After leaving Capernaum, it's town to town itinerant living for Jesus and his 12 disciples. This lifestyle was made possible by the financial support of women who had been healed and delivered and were now traveling with them: "these women were helping to support them out of their own means."
We don't often think of a group of ladies tagging along with Jesus and his guys, but there it is in the Bible. Those who had been forgiven much, and healed and delivered of much, loved much in return. This following love seemed more important to Jesus than appearances, including the appearance (and reality) of relying on the generosity of women for their daily bread. He could have practiced "self-sufficiency" by on-demand multiplication of loaves and fishes. But for some reason Jesus chose to rely on the gratitude and love of these women camp followers. Maybe he knew that Christian men and women would be traveling through life together and would have to learn to give and receive each others' gifts in a spirit of humility and gratitude. What a wonderful savior is Jesus my Lord.
The Pharisees with all of their rules and fear could not evoke that kind of giving. Jesus scorns them for robbing poor widows. Such religious thievery would not have been "necessary" if a) they lived simply or b) their followers gave freely. It seems neither was the case.
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