Though Jesus was born in poverty, he intentionally lived a
life of greater poverty than was his status by birth, and he viewed this as a
component of his ministry. Indeed, when he first announced his ministry, he did
so by reading a passage from Isaiah 61:1-2, which begins “The Spirit of the
Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news for the poor.” After
reading, Jesus said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke
4:18-21). While he did not require all his followers to abandon everything
(after all, he regularly stayed in the homes of his followers for brief times),
he did frequently spoke on behalf of the poor or challenge the wealthy to give
away excess riches for the benefit of the poor (Matthew 19:16-30, Luke 19:1-10,
Luke 12:15). In this, we was continuing the tradition of John the Baptist (Luke
3:11). After the crucifixion and the resurrection, Jesus’ followers continued
this ethical emphasis, frequently selling their possessions to help the poor
and giving money sacrificially (Acts 2:45, 4:34-45, 2 Corinthians 8:1-5). In
fact, in the early centuries of the church (and in many places and times since
then, though there are always other times and places that fall short), the
movement Jesus started has been characterized by working to help the poor.
Jesus was poor, and he worked on behalf of the poor. He was
also God in the flesh, Lord, and Savior.
No comments:
Post a Comment