Jesus As Prophet Of The Poor

Our reading this week is from the gospel of Luke:

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

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This is Part 1 of The Moral Dilemma and Challenge of Wealth

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:13-21)

In this passage, social location matters. Inheritance was an argument for the wealthy elites, and in Jesus’ time there was no middle class. There were wealthy elites and the poor. And in the gospel stories, Jesus emerged in Galilee as a prophet of the poor.

Consider how each synoptic gospel connects Jesus not to the wealthy but to the poor.

Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor . . . (Mark 10:21)

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. (Mark 12:43)

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3)

the good news is proclaimed to the poor. (Matthew 11:5)

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor . . . (Matthew 19:21)

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor (Luke 4:18)

Looking at his disciples, he said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,

for yours is the kingdom of God. (Luke 6:20)

So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The good news is proclaimed to the poor. (Luke 7:22)

But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you. (Luke 11:41)

Sell your possessions and give to the poor (Luke 12:33)

But when you give a banquet, invite the poor (Luke 14:13)

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor (Luke 18:22)

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor . . . Today salvation has come to this house (Luke 19:8-9)

He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. (Luke 21:2-3)

These texts place Jesus on the side of the poor. Jesus, as a prophet of the poor, tells a story about the meaninglessness of hoarding wealth. To what end was all this man’s wealth hoarded? James Robertson, commenting on Jesus’ teaching of wealth redistribution and resource sharing

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