Examples of Abudance in the Life of Jesus

This article was a unique find. It comes from FaithMessenger.com, the very detailed Bible study blog of Gregory L. Winfield.  It appeared about a week ago under the title Abundance in the Life of Jesus and the Disciples. As always you’re encouraged to click through to read at source.

Abundance surrounded the life of Jesus everywhere He went. When I became a Christian there were some things that I just knew from common sense had to be true. One of those ideas was that Jesus must have lived a life of abundance while He ministered here on earth.

Most people confuse the words abundance with excess. There is a huge difference in the two. Jesus absolutely DID NOT live a life of excess, but He did live a life of abundance. Jesus was never in a position where he needed man to meet His needs. Rather, He was always in a position to meet the needs of the people wherever He went.

I knew deep down inside that if we have a God who came to earth and was so poor that He needed men to meet His needs materially, we must serve a pretty weak God. I was a babe in Christ, so even though I had these thoughts, I didn’t know how to express them from a scriptural standpoint.

Nowhere in bible do we ever see an instance when Jesus was caught unprepared or in a position where He couldn’t meet the needs of the people.

Now, I can see abundance in the life of Jesus from His very birth in the fact that wise men brought Him gold, frankincense and myrrh. I have no scripture to support it but I believe these acts of benevolence continued throughout the life of Jesus.

Signs of Abundance in the Life of Jesus

• Case Study #1 – Jesus chose the twelve disciples, some of whom we know from scripture were gainfully employed at the time they were called. He called these men to come and follow Him. By doing so, Jesus made Himself responsible for the food and shelter of 13 men (including Himself) for 3 and half years. We have no record of any of the disciples being employed during the time they traveled with Jesus, so I’m led to believe that Jesus was solely responsible for them.

• Case Study #2 – Seeing that there was a need for a treasurer, Judas was elected to carry the money bag (John 12:6). A treasurer is only needed if there is an overage.

• Case Study #3 – The bible says that Judas was stealing out of the money bag (John 12:6) but no one knew it.  Now think about it for a moment. If you have a money bag with $10.00 in it and hypothetically speaking, someone stole 10% ($1.00) out of it. With $9.00 left in the money bag, everyone in the group would know that $1.00 was missing. However, if you have a money bag with $50,000 in it and someone stole 10% ($5000) out of it, it would be much harder to detect that a theft had occurred.

• Case Study #4 – When there was a tax need, Jesus knew exactly how and where to get the money to pay the taxes for Himself and the disciples (Matthew 17:27).

• Case Study #5 – The bible said that those who crucified Jesus, cast lots to see who would get His clothes. I’m no fashion guru, but I would have to think that Jesus must have worn some pretty nice clothes in order for the people to compete for ownership of them after He was crucified (Matthew 27:35).

Nowhere in bible do we ever see an instance when Jesus was caught un-prepared or in a position where He couldn’t meet the needs of the people.

I understand that some hold on to the thought that Jesus was poor and had very little in terms of this worlds goods. I can agree with that way of thinking only to the degree that He was involved in a travelling ministry, therefore He didn’t have a need for houses and other items that tend to tie us down instead of liberate us.

But when it comes to abundance in the moment, I’m persuaded that in the life of Jesus and those whom He called to minister with Him, abundance surrounded them at every turn.