Matthew 26:6 Now when Jesus came back to Bethany and was in the house of Simon the leper, 7 A woman came up to Him with an alabaster flask of very precious perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at table.  8 And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, For what purpose is all this waste?  9 For this perfume might have been sold for a large sum and the money given to the poor.

10 But Jesus, fully aware of this, said to them, Why do you bother the woman?  She has done a noble (praiseworthy and beautiful) thing to Me.  11 For you always have the poor among you, but you will not always have Me. (Amp)

“11 For you always have the poor among you, but you will not always have Me.”  I have said something about taking care of the poor before and have been told that we shouldn’t worry too much about the poor, because most of them brought it on themselves, and besides that, even Jesus said you will always have them among you.  Well, how many people realize that Jesus was quoting an Old Testament passage when He said this.

Deuteronomy 15:7 If there is among you a poor man, one of your kinsmen in any of the towns of your land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not harden your [minds and] hearts or close your hands to your poor brother; 8 But you shall open your hands wide to him and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks.

11 For the poor will never cease out of the land; therefore I command you, You shall open wide your hands to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor in your land. (Amp)

“… therefore I command you, You shall open wide your hands to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor in your land.”  Remember Jesus told the rich man he should sell his goods and provide for the poor!  He said this after the rich man told Jesus that he had kept all the commandments since his youth.  It seems the rich man who boasted to Jesus about keeping all the commandments had overlooked this command to open wide his hands to his poor, needy brother.  Remember, Jesus is God’s Word (John 1).  When Jesus spoke, His Words were the Words of God.

Old Testament law-

Deuteronomy 6:5 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your [mind and] heart and with your entire being and with all your might. (Amp)

Jesus’ teaching-

Matthew 22:36 Teacher, which kind of commandment is great and important (the principal kind) in the Law?  [Some commandments are light--which are heavy?]  37 And He replied to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect). (Amp)

Old Testament law-

Leviticus 19:18 You shall not take revenge or bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

Leviticus 19:33 And if a stranger dwells temporarily with you in your land, you shall not suppress and mistreat him.  34 But the stranger who dwells with you shall be to you as one born among you; and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. (Amp)

Jesus’ teaching-

Matthew 22:39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself. (Amp)

But some may say that this is referring to a ‘kinsman’ or ‘brother (family member)’.  When one asked Jesus who was a neighbor, Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan.  In that story, the Samaritan, whom the Jews generally considered to be an enemy, showed himself to be the true neighbor.  Jesus had said to love your enemies.  So do you think of the poor as your ‘brother’, ‘neighbor’, or ‘enemy’.  Read what Jesus said to those who did and to those who did not feed Him when He was hungry in the 25^th chapter of Matthew:

Matthew 25:32 All nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them [the people] from one another as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats; 33 And He will cause the sheep to stand at His right hand, but the goats at His left.

34 Then the King will say to those at His right hand, Come, you blessed of My Father [you favored of God and appointed to eternal salvation], inherit (receive as your own) the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  35 For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you brought Me together with yourselves and welcomed and entertained and lodged Me, 36 I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me with help and ministering care, I was in prison and you came to see Me.

37 Then the just and upright will answer Him, Lord, when did we see You hungry and gave You food, or thirsty and gave You something to drink?  38 And when did we see You a stranger and welcomed and entertained You, or naked and clothed You?  39 And when did we see You sick or in prison and came to visit You?

40 And the King will reply to them, Truly I tell you, in so far as you did it for one of the least [in the estimation of men] of these My brethren, you did it for Me.

41 Then He will say to those at His left hand, Be gone from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels!  42 For I was hungry and you gave Me no food, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome Me and entertain Me, I was naked and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not visit Me with help and ministering care.

44 Then they also [in their turn] will answer, Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?

45  And He will reply to them, Solemnly I declare to you, in so far as you failed to do it for the least [in the estimation of men] of these, you failed to do it for Me.  46 Then they will go away into eternal punishment, but those who are just and upright and in right standing with God into eternal life. (Amp)