1. The place of poverty in Christ's own life.— (a) The home in Xazarcth. — That Ciirist's parents were not wealthy we gather from St. Luke"s narrative of the Infancy (2-^), where the otl'er- ing of the poor is brought at the Presentation ; that ' there was no room for them in the inn ' (2') does not in itself show that they were badly off. Nor does the fact that Nazareth was an inconsider- able town [the question in Jn 1"**, if implying a bad reputation, is not quite borne out by the facts ; see ^Vestcott, St. John, ad loc.'\ condemn all its inhabitants to poverty (see Ederslieim, Life and Times of the Messiah, i. 183). Since we are entirely without direct information on either side, we can only conjecture that the form of the townspeople's que.stion as given in St. Mark ('Is not this the carpenter?' 6^; cf. Mt 13^'), and tlie movements of His family (Jn 2'-, where His mother and His brethren are staj-ing at Caper- naum : 2-, where His mother and His disciples are guests at Cana) imply a certain position of independence (cf. Jn 1^ ' Where dwellest thou? ").
The story in Eusebius (HE iii. 19, 20) of the grandsons of Judas 'the Lord's brother' being summoned before Domiti^in, and removing liis suspicion of them by the appearance of their horny labourers' hands, can hardly throw light on the circumstances of Christ's own home.
(b) The active Ministry. — Christ and His disciples certainly did not subsist on charity ; true, the Son of Man had not where to lay his head (Mt S'^, Lk 10^) ; but this shows onlj' that Christ was con- tent not to have a home of His own, not that He could not have had one. The little party had a common ' bag ' or purse (Jn 12*), from which they purchased necessaries (Jn 4* ; cf. Mt 16', Mk S''') and gave to the poor (Jn 13-» ; cf. Mt 26»). The disciples' question before the feeding of the five thousand, as given in St. Mark (6*^ 'Shall we buj^ two hundred pennj-worth of bread ? ' cf. Lk 9'^), though doubtless ironical, does not suggest actual penury. It would seem that Jesus was in the habit 'of paying the Temple tax (Mt IT"-*). As the firstborn, He would under ordinary circum- stances have the larger share of whatever property His father might leave. That He was not with- out well-to-do friends, and used their hospitality, is certain. Zebedee would seem to have been in a good position (Mk 1^ ' with the hired servants ' ; one of his sons is personallj- known to the high priest, Jn 18'*). Perhaps it was througli his help that Jesus was able to have a small boat con- stantly in attendance on Him when preaching at the Lake of Galilee (iVa irXoiapiov TrpoaKapnpy oiTw, Mk 3"). The same thing niaj' be gathered of the household at Bethany (Lk 10^; and still more Jn IP- ■'^ and 12^) ; certain women, including the wife of Herod's steward, 'minister' to Him (Mk 15'"', Lk 8^). He is able to secure an ass on which to enter into Jerusalem (Mt 2F, Mk IP, Lk 19^'), a lodging at night through the last week (Mt 21". Mk 11'9, Lk21»^). and the\i.se of an upper room for tlie Passover (Mt 26'^ Mk 14"); nor is there anything to suggest that Ciirist's hunger when He was passing the barren tig-tree was the
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POVERTY
POVERTY OF SPIRIT
result of inability to procure food (Mt 2P*, Mk
2. Teaching about poyerty. — The blessedness of the poor is the subject of the hrst Beatitude (see the following article). In the same discourse occur the prohibitions against taking anxious thought (]Mt 6-5) and laying up treasures (6'^). Prayer for temporal wants is to be for 'daily bread' ('bread of the coming daj' ' or ' bread of sufficiency,' apTos eiriovaLos ; see Loed's Prayer) alone (Mt 6^', Lk IF). Christ bids the disciples of John ol>- serve that the poor have the gospel preached unto them (Mt 11', cf. Is 61'--, Lk 4^'*), and speci- ally contrasts the widow with the rich donors to 'the Temple treasury (Mk 12^2^ Lk 2P). The danger of wealth is constantly pointed out (Mt 19'-», Mk 1023, Lk 18^^ ' How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of heaven' ; Mt 18* 'If thy hand or thy foot cause thee to stumble, cut it" ott" ; Lk W^ the parable of Lazarus and Dives ; Lk 121*5 ^i,g parable of the Pdch Fool, following on Christ's peremptory re- fusal to divide the inheritance between the two brothers). Cf. the command to the rich young ruler, ' Sell all that thou hast,' Mt l9-\ Mk W\ Lk 18", in which there was evidently some per- sonal appropriateness ; the demand was not uni- versally made. According to our accounts, the Temple was cleansed of buyers and sellers both at the beginning and the end of the ministry (Jn 2", and Mt 2V-, Mk IP^). That Christ had the true Israelite contempt for monej' and commercial prosperity is at least hinted in the story of the Temptation (Mt 4^". Lk 4*), and shown quite plainly in the parable of the Labourers in the Vinej^ard : ' It is my will to give unto this last even as unto thee,' Mt 20'^, — a principle which, as Ruskin .saw {Unto this Last), is a defiance of poli- tical economy as ordinarily understood. Compare the anti-commercial statutes in Dt 15"-, Ex 231"^-, Lv 25i"i5 as to the remission of debts and the re- version of holdings in the Sabbatical year and year of Jubilee. If faithful to the Law, it was impossible for Israel to be anything but a com- paratively poor nation (note, however, Dt lo''), as would necessarily be the case with the Christian community which obeyed the rules, ' Give to him that asketii thee,' and ' Lend, never giving up hope,' n-ndev d.TreXiri^oi'Tes (Lk 6^'^; cf. Mt 6^^^ Lk 11^). Peabody (Jesus Christ and the Social Ques- tion) points out the further opposition to current Socialism implied in the parable of the Talents (Mt 2529, Lk 12^8 . cf. Mt 13'2).