Was Jesus Rich?
There are many today who are teaching that Jesus was rich.Among those who teach Jesus and the apostles are rich are Creflo Dollar and Kenneth Hagin. John Avanzini attacks and mocks theologians for teaching that Jesus was poor.
Was Jesus Rich? Lets look at the clear biblical evidence.
Jesus gave up all the riches that are his in heaven to become a man and was born to a poor family (not homeless and destitute). His stepfather was a carpenter. If they had money from the gold given at his birth (as some claim) he would not of had to work.
Archeological excavations of Nazareth from the 1950’s show the village of Jesus' day were occupied by poor agricultural people. As Jesus grew up he worked in the trade of a carpenter, not a trade known for its wealth. How did Jesus become rich with a step-dad who was only a carpenter? There is absolutely no indication anywhere that he was wealthy from his family or from traveling with His disciples.
Neither John the messenger or Jesus dressed as those who show God's blessings today with thousand dollar suits and shoes.
Avanzini says "Jesus had a big house" but it was Peters mothers house in Capernaum that was often used as a base, it was not His.
Matt. 8:19-20: "Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." Jesus himself he had no place to lay his head, no permanent home, he constantly traveled. He dressed like everyone else, he even said to forsake this world to inherit his kingdom. His kingdom is not of this world and he made it perfectly clear in His teachings.
Jesus became poor in becoming a servant in position and also in his social life. Zech. 9:9 " Behold, your King is coming to you; he is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey." Even his fulfilling prophecy as a king was in humility of his position. He came as a servant, not a king, but today we have those who want to have crowns recognized for their positions now. Quite the opposite in the Scripture, he who is exalted will be humbled.
We are to follow Jesus' pattern, yet some actually think if Jesus came today he’d have the best clothes, drive a Roll’s and eat steak every night. We better look carefully at the Bible before we choke on what is being dished out.
He was buried in another mans tomb, a rich mans. If he was rich or his family, they would have buried him in his own family tomb. But this again proves that He had no money for this. Neither did his family nor the apostles have the money to by such a burial, it was borrowed, actually donated to be exact. After all it would not be permanent.
Jesus in his ministry had borrowed many things. A manger, He borrowed boats, He borrowed a colt; He borrowed a house for Passover and He was buried in a borrowed tomb.
Jesus sent the disciples out without money ( Mt. 10:9-12) “ Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food. Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out.” They did not rent a room but depended on others hospitality and the Lord for their provision. The money belt was a small purse that would carry very little coins, they did not have dollar bills then but coins.
(Continued in Comment)
Comments (34)
Kenneth Hagin claims not only for himself but for the Bibles written promise, "He wants His children to eat the best, He wants them to wear the best clothing, He wants them to drive the best cars, and He wants them to have the best of everything.
Jesus explains the parable of the sower by saying in Mt 23:19 the seed is the word and before that he explains how the people need ears to hear so they can understand and be fruitful. In vs. 37 he explains further that the sower of the good seed is the son of man which is either Jesus himself or those who preach the same message of his word. The good seeds are the sons of the kingdom. In other words those born of incorruptible seed which is the word of God 1 Pt.1:23 are in the world as a growing plant to produce fruit of the spirit.
Luke 12:15-21: And He said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses."
Those who want to become rich now suffer a loss in faith, as Jesus said you can’t serve two masters. There’s nothing wrong with having money but there is a lot wrong with money having you. How can you tell the difference, just listen to the message and find out where they fit it in. Look at what they teach, Godliness means more blessing = money.
Kenneth Copeland writes, "Do you want a hundredfold return on your money? Give and let God multiply it back to you. He urges his supporters, "Invest heavily in God; the returns are staggering, ... "Every man who invests in the Gospel has a right to expect the staggering return of one hundredfold." (Laws of Prosperity , pg.67) This may be true but it may not be in your bank account.
