Was Jesus Poor?

​   The issue of money and God has been one of the church’s hot topics in recent years. Much of Christendom is known for its public stance against the word ‘prosperity’, preferring to contrast wealth with a life of self-denial. Despite its great wealth, the Catholic church has historically led the way in this area by promoting asceticism. Famous men like St. Francis of Assisi have been lionized for their vow of poverty and extreme austerity. However, contemporary ultra-evangelicals have now taken the lead in opposing what they call the ‘Prosperity Gospel’
   To support its position, the church has used such scriptures as Peter’s declaration when healing the paralytic: “…Silver and gold have I none…” (Acts3:6); or, the words of Jesus, “…the Son of man hath nowhere to lay his head…” (Matt.8:20); or, what is arguably the most famous passage used to support poverty, “…it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” (Matt.19:24).
  In addition, many contemporary churches shout: “HERETIC!!” or “FALSE TEACHER”!! at any pastor, Christian, or church who even mentions the word ‘prosperity’ from their pulpits! All who dare cross this line are branded with the derisive epithet: ‘PROSPERITY PREACHER’!
  On the contrary, aspiring to be like the ‘Berean’ Christian (Acts17:11), I think Jesus should always be our highest and greatest example on any subject matter regarding the Word of God. John 1:4 perfectly supports this sentiment: “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” The word “light” in this context means understanding. Let’s look at six Biblical reasons why it is literally impossible for Jesus to be poor. To be candid, the following 6 reasons support the idea that not only was Jesus not poor…But he was wealthy!
 
1.Herod was a king, and one earmark of a king is that he was wealthy. Because this is true, it is also safe to assume that those who handled his money, or those who were assigned to steward his wealth, also possessed a more than average amount of substance. In Luke 8:3, the Bible introduces Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward. The text declares she was a follower of Jesus and gave money to His ministry. Although the scripture does not mention how much she gave or how often she gave, we can assume that because she was a person of substance, when she gave to Jesus, it was not a mere pittance.
  Even more important than Joanna, Luke 8:3 further lists others who gave to Jesus. The context declares: Susanna, and ‘many’ others also gave to Him. Therefore, I think it is safe to assume that the intent of using the words “many others”, rather than just “others”, means that Luke intended to convey that a significant amount of money was given to Jesus.
 
2.Jesus had a treasurer, i.e. someone whose sole responsibility was to keep the money that came in from people like Joanna, Susanna, and “many others”. The fact that Jesus had a treasurer for His ministry is a vital piece of evidence supporting the AMOUNT of money people gave to Him, as well as the amount He spent! In other words, Jesus was taking in a large amount of money! How do I know? Since when does a poor man possess a treasurer? On the contrary, in Jesus’ day, poor people begged just to get to the next day!
 There is no recorded instance of Jesus ever begging—because He is the righteous(1Jn2:1)! Psalms 37:25 declares, “…I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”
 
3.Incredibly, Judas, who was Jesus’ treasurer, was stealing money (Jn 12:6). And what’s even more astonishing is that despite Judas pilfering…there was still enough to support Jesus and His apostles---all without raising an iota of suspicion! We can only conclude that Judas’ diabolical behavior occurred in the midst of an abundance of money.
 
