Tuesday, 10 November 2026

The poor are always with us? Why Jesus never made anybody fundamentally a Good person by a miracle

There are two usual (but wrong) attitudes towards this life on earth:

1. To finesse the presence of evil and entropy (death), such that life is asserted to be basically good - evil is merely mistaken of unfortunate; decline and death are to be welcomed. Life is "good enough" as is - if only people would recognize the fact. 

For example; poverty either is not-really bad, maybe because of its potential compensations; or else poverty is the fault of the poor who have chosen their life, and could unchoose it. Anyway, poverty is part of the scheme and plan, and should be appreciated and made-the-best-of. 

2. To acknowledge the reality, and unacceptability, of evil and entropy - to conclude that this actual life on earth is fundamentally a problem, and "not good-enough". And to believe that we can and should work ("work together") to make this world a better place: and indeed so much better, that our actual lives on the planet earth will become good-enough to satisfy everybody's needs and wants.

For example poverty is recognized as a bad thing, but poverty is believed to be preventable and curable by directed and coordinated human action. 


Jesus had a different attitude. 

For Jesus "the poor" are always with us: meaning that poverty is both real and bad; but the situation of this actual world is that "poverty" is incurable in this mortal life. 

There will always be poor; there will always be evil and degeneration and death - in this mortal life. But also that despite being incurable this situation is "not good enough". 

Any attempted alleviation of poverty here, will miss or exacerbate the problem elsewhere. And anyway; there is no strong and general human desire to eliminate poverty, nor (even if there was such a desire) is there any mechanism by which the world can be fundamentally improved. 


For Jesus: Poverty cannot be overcome; And poverty is intolerable. 

But Jesus did not despair! Far from it. His life and message are of hope; because "poverty", evil, entropy this can and shall be cured and utterly abolished... 

We can look-forward to this (and many other) qualitative enhancements of human life with complete confidence. 

Yet not in this life and world, but after our death - and for all those who fundamentally desire to live by love. 


What is less often noticed is that for Jesus this applies not just to the world but to the people of the world. 

This is why Jesus was content to live among such manifestly "inadequate" people as his disciples, why he joyfully consorted with tax-collectors, publicans and the like.

Why he pointed-out personal sins and deficiencies (often with irritability and anger) and demanded that they be acknowledged; but also why Jesus neither expected nor promised that other people would fundamentally reform and become Good.  


For Jesus; we are all and everybody fundamentally inadequate people, and nothing substantive can be done about this - this side of death. 


If we are to live and love, it can only be - it shall be - a matter of sinful and damaged and fundamentally inadequate people loving each other.  

The situation is intractable: Jesus consorted with and loved many bad and ineffective people; because that is what people are. 

And nothing - not even Jesus* - could make things otherwise.


Jesus knew the deficits and wickedness of those whom he particularly loved, of those with whom he lived; and he wanted not merely that they became just a bit better - for a while... 

Jesus wanted that "other people" be enabled to become wholly-good and eternal - if they themselves also wanted it. 

Jesus recognized that adequate people living in an adequate world was not possible to achieve in this mortal life: however; Jesus made this possible and achievable post-mortally: by resurrection to everlasting life in Heaven. 



*NOTE: Jesus could not and did not ever make anybody Good by a miracle. This is very important for us to notice. 


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