This is why Creflo Dollar and Kenneth Copeland can lead the congregation in a affirmation "Money come unto me NOW" three times. (Dec.4, 1999 Voice of victory telecast).Creflo Dollar says “Yo’all better obey the prophet and reap the prophets reward, my prophet is rich and I’m gonna be rich too” “I call in the money, I found me a preacher, this is my first million and to it, do you all hear what I’m saying,…I’m going to have what I say, what I say, what I say, what I say, what I say”(and the people cheered madly).
Poverty is from the devil and God wants all Christians prosperous." (Benny Hinn, TBN, 11/6/90).
James 2:5 "Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?" The very opposite is being said today, "has not God chosen the rich because they have faith for their wants!"
Nowhere can you find a passage in the New Testament where Jesus Christ or His Apostles discipled believers to get money or be rich? Jesus Christ taught the opposite, He told the rich man to sell all that he had and give to the poor.
Real riches that Christ is concerned with are spiritual ones, our self righteous rags will never do from a church that is self empowered. Until we have God's eye salve applied to our eyes we will continue to look at the outward, and ignore our spiritual bankrupt condition on the inside.
hmm! Well. Going by the book named:
The Bible.>>> The Good News Bible.
I look at this question as a yes! And A no.
No! By his stepfather. And just By God/ The father.
Believers and unbelievers!
IMO. that is 50/50!
There is rich & poor people in both of these group.
Rich unbelievers. And Poor unbelievers. Same as Rich Believers. And Poor believers.
Poor - Step father
Rich- Father.
So! IMO. He walk the earth, under poor. But! still rich, on the other hand. Threw the father.
PS: Just going by the book that! I read.
One hundered fold to the church?
Uhm! Iiiii don't get off into that!
I mean: Their is other things to do Also! Then just give to the church. (Oh! I don't mean no harm.)
But! There is other people that's in need. Then just a church! Like: feed people, clothes people. Help people in general. ( Can that also! Be include in a hundred fold? I think! Because! What if you don't have it! An example: $100. or more, every time?
Yes! I know that the church has bills. Maybe,! The rich people can handle that part. And the poor help handle the other poor. By giving to one another. > A helping hand. ( Just Saying!)
PS. Big Churches! That's called Mega Churches.
Naah! I will hold that one. Maybe! Just maybe another time.
It is extremely sad and disheartening to see so many preachers today claiming God wants them and all Christians to be rich. Worse, they hint or claim outright these riches will come only if Christians plant a "seed" (money) into the ministry (most notably theirs.)
Again. VERY GOOD expose. Wish all could read it.
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No He was not rich
It is the mission that he was sent forth to take form as our likeness and save lives which was lost. He mostly preached bout God’s Love and Grace to us mankind and rarely riches on earth but his riches in Heaven.
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.(Corinthians 2 8:9)
This is because although Joseph and Jesus, et al were from the Nazarene region, there was in 0 BC, no such town as Nazareth or if there had been, it's location was long forgotten. What occurred is during the Crusades a decision was made by the European knights to pick a village in the area and title it Nazareth. There are traces of older abandoned villages once having been elsewhere nearby but the town we call Nazareth today only dates back to about 300AD. So we can dig away there, but learn nothing useful.
That being said, the 3 Magi (Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar) supposedly delivered gold, frankincense and myrrh. Allegedly the value of these items were sufficient to pay for the travel to Egypt and also set dad up in business at a new location.
and showed us how to do the same.
Jesus Christ teaches that we are all rich with the inheritance HE gave us when we accept JeSus Christ as Lord and Savior these are riches in Godly things and not finances!
Past. Present and future.
The riches Jesus had, were and are of a heavenly nature for all eternity.
Of course, Jesus was rich "spiritually" and these are the riches he promises and gives to his true followers.
The main question here was Jesus rich "materially" and "financially"?
If he was, why did he have to borrow so many things?
If I recall correctly, the only thing Jesus owned was his clothes which were gambled for by the soldiers who crucified him. (I stand to be corrected on this).
According to Matthew 23:19, as stated in the blog, the "seed" to which Jesus refers is the "word".
Somehow, this "seed" is now being interpreted as "money". "Planting a seed" is now being taken to mean "giving money".
