WAS JESUS RICH ON EARTH? - 2 CORINTHIANS 8 VS 9 EXPLAINED

'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.' - 2 Corinthians 8 vs 9

Greetings dearly beloved of God in Christ. Grace be to you and peace from God our father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Sit tight and read through this teaching. I trust God that it will enlighten you. Amen.

The big question here is, WAS CHRIST MATERIALLY RICH ON EARTH? Let's get to see it.

For a long time, it has been erroneously taught in the churches of God all over the world that our opening Bible passage implies that Jesus was materially rich when He was on earth. Really? So right now, let's carefully look through the Bible and see what It truly says on this subject. Read with an opened mind void of doubts and despise. Okay. God bless you.

FOR OUR SAKES HE BECAME POOR

How did He become poor for our sakes? Did He empty His Bank accounts to give to us money? Is that how He became poor? This clearly tells you that this riches being talked about here is not material riches, it's not material wealth. - Selah

HE WORE AN EXPENSIVE LINEN

'And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.' - Matthew 27 vs 35 {KJV}

No where in Scriptures did the Bible mention that that garment was expensive. Just because the Soldiers parted His garments by casting lots doesn't automatically mean that the garment was expensive. By the way, think on rationally, Of what use is a torn garment to a man? The Bible says that they parted the garments. Meaning, they tore it into parts, and divided it among themselves. If that garment at all was expensive, it would be of no financial value to the men because it was parted (divided / torn.) I wonder how these Preachers arrived at the ideology that Jesus wore an expensive garment. - Think

'After they had finished nailing him to the cross and were waiting for him to die, they whiled away the time by throwing dice for his clothes.' - Matthew 27 vs 35 {MSG}

THEY WHILED AWAY THE TIME BY THROWING DICE FOR HIS CLOTHES

They threw dice for His clothes because;

1. They were waiting for Him to die, so they whiled away the time by scorning and mocking Him with His clothes.
2. They wanted to mock Him.

• Not because they had any need for the clothes,
• Not because the clothes was expensive.

Take note!

THAT IT MIGHT BE FULFILLED WHICH WAS SPOKEN BY THE PROPHET

His garments was parted to fulfill the prophecy of the Prophet who already prophesied of that event long ago in time, and not because the garment was literally expensive. - Think about it

Well, remember, the Lord Jesus already told us that God would add unto us those things the gentiles seek after, of which He listed!

- What to eat (Food)

- What to drink

- What to put on (Clothes)

'Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.' - Matthew 6 vs 31 - 32 {KING JAMES VERSION}

These three (3) are the context of the Lord's discussion in Matthew 6 as He clearly stated them as the things the Gentiles seek after. He didn't include Cars, Houses, Big life, Wonderful future. So to include those luxuries into the list makes you wrong and in deep error! - Selah. Stay with the context! Don't add to it!

SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS AND EVERY OTHER THING SHALL BE ADDED UNTO YOU

This is how many read Matthew 6 vs 33. But hey, did the Lord promise "every other thing" will be added? Or are these guys reading it wrong? Let's see it;

'But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.' - Matthew 6 vs 33 {KJV}

ALL THESE THINGS EVERY OTHER THINGS

What are the "all these things?" It's obvious that the Lord was talking about the provisions He already mentioned in the previous verses which we have seen;

- What to eat (Food)

- What to drink

- What to put on (Clothes)

This is the context of the Lord's statement, "All these things shall be added unto you." Don't assume what the Lord did not say, don't add to that list; leave it where the Lord leaves it, don't stretch it. - Selah

God grants you understanding. Amen.

HE DIDN'T HAVE HOUSES SCATTERED AROUND

'And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.' - Matthew 8 vs 20 {KJV}

It's very important you note that in the previous verse, a certain man came to Jesus, being inspired by Him, and said unto Him... Let's see what he said to the Lord;

'And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.' - verse 19

You see? So in reply to him, the Lord informed the man that "Hey, I don't have a lodge / a house." The Lord gave him this reply so that he could prepare his mind on what to expect in following Him; so that he could count the cost of following Him before he imagines or thinks to embark on that journey of following the Master. You see? It's simple.

