“There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore, I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.” The Deuteronomy passage calls for ongoing generosity and action to alleviate poverty, not apathy and resignation. By invoking this scripture, Jesus reinforces the idea that caring for the poor is a perpetual moral duty. He wasn’t saying “look away and get used to it”—he was reminding us that the fight against poverty never ends.
