Why would Jesus object to Judas' complaint against Mary's pouring out of a year's salary worth of oil?
Surely Jesus didn't need to be worshiped. Surely the poor need our help.
The thing is that Jesus seems to be actually taking Judas' complaint at face value, unlike St. John. The rebuke focuses on the fact that Judas actually is saying that his real interest is in serving the poor not on Jesus.
And even though serving the poor is repeatedly exemplified by Jesus in his actions, anytime we see Jesus or his Church as a convenient tool to further our real agenda, we're missing the point.
As is said by so many in the Church, our goal needs to be to keep the main thing, the main thing. We need to keep the focus on Jesus, and all the other good things we want to do will follow.
This is a good and needed teaching – thanks for posting it.
When I read this account, I think of Judas’ response as a way to shield himself from an encounter with God.
This story also evokes John 6:26-27, when Jesus tells his disciples not to focus on the bread he had provided, but on the eternal life he would give. Something greater than a year’s worth of earthly food was standing in front of Judas and he didn’t recognize it.