HE DIDN'T HAVE A HORSE (CAR), HE BORROWED ONE!

'And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,

Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.

And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.' - Matthew 21 vs 1 - 3 {KING JAMES VERSION}

HE DIDN'T EXTORT ANYBODY THROUGH MYSTERIOUS KINGDOM MYSTERIES

'And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.' - Luke 8 vs 3 {KJV}

They gave to Him liberally because they loved Him and were blessed by Him.

What's the message? Jesus wasn't flamboyant on Earth, He wasn't materially wealthy (as your pastors told you.) He was simply content with the Father's provisions. In the light of the same (Contentment), Apostle Paul admonishes;

'But godliness with contentment is great gain.

For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.' - 1 Timothy 6 vs 6 - 8 {KING JAMES VERSION}

HAVING FOOD AND CLOTHES, BE THEREWITH CONTENT

Christ in His contentment preached the Kingdom undiluted. But many of today's supposed Ministers in their gluttony and lust for filthy lucre preach mammon, neglecting and out-rightly forgetting the purpose they are called ministers of Christ; which is the preaching of the MESSSAGE OF THE KINGDOM as Christ instructed.

'(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:

Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.' - Philippians 3 vs 18 - 19 {KING JAMES VERSION}

WHOSE GOD IS THEIR BELLY

Their concern and concerns is simply what they can get from the brethren. Many of these wolf merchants who are called pastors organize Christian programs, only for the purpose of raising money to fund their projects, but they deceive themselves saying they need the money for God's work. They organize prophetic programs, display the giftings of the HOLY SPIRIT just to raise money from the Brethren. They even threaten the brethren that if they don't respond to the seed raising, they are their own reason for their poverty and failures in life! What a joke these merchants are! They capitalise on the poor state of the people and preach to them a message that they cannot preach to the rich; whereas, the Gospel is the same both to the rich and to the poor. The moment the message is determined by the state of the audience, it's not the Gospel being preached. - Selah

WHOSE GLORY IS THEIR SHAME

They give thanks to God for things that they should be weeping bitterly about! This is because they don't realize what's ahead of them! They don't realize they will give account to Jesus of their works in His vineyard. They give thanks to God for prosperity - the prosperity they got from extortion, dishonesty and falsehood; they sing the faithfulness of God over their material wealth which they got from dishonesty in ministry. Their glory is their shame! In other words, they glory in things that they should be ashamed of. - Think about it.

PASTOR, CAN'T I BE RICH MATERIALLY AS A BELIEVER?

Yes you can. But you see, material riches in this world answers to the principles of this world. Take note of this, If the unbeliever does not need Jesus to be rich and wealthy in this world, then it's obvious that riches and material wealth can't be the message of the Gospel; otherwise, the unbeliever won't be needing the Gospel. - Meditate on this

Riches and material wealth answers to

1. Business / Work / Labour
2. Diligence in Business / Work / Labour

'In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.' - Proverbs 14 vs 23 {KJV}

'He becometh poor that dealth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.' - Proverbs 10 vs 4 {KJV}

'Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.' - Proverbs 22 vs 29 {KJV}

It's evident that material riches and wealth naturally answers to work and diligence in the same. Hence, the Believer should engage in work, business, labour, as per his earthly vocation in order for him to be rich. But to twist the Scriptures which are meant for Salvation and instructions in righteousness to preach material riches and wealth is manipulation. - Selah

HE WAS RICH BUT FOR OURSAKES BECAME POOR

What riches is the Apostle talking about?

