Sunday, 27th January 2008
I am currently pursuing part-time studies at Rhema, and the module we are currently covering is Principles of Biblical Prosperity.
Yesterday, the lecturer asked the question whether Jesus was poor or homeless.
When growing up, I remember people saying that Jesus was poor. To support this view, they quote the passage as recorded in Luke 2:21-22 where his earthly parents brought Jesus to the temple to be circumcised when he was eight days old. Joseph and Mary offered as a sacrifice a pair of doves or two young pigeons.
Yes, Jesus was born into a poor family, but He did not remain that way. We read in Matt 2:1-12 that wise men from the east came to visit Him and "on coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh."
At the age of eight days, his earthly parents could only afford to sacrifice birds. But in less than 2 years, Magi came and presented them with gifts of gold! His parents were made rich because of Jesus!
I think what may have caused some confusion is the nativity scene we see nowadays. As a new-born baby, shepherds came to see Him. But it was several months (and probably even up to two years) later, when He was a toddler that the Magi came with gifts of frankincence, gold and myrrh. That is why we read in Matt 2:16 that Herod sought to kill all the boys in Bethlehem under the age of two.
So even though Jesus was born into a poor family, he did not remain poor.
When Jesus began His ministry, He was well-provided for. In fact, the funds was so substantial that He required a treasurer to look after them. This treasurer even helped himself to the funds without anyone noticing it!
Jesus could even afford to wear a robe that the Roman soldiers gambled for. Just think, it must have been the equivalent of today's Armani suit, if people are have to gamble for it.
So when was Jesus made poor, and why? So that we can be rich! It was part of the divine exchange! Paul tells us in 2 Cor 8:9 that “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”
As for Jesus being "homeless", people quote Matt 8:20 when "Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
But do you know the context of why Jesus said that? HE was replying to a scribe who had in verse 19 said that he would follow Jesus wherever He went. Jesus' mission was unique in that He was born to die, so the scribe would not be able to follow suit. Jesus finally laid His head on the cross when He cried "It is finished!"
I have blogged about the divine exchange and finished work here.
9 comments:
I don't think He was poor! He choose to live on the road because He had a mission..but not because He was poor..there a part (I can't remmeber where) that they asked Him where He lived and He said, come and I'll show you! so He had a home but was busy saving the world! God bless man! and I'm waiting on my joseph prince book!
better take the Bible and read it for you, my dear brother!
God, is our gold and our treasure! Let us seek His Person first of all.
you'll never want to marry someone who loves you just for the things you own!
Adrian, Romania
I also do not think that God expect us to marry someone who cannot provide for our needs. he said he that does not provide for his own is worse than an infidel and denied the faith.
God provides for his bride. If we would give all to our earthly brides and Ephesians 5 infers we should. Would not God do even better that us?
Jesus needed a TREASURER and Judas was the treasurer. Judas was even STEALING out of the account and NOBODY NOTICED. If it was a small account, EVERYONE would see Judas stealing... but if it was a BIG account, no one would know - as we have seen.
Jesus sent out disciples with nothing but the clothes on their backs -- no food, no money. When they were taken in, they ate what was set before them, and that was their wage.
The apostles had a very specific and unique ministry. Many of them were martyred for their faith. Yet even during the time of the apostles, we read of followers and believers like Lydia and Joseph of Arimathea who were extremely well-off. Each of them had their part to play in the Body of Christ.
As for us today, everyone in the Body of Christ should be blessed so that we can be a blessing to others. How to feed the hungry if the church doesn't have the means to even feed herself?
Christ and his disciples lived poorly. Jesus even says in Luke 14:33 - "...whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple."
He tell us to "sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the Heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys." - Luke 12:33
However, he also says "... when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind." - Luke 14:13
The way that I understand it, this implies that it is not a sin to be rich if you use your riches to aid those less fortunate. In any human society there will always be the "haves" and the "have-nots," so those who are rich should give to those who are poor. Let's face it, some people just can't survive in the world, with the rich and powerful oppressing the poor, even in our so-called "land of opportunity." And some people are born into riches, or are born with the potential to become exalted. But Jesus, although warning us of how hard it is for a rich man to find his way into God's mercy (about as hard as trying to force a camel through the eye of a needle, if I remember correctly), teaches us that the rich and the poor alike can be saved if they would just follow the golden rule (Matthew 7:12). Jesus is serious when he says "for this is the Law and the Prophets."
Also, I don't think Jesus had a treasury. And in 2nd Corinthians 8:9 when Paul says "being rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that through his poverty you might become rich," he is talking about Jesus humbling Himself from His position in Heaven and becoming a lowly mortal man, so that we can become spiritually rich. If Jesus were rich, why then would he have had to work as a carpenter before starting His ministry?
He was made poor on the cross, when He was stripped bare. The soldiers gambled for His robe, which means His robe was worth gambling for.
As part of the divine exchange, Jesus became totally poor on the cross, so that we might become rich. Just like He became sin so that we might become righteous.
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