“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor…” (Luke 4:18)

Jesus saw Himself as a physician, and He went amongst those who needed healing, whether that be the sick, the sinners, and the poor. Practically speaking, if you are sick, you won’t seek divine healing from someone who has health problems. It is also unlikely that you would take lessons on morality from someone living a sinful life. In the same manner, you would not consider someone advising on prosperity credible unless they themselves were prosperous - spiritually and materially! Jesus was neither sick, immoral, or poor, and His life and ministry on earth were a reflection of this fact. There is no argument that He lived a sinless life and embodied divine health. However, the fact that He was rich is not so obvious. It is only the apostle Paul who highlights the fact that Jesus was rich. Not only that, but out of all the things that characterized Jesus, i.e., the healings, the miracles, His sermons, His love, His death and resurrection, Paul links ‘the grace of our Lord Jesus’ with the fact that He was rich.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)

Many scholars try to explain this by saying that Christ was only rich in heaven and then became poor when He lived on earth. However, this could not be further from the truth. The only time the virtues of Christ were exchanged for humanity’s curse was on the cross. As poverty would undoubtedly have been one of these curses, the only time He became poor was His crucifixion.

Glimpses of Jesus’ wealth can be readily seen through an understanding of the customs of ancient Judean society. Therefore, with the intent of restoring Jesus’ image, this book attempts to pull back the veil of customary differences between western eyes and ancient Jewish culture so that we may see Jesus as everyone else did at that time. Let us begin at the event where Jesus’ first miracle took place…

The perception of Christ being a poor righteous teacher and healer with nowhere to lay His head is the polar opposite to how He was perceived by the people of His day. Jesus was indeed rich, and the perception of Him being poor is an afront to His image! Long before He was seen as ‘Messiah,’ the people He lived and walked amongst knew Him as a wealthy young man of royal descent. One only needs to study His life to see that He moved in the circles of Israel’s wealthy elite. He clearly knew many landowners, and His insight into their personal lives is reflected in the parables He told. However, apart from the miracles He did, what made Jesus so different from the wealthy elite was that He stood up for the poor. His message of freedom, power, and prosperity for ‘the poor’ was revolutionary. Poor people were badly treated in Judean society and were not allowed to participate in the temple's central worship. However, ‘the poor’ was the focus of Jesus’ message and mission.