One TV preacher you left out who preaches the social gospel...Joel Osteen!
All of the preachers weren't bad though....Billy and Franklin Graham! Billy was my all time favorite!
I agree that all here, so far, expressed the view, that Jesus was not financially rich.
What about Creflo Dollar, Kenneth Hagin and John Avanzini?
Why do they teach otherwise?
In answer.. I don't know, but can only say that my immediate sense as to why they would teach otherwise is to solidify or justify their own internal or external comfort levels, whatever those comfort levels may be or refer to. Like many of us, they might have some very deep inner work to do.
You are absolutely right! Looking into the gospel of Matthew 2 verses 19-23 explains it all.
Another way that can help you understand that Jesus was rich is the level and depth of religiousness in the developed world and the less developed world. You will find churches are filling up to bursting capacities in the less developed countries while in the developed countries, churches are being turned into pubs, garages, restaurants etc. The reason for this is that people in less developed countries, with their level of poverty, have tried to go to the next step, which if of finding God, before they take the first step, which is attaining to riches, as Jesus did. This does not work. They will die praying and hoping. In the developed countries, with their level of prosperity, are stuck on the first step which is attaining riches. They don't care about finding God as Jesus did. Hence, you can forget about having another one like Jesus coming from either the less developed or the developed countries.
If you believe that God created everything, and I hope you do, then it is only logical to concluded that He also created riches and if God so loved everything that He created, He must have created it for a reason. Is it not right then to think that God must have created riches so that they can provide us with the first stepping stone towards finding Him. Jesus must have realized this.
And please do not look for answers about whether Jesus was rich or not. You will not find much in there. Be as free as a bird that flies the sky and you will find the answers!
No need to apologize.
This blog is for open discussion to all,
once it is kept on the topic.
We Christians know what it means to be a Nazarene, meaning from Nazareth as so God says Jesus shall be known as... you don't belief in God or His Word, so why are you trying to convince me or any Christian as to what we should believe or not read...your words as an unbeliever(sinner) are void and empty and powerless to Christian believers... This blog is not about what unbelievers think or believe, the topic of this blog is as posted... Was Jesus Rich?... and Christian believers have made their comments, and God has spoken so let the church say Amen! So what's your problem??...keeep it movin'
Based on the the biblical evidence presented in this blog, Jesus was not rich in the material sense of the word. Yet, according to the blog:
"There are many today who are teaching that Jesus was rich (materially). Among those who teach Jesus and the apostles are rich are Creflo Dollar and Kenneth Hagin. John Avanzini attacks and mocks theologians for teaching that Jesus was poor."
Why do these persons teach otherwise?
What do you think of their message?
People want to hear things that make them feel good. Hearing about the cross or other sacrificial aspects of Christian living doesn't draw in the crowds. Money and blessings do. Simple.
It also justifies their exorbitant lifestyles.
Notice here, Jesus doesn't say I ONCE KNEW YOU, but He says, I NEVER KNEW YOU, which means from the beginning of their call in ministry, they had wrong motives, and their only goal was not to preach or teach the Gospel of Salvation, but for selfish-ambitions and money. I say, they preach and teach Jesus as a part-time lover and money is their full-time wife
As you may have noticed, I took care of the duplication and your comment about it.
Although Joel's ministry has grown larger than his father's ministry ever was... it is as God says, the trap of money caught their eyes... I like Joel, but he should not concern himself with how large his audiences are, but with the salvation of those he does reach. He does sometimes still have good inspirational messages but he teaches prosperity as a means of getting to God because that's what people would rather hear so they can boast about how good God is to them, instead of how it is that God saved their souls from hell. Joel's ministry does awesome work in Houston and the surrounding areas for the poor and needy, so that can't be taken from him, and all his financial records are in order with the nonprofit IRS, so he is accountable in such as this, but his gospel message of salvation needs work.
Yes, he could. But he didn't. Instead, he borrowed.
This indicates he was not rich which is the gist of this blog.
Docetism is unbelief in the deity of Christ