CNN: Was Jesus Wealthy?

My former pastor had the best definition of Biblical prosperity that I've heard to date: Prosperity is not having a lot of money in the bank, rather prosperity is having what you need when you need it. Thus, when Jesus had to pay taxes, and could not afford to do so, he commanded Peter to take the money from the mouth of a fish he had just caught. And when Jesus died, he did not even own a tomb in which to be buried. Thus, Joseph of Arimithia had to supply Jesus a grave. Likewise, when it came to feeding the multitude, it was a task Jesus didn't have the money for. But God richly supplied according to the present need, and multiplied the loaves.

It should also be noted that when Jesus' parents presented him at the temple, they made the sacrifice of the poor: two turtle doves. The three kings and their gifts did not come for a couple more years. No doubt, that would've improved the economic situation of Jesus' family, and Jesus may have indeed had some finer things in his life time as a result. But was He and His disciples rich? As clear from the gospels, hardly.

Good points, Jimmy. It is disheartening that so many "prosperity" preachers don't realize that they are guilty of a grave sin -- in which they covet (and even [i]lust[/i]) after the things of this world.

:-(

He did recieve what would in this economy would be a handsom sum of money, the bigger question is why? His family needed the provision to move to Egypt and set up not only house but shop as in buisness, you know, Joseph was a carpenter by trade. The devil/world and even some christians will always try to prevert that which was meant to be purely God's provision for a very hard and expensive journey and transition to a new land. The same still happens today. But knowing God, it was just enough and they didn't have such an abundance that they could live it up- so to speak. God has always required His true followers to depend on Him in plenty or in want. Those who do not depend on Him usually have no real power to effect any significant change.

hi, when Jesus fed the multitudes, notice that they blessed what they had and passed it out...today the ministry would surely make sure they were fed first... ego is the greatest enemy of God ...it is satans initial sin...it is why we have rich preachers off of poor widows...in the years i was close to bro.ravenhill, i saw a man who lived by faith...one day acall came in while we were in his office and the man offered len a guarantee of a million dollars ...lens response was "will you also guarantee me the annointing" other great ministries i have been close to have given their moneys and sweat and blood to the ministry of the gospel and like wesley and Jesus hardly had a place to rest their heads.Jimp

This is very sad that the world is openly mocking and seeing how this false gospel is being spread all across america. We need a revival of true religion and for all these ministries to stop being supported by americans. These false gospels are raping the Church world-wide.

I think part of the problem lies in our own perception of what wealthy is. We so often equate the term wealthy with a self-satisfying and greedy accumulation of money and goods. We often think that if a person does have ample means then that person's heart is given over to greed or to a love of money.

I do believe Jesus had not only had enough resources to see His own needs and those of His traveling companions met, but had ample supply of resources to give liberally and generously on each occasion. There are several clear scriptural passages that seem to indicate that Jesus had access to as much financial provision as He had need of. I will give two notable ones.

Mat 27:55-57
(55) And many women were there, watching from afar off, those who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him;
(56) among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
(57) And evening having come, a rich man from Arimathea (Joseph by name) who also himself was discipled to Jesus,

Jesus had more than 12 disciples who regularly accompanied Him and supported His ministry. His disciples included women and men who were wealthy in their own right. These minister to Jesus. How? I believe just as Paul speaks of churches ministering to himself financially.

Joh 13:29-30
(29) for some thought, since Judas held the moneybag, that Jesus was saying to him, Buy what things we have need of for the feast; or that he should give something to the poor.
(30) Then, receiving the morsel, he immediately went out. And it was night.

How many of us give to the poor so regularly that if we were to suddenly arise from the supper table at night and leave, it would be assumed that we were once again going to give to the poor? Obviously Jesus, from His own ministry resources, gave so frequently that this was the assumption of the rest of the disciples when Judas suddenly rose and left AT NIGHT.

What we must realize is that Jesus related to money correctly. He rightly saw its proper and Biblical purpose. Money is simply a tool to be used to accomplish eternal objectives, not a thing to be sought after as an end in itself. It is interesting to note how often money is the topic of teaching in the New Testament. God desires us to relate to money properly.

We know very little of the bulk of the life of Jesus. We see Him mentioned at about age 12 and not again until about age 30 when His three years of ministry began. I have heard several theories about the interim period, but nothing concrete. We don't find any mention of Joseph being around during the ministry years. One might assume he had already died, and if so the gifts from the Magi no doubt sustained the family. I have heard some claim that Joseph of Arimathea might have taken Jesus under his wing so to speak, being a relative of Mary, after Joseph died. But all of this is surmising about something that, unfortunately, history does not clearly record.

It is true that Jesus did not own any real estate during his three years of ministry. He spent those three years living a very itinerate lifestyle. This does not mean that he was poor in the sense that we think of poverty. Many of us, I think, see Jesus and the 12 a bit like a traveling band of nomadic, homeless people without a penny to their name. A bit like hippies (those of you from other nations might have to research that one). I believe that if you study the word carefully, this cannot be the case.

The point is that there are those who relate to and use money Biblically, and those who don't. I recall hearing a man talk about his good friend. This friend had a nice estate, raised thoroughbred horses, had cars, boats, and other things we would look at a frivolous toys. One day a person, learning that the friend was a believer, began lambasting this man. "How can he even call himself a christian and live such a lavish lifestyle." The man said, I had to bite my tongue. I could not reveal things about my friend that were privileged information. He said, "My friend lives on 10 percent of what he makes and sows the other 90 percent into the ministry." I would never judge another man because of his financial standing. God will judge that. This man related to money in a very Biblical way and used 90 percent of what he had for the kingdom of God. I don't do that. I honestly don't think right now that I have the faith to do that.

There are those who are greedy and are "raping the Church word-wide", and we a Christians who see clearly that this is going on need to stop funding these thieves and encourage others in the body to do the same. Give in good ground where men and women have a proper Biblical perspective on money and handle it according to the dictates of the word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Travis