ome Prosperity preachers (PP) claim that Jesus lived a superfluous luxurious life on earth. They said that He owned ships and slept on beds that were "well prepared" based on the record in Mk 4:36-38. But the story only had it that He was asleep on a pillow in spite of the storm that got the other co-travellers frightened to death. Jesus could not be perturbed because He is the Master of nature and such an incidence could not cause him any worry. He had had a very busy day of teaching, so He went into the inner part of the ship and slept deeply. I cannot find anything inside the passage that suggests that the ship was made of any material other than wood and I wonder what is luxurious in a person sleeping on a pillow placed on a wooden bench inside a boat. And can any one find anything in that story suggesting that the ship or any of the other little ships that accompanied Him or any ship wherever belonged to Him? It is nothing but a bad and deceptive interpretation of the Scripture.
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And what is extraordinary in it, if He slept on a pillow? I wonder what luxury is in a life where He went on foot, preaching from one village to the other (Matt 9:35; Lk 13:22). The greatest luxury He perhaps ever had was to ride on a colt (young donkey), which He did on the first Palm Sunday, which was just a distance of about 3 Km (Lk 19:29-38; John 11:18).
One of the religious leaders (a scribe, Pharisee) must have been very impressed with the simplicity and the humble life of the Lord and he desired to go with (follow) Him. The Lord's reply can be interpreted as "Do you know the implication of what you are about to enter in?" Listen to Him "Foxes have dens (holes) to live in, and birds have nets, but I, the son of Man, have no home of my own, not even a place to lay my head"(Matt.8:19-20; Lk.9:57-58). So where is the life of luxury in this?
The prosperity preachers said that Jesus was so rich that He even had a treasurer. But does a group (fellowship) or a Church need to be rich before it has a treasurer? The Scripture tells us that the purse kept by Judas was contributed by some women whose hearts God ministered to, in helping His (The Lord's) ministry (Lk 7:2-3). The mere fact that the Lord didn't have to keep the purse but delegated someone else in the group to do it shows us how accountable and transparent He was as a leader as opposed to the behaviour of many Gospel Ministry leaders of today.
Certainly there must have been times when the treasury was empty or what would the Lord have wanted to prove, had there been money in the purse, and when tax collectors came, He had to send Peter back to his old trade of fishing, to collect money from the mouth of a fish in order to pay the bill. (Matt.17:24-27). That He was a magician?
The only evidence, which may suggest as if the Lord lived in affluence, is found in St. John 19:23-24. There we read that the garment, which He wore to the Cross was split among the four soldiers who nailed Him, with possible suggestion that it might have been attractive. The coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. The soldiers agreed not to split that, but conceded it to whoever won it by lot (toss of dice). This might also suggest that the coat must have been very expensive, such that it appealed to the soldiers to desire it but at the same time it disturbed their conscience (soldiers) to destroy it in an attempt to share it, so they decided who would have it by the toss of dice.
But it may be wrong to assume or interpret it that the garment or the coat was expensive, as we do not have the complete idea of what their dresses were made of or how they looked like in the days of our Lord when He was here. We however know that it was during a cold winter that He was murdered (Lk.22:55). So, He must have worn some warm clothing. Except to fulfil the words of the Prophet (Psalms 22:18), which had said: "They parted my raiment among them and for my vesture they did cast lots" (John 19:24), I do not know how big the share of the garment, which each soldier got could have been, to be of any use to him. And had they split the coat, I wonder of what use each part would have been to any of them (Soldiers). But even in contemporary life, those who are thieves will steal anything, whether valuable or not. Another thing of importance, which we must not lose sight of, is that Jesus the Man, was an 'enigma' (mysterious, puzzling and dazzling). Even His murderers were convinced of this fact and so anything that He possessed was bound to be desired by anyone, any day, whether expensive or inexpensive. And it happens over the ages till today for followers to want to emulate the styles of famous preachers and other famous people.
One thing however must be realized about Jesus, He is God. Even when He was on earth as man, He was God at the same time. So, cash couldn't prevent, inhibit or barricade anything He wanted to do at anytime. He fed a multitude of thousands with insignificant things on two occasions (Matt 14:15-21; 15:32-38). Tax collectors came knocking, the required revenue came out of the gut of the fish (Matt.17:24-27).
Were The Earthly Parents Of Jesus Wealthy?
Our Lord came to this world through parents of humble background. Actually one will only be displaying courtesy to describe their condition as 'humble background'. If we will jettison courtesy, really Our Lord's parents "were poor". How do we know? At the due time, when the baby Jesus was to be presented to the Lord, according to the Law of Moses, at the end of the purification days of Mary (the mother of our Lord), they (the parents our Lord) went for the necessary sacrifice with, "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons" (Lk 2:22-24). Were they better placed; the requirements according to the law for that purification ceremony were: "one year old lamb, as a burnt offering, a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering" (Lev 12:6-8). The Living Bible records Vs 8 as: "But if she is too poor to bring a lamb, then she must bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons. One will be for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering". But Mary took for that ceremony, "a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons", which were the materials, acceptable for only those who were too poor.
The question may be asked, "Why did the Lord choose to be born by poor parents and not by rich people of His time like Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathea?" Simply, the Lord wanted to identify with the poor and to stop the mouths of "acclaimed and celebrated Prosperity Preachers" who He knew would arise at this time. To stop the mouths of those who, "to them, the Good News is just a means of making money" (1Tim 6:5 LB). The Lord chose to be born of lowly parents and He identified with the poor in order: "To destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent���.." (Extract 1 Cor 1:19-28).
The singular act of Our Lord to be born by poor parents is enough a proof that God does not disown the poor. In fact, many of His utterances betray His soft spots for them. This, however is not to say that he hates the rich. It is within His prerogative however to make one rich and allows another to be poor, "That I might show my power in thee�.Should the thing that was created say to the one who made it "Why have you made me like this?"" (extract, Rom 9:17-20; 1 Chr 28:11-12).
Next time, we shall be looking into the Scripture to see if there is any statement that can be credited to the Lord, promising material wealth to whoever believes in Him.
