Jesus as a right-wing capitalist?...hmmmmmmmmmm, interesting you would reach that conclusion. Throughout history, many have seen him more as a left-wing socialist type.
If Jesus were a right-winger, he would have said 'the poor will always be with you, BUT you can ignore them because it's their own fault anyway'...lol.
In the Scriptures, poor is a categorical description that includes the blind, the crippled, the widowed and orphaned, the oppressed, the victims of fraud, the enslaved, the victims of injustice, the persecuted, etc. etc. Whenever there is a scriptural reference to one of these groups, it is accompanied by an admonition to the reader to right the wrong, share our wealth, provide healing and comfort, etc.
His statement is seen as a warning to mankind. He's telling us the poor will always be with us (a statement of fact) THUS we should be ready and willing to do what it takes to alleviate the suffering of them.
As a Jew himself, Christ was critical of the capitalists of his day. For example, throwing the moneychangers out of the temple. |