4.When Jesus called the 12 apostles(Mk3:14), they were not simply living on their parents, some, if not all, owned their businesses. Therefore, even before calling the 12, we can assume these were men of substance, they were at least providing for themselves. So, to answer the call to ministry, the 12 apostles had to leave their work, which means Jesus had to support at least 13 people: 12 apostles plus Himself!
  However, the Bible teaches Peter was married (Mat8:14), and later Paul refers to the ‘marriages’ of other apostles(1Cor9:5). Although 1Corinthians 9:5 may or may not refer to the 12 original apostles. We now know that Jesus had to support at least 14 people: Jesus + 12 apostles + Peter’s wife = 14.
  Fourteen is not the final number! At the time of Jesus, because it was normal in the Jewish culture to marry young and have lots of children, it is therefore not out of the question to assume Jesus supported many more than 14 people. How is that? Who were the others? Besides Peter’s wife, if the other 11 apostles were married, the number requiring provision would instantly leap to 25, including Jesus. However, if the apostles had children, the number He supported could easily have been north of 50 people!!
  If you think the number 50 is absurd, remember Jesus chose 12 apostles(Lu6:13) from 70 original disciples(Lu10:1)!! Like His 12 apostles, Jesus required these 70 men to leave their homes to do kingdom work(Lu10:9,17). So, following is my million-dollar question: who and how were these 70 men financially supported?* The only answer is Jesus! BUT…how could He have accomplished this incredible feat without an abundance of money?!?!
 In conclusion, even if we return to the number of 14 total people whom Jesus originally provided for, how could He ever have supported even this number without possessing an abundance of money?
 
5.We know for certain that Peter was married(Matt8:14), and because of Israel’s long-standing tradition regarding family, means he probably had children. So, one of the greatest supports for Jesus’ wealth is when He called the twelve to ministry, Peter’s wife, along with any wife of an apostle who was married--would have assuredly raised Cane---had they not been well provided for in their husbands’ absence!!!
  What better way for the Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees to convince the multitudes that Jesus was a deceiver, had even the slightest bit of strife arise from Peter’s wife, or the homes or the wives or families of the other apostles…’IF’…they were without shelter or food, or provision of any kind!!! We can absolutely rest assured that the Pharisees would have used this chaos to their advantage, having a history of searching for reasons to condemn Jesus!!
  However, not one shred of evidence exists in the Gospels that either Peter’s wife, or the other apostles’ wives, or their children, or the wives of the 70 disciples raised any objections to Jesus ---due to a lack of provision! I repeat, and once again, there can be only one answer for this dilemma: the wives and families were abundantly provided with more than enough to help soothe their aching hearts from the absence of their husbands!!
  Need I remind you that the apostles were probably absent for days, weeks, and possibly months at a time when Jesus sent them to the cities and towns of Israel!! So not having more than enough provision would have certainly pushed the wives, or their families---over the edge!
 
6.It has traditionally been the opinion of scholars that there were three kings who paid tribute to Jesus at His birth, each one giving a commodity of either gold, frankincense, or myrrh(Mat2:11). However, the Biblical text does not indicate the total number of kings, so it could have been two or more. Yet, even if we assume the number of kings to be the traditional three, kings do not give small gifts to kings---but normally flaunt their wealth, giving large gifts (1Kgs10:2,7,10). Therefore, the worth of the gold, frankincense, and myrrh these kings gave to Jesus---would have been unimaginable!
  In addition, the amounts of treasure given by the kings would have been especially greater because they believed Jesus was a king(Mat2:2); the Messiah(Mat2:6); and God(Mat2:11)! As I have already noted---kings don’t give kings small gifts!!!
  In my opinion, the gifts from the kings of gold, frankincense, and myrrh are ‘the’ greatest evidence that Jesus was wealthy---even from His birth!!**
  In conclusion, because Jesus is our highest and greatest example, fear not what others think of you as you prosper in this life! Remember, do not settle for poverty…because God’s will for you is abundance…i.e.more than enough!
 
 
*Are you prepared to say these 70 men had no families or obligations from which they had to break away to obey Jesus? This would be too great a leap for me! On the contrary, it is much easier to accept the fact that Jesus possessed an abundance of money to support 70 men, their wives, and children---because He is more than enough!!!
 
**If you argue that Joseph spent the 3 king’s money in Egypt, there are four reasons to reject this notion:
           1.The money was not given to Joseph, but to Jesus.
           2.Joseph was a man of great integrity.
           3.Joseph was not a thief.
           4.Joseph was a carpenter; therefore he would have used his skill to provide for his family.
 
QuoteBit
Measure wealth not by the things you have, but by the things you have for which you
would not take money. AUTHOR UNKNOWN