“The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.”
The selfish side of me wants to say: “Hey, I don’t really need to help the poor – Jesus says so! We’ll always have ’em!” But this ignores the fact that on one day, Jesus dug deep to pay the debts of my bankrupt soul. Throughout Scripture, over and over, we find Jesus rushing in to heal the poverty of the purse, the body, and the spirit. We should do likewise, and at every opportunity.
A better translation of this passage might be an old one: time is more important than treasure; moments more than money. Money comes and goes, and can always be made up, but time – once shattered – can never be put back together. This woman holds a precious jar – the one chance of history to anoint Jesus for his burial – and ends up in history as a very rich woman.
Gospel of Mark: Off the Beaten Path 