'You are familiar with the generosity of our Master, Jesus Christ. Rich as he was, he gave it all away for us-in one stroke he became poor and we became rich.' - 2 Corinthians 8 vs 9 {MSG}

If we became materially rich by Jesus' sacrifice, why does the Bible record clearly and unarguably that there were poor saints in the Church? If they became materially rich by Christ becoming materially poor for us, why were they poor saints? of which the Apostle Paul was urging the brethren to give in order to support these poor saints? This tells you that there's more to that verse than it literally appears. - Selah

'For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem.' - Romans 15 vs 26 {KJV}

THE POOR SAINTS

So evidently and obviously, the Apostle Paul wasn't in anyway depicting that Christ was materially rich, but rather He was reminding the brethren of Christ's sacrifice for us all, in that He layed down Himself for us so that we might be saved; commending them to embrace that attitude in their response to giving to the needs of others who were poor. That's it. You see now... 

From the verse 3 of that 2 Corinthians 8, you will clearly see that that discussion was because there was a giving project ongoing in that Church (Corinthian Church) which was for the ministering / helping of the poor saints in Jerusalem. The same giving project was also going on in the Roman Church, of which I showed you the Bible Passage above. Now let's see 2 Corinthians 8 vs 3 to 4;

'For, as I can bear witness, [they gave] according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability; and [they did it] voluntarily,

Begging us most insistently for the favor and the fellowship of contributing in this ministration for [the relief and support of] the saints [in Jerusalem].' - {AMPLIFIED BIBLE TRANSLATION}

You see? So the Apostle Paul in the verse 9 was commending the brethren to the great sacrifice of the Lord, how that He didn't consider Himself, but He considered us, and He layed down His life for us that we may live; urging the brethren by this exhortation that they be like minded towards the brethren in Love and Sacrifice. Simple! He never intended to mean Christ was materially wealthy on earth. - Think about this

The Apostle Paul's usage of the words "rich & poor" as seen in our opening passage was simply a figure of speech (A metaphor,) a descriptive figure of speech; using the description of the sacrificial work of Christ for us to urge the brethren on how they who are rich should also be sacrificial for others who are poor, so that they can be sustained and have just as Christ was made sin for us (became poor) so that we could become Righteous (Rich). See this;

'For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.' - 2 Corinthians 5 vs 21 {KJV}

It's clear here: Christ who is Righteousness (Rich) became sin (poor) for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God (Rich) in Him. You see that? So it's evident that the Apostle Paul used a metaphoric figure of speech in 2 Corinthians 8 vs 9 to further enlighten and urge the brethren to be sacrificial towards one another in accordance to the footsteps of Christ. - Selah

You Might Want To Read This Paragraph Again!

Having this understanding, let's read our opening Bible passage again;

'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.' - 2 Corinthians 8 vs 9 {KJV}

You get it now? It's clear now that the Apostle Paul never intended to communicate that Christ was materially rich, but using the terms (Rich & Poor) of the matter which was on ground (Contribution for the poor saints), he explained the sacrificial work of Christ with a metaphor by his usage of "Rich" & "Poor", which he interchanged for the words "righteousness" and "sin", as seen in 2 Corinthians 5 vs 21 which we saw above. Let's see it again;

'For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.' - 2 Corinthians 5 vs 21 {KJV}

WHO KNEW NO SIN

He was rich.

HE HATH MADE HIM TO BE SIN FOR US

He became poor (For our sakes).

THAT WE MIGHT BE MADE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM

That we through His poverty might become rich.

You see it now? It's clear.

'Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.' - Galatians 6 vs 2 {KJV}

It was an exhortation of Love and Sacrifice to the Church for the poor brethren, and not to imply that Jesus was materially rich on earth. - Selah. If truly He was rich (materially) and became poor so that we could become rich (materially,) why are many Christians financially broke? If truly it was a material dealing the Apostle spoke about, no Christian should be poor. - Think about it

Dearly beloved, the message is this, Christ lived a contented life on earth. He wasn't rich. We also ought to follow His footsteps, by living contented in this world.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

- Jenning U. Angel