I do not pretend to understand the details of what is happening in Ukraine as I write this. The foreign occupation is causing some to flee to neighbouring countries, while others are either welcoming the Russians or defending their country.
But what is clear is that many are fearing for their futures. Tragically, war multiplies the evils of hate, death, and privation. We must pray for peace.
Jesus was born into an occupied country. The Romans and their puppet governments ruled with a heavy hand, and it didn’t take much for Jesus to get on the wrong side of them. Our Saviour understood first-hand the cruelty of despots.
Jesus, despite the evils that surrounded him, brought hope to the hopeless (and he still does).
He especially had a heart for the poor and downtrodden. They were the ones who suffered cold, hunger and sickness. Their futures were ever bleak.
But worse still, their lack of status was seen by their religious leaders as a curse from God. The privileged Scribes and Pharisees had little time for those incapable of adding anything “meaningful” to their lives—it seems nothing has changed.
Although Jesus fed thousands, cured the sick, and cast out demons, the problems of sickness, poverty and demonic warfare remained in Israel. He even said, “The poor you will always have with you” (Matthew 26:11).
However, we must look to what Jesus said after, “The poor you will always have with you,” to find his long-term solution: Jesus had then added, “But you do not always have Me” (Matthew 26:11).
Judas had tried to move the focus away from the anointing of Jesus by invoking the needs of the poor. Jesus would not allow him (the thief he knew he was) to steal the significance of the moment. All eyes were to be on Jesus’ preparation for death. For The Son of God was about to bring eternal wealth into the world, and all would be blessed by it.
Paul would later put it into these beautiful words: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
It is in Christ, no matter what our circumstances, that true wealth for the future is found. May we all humbly seek it.
John Staiger
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