IS JESUS THE POOREST MAN EVER?
One of the most common
of quotations from the Bible we hear today is: Jesus was made poor that we
might become rich. It does produce hope for the average Christian so as to soot
the pains in his lack of financial sufficiency.
2 Cor 8:9
9 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.
IS JESUS
THE POOREST MAN EVER? 2
Before we move further
let’s ask ourselves two questions which are as follows:
1. What is the definition of poverty?
2. . How poor was Jesus?
Poverty can be defined
as gross lack of financial resources to meet one’s basic or fundamental needs.
When Jesus carried out his ministry on earth, can any man alive today come out
with substancial evidence that Jesus was so lacking in financial resources that
he could not meet his financial obligations?
IS JESUS
THE POOREST MAN EVER? 3
Let us now have an
overall view of Jesus activity while he was on earth. 5,000 men had been with
Jesus in a solitary place for 3 days and nights. Now to every one man present
there would be atleast three women present for that is the statistics under
which most churches operate. Now to every woman present there will be atleast
three children and teenagers present. In all the population could have run into
atleast 50.000 people that were fed with five loaves of bread and two fish., is
this not so?
Wherever Jesus went,
similar number of people followed him on
daily bases. Sometimes these people give offerings. Imagine the amount
of money they would give willingly as offerings per day.
IS JESUS
THE POOREST MAN EVER? 4
When Peter did not pay his
tax, Jesus asked him to go catch a fish, open its mouth and use the coin inside
it to pay the tax. If God could put a coin in the mouth of a small fish for his
children to use, was it not also in HIS province to put billions of tons of
gold coins into a thousand large whales which would in turn throw up the coins
at night into one of the numerous beaches where Jesus normally pass the night
in prayers with his disciples?
IS jesus
the poorest man ever? 5
If all these money was
not enough, couldn’t Jesus who raised Lazarus from the grave after he had been
dead for four days use that same power to command the sand which is in the sea
shore for multitude to transform themselves into gold coins and they would obey
him without delay?
Can any man alive on
earth today boldly claim that a man who commanded and had such great resources
at his disposal, say that he is a poor man?
When men have proposed in their hearts to commit evil, they would go to
any length to drum up support, hence it is not strange to see many financial
experts cum pastors quote passages from the Bible to support actions which from
the deepest part of their heart they know it is wrong.
IS JESUS
THE POOREST MAN EVER? 6
For those of us who
preach and act as though money and materialistic acquisition of earthly things
is every thing, let us learn from our LORD, the great Master himself who
humbled himself and suffered death on the cross of calvary that we might be
saved from our sins.
Had Jesus wanted, he
could have been born in Caesar’s palace but he chose to be born in the house of
a carpenter. He could have bought five of the best chariots in Palestine for
himself and one each for his disciples to ride on and one horse for each of the
other people who regularly followed Him in His crusades but he chose to walk on
foot from town to town like a common servant.
IS JESUS
THE POOREST MAN EVER? 7
Had Jesus wanted, He
could have built a palace in every town, city and village where he would
ultimately preach but He chose to sleep in open field and mountain places. Or
are we trying to say He could not afford these things?
When the Bible talks
about Jesus making himself poor, couldn’t there be a more suitable explanation
of this verse than to take it literarily and begin to confuse ourselves? When Pilate
interrogated Jesus, he said, “You speak of a kingdom, that means you are a
king.” Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world, else my disciples would
fight.”
IS JESUS
THE POOREST MAN EVER? 9
When Jesus had finished
cleansing of the temple that is driving out the people who did business in the
temple, the following occurred.
John 2:18-21
Then answered the Jews and said unto him; what
sign show thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and
said unto them, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then
said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou
rear it up in three days? But he spoke of the temple of his body.
IS JESUS
THE POOREST MAN EVER? 10
There is what we call
the riches of his glory.
Rom 9:23-24
23 And that he might
make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore
prepared unto glory,
24 Even us, whom he
hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
There is no
contradicting the fact that Jesus CHRIST is GOD. Had He come down to earth in
the form of GOD by the which he existed in Heaven, no man could have been able
to stand before him as GOD.
IS JESUS
CHRIST THE POOREST MAN EVER? 11
No mortal man could
have been able to see his face and live.
Ex 33:20
20 And he said, Thou
canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
He would have been too
awesome, too great and wonderful for any man to interact with, hence he had to
humble himself and deny himself of the exceeding riches of His glory so that
haven become like one of us he could resist sin and break the power of death
caused by sin once and for all.
IS JESUS
THE POOREST MAN EVER? 12
The great musician of
our time, Don Moen put it this way: He walked where I walk, He stood where I
stand, He touched what I feel, He understands, He knows my frailty, shared my
humanity, tempted in every way, but without sin.
It is to be able to do
this thing that was why Christ denied himself of the exceeding riches of his glory
and made himself poor that we might become rich in faith like Abraham towards
God. Jesus was never a poor man or a destitute so that all men would become
millionaires. Anyone who continues to preach this get rich quick syndrome
without sweat because Jesus made himself poor so you can become a millionaire
overnight is wasting time promoting idle talk.
IS JESUS
THE POOREST MAN EVER? 13
If it is true that we
are all to be come financially wealthy as a result of Jesus poverty, why then
did the apostles of Jesus not follow this trend as we see today being canvassed
vigorously from our churches? Were we to assume as some argue that the Apostles
were unschooled men so they could not come into the full reality of the divne
provisions that God has made for them, can we also say same about the Holy
Ghost who gave them the inspiration to write the scriptures admonishing the
saints to abstain from the pursuance of worldly desires?
IS JESUS
THE POOREST MAN EVER? 14
What about Paul, what
about the other highly educated saints of old? Were these men and women also
unschooled and ignorant, not knowing those things which the LORD has freely
given them also? If the answers to these questions are no, how come it now
looks as if it is only the Christians of this age especially in Nigeria that
have suddenly woken up from their slumber and begin to enter the fullness of
the reality of God’s provision for the acquisition of materialism so much so
that this gospel of financial prosperity is being preached from one Sunday to another,
week in week out, throughout the year to the detriment of other topics that
should have been preached to the edifying and salvation of the soul?
