times)? Why was Jesus anointed with oil for burial? What symbolic meaning is in this (spoiler, it's beautiful)? Why did Judas fall the way he did? Can we learn something from it to keep ourselves from slip sliding away like he did? This is part 58 of the Mark Series, going verse by verse through the Gospel of Mark. Today we are in chap