“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
To encourage the members of the Corinthian church to give generously to those in need, Paul the Apostle turned to the supreme example of generosity in 2 Corinthians 8:9: “You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich” (NLT).
From a post-resurrection perspective, it may be difficult to view Jesus as someone who became poor for our sakes. Yet consider the depths of poverty that Jesus experienced during His earthly life…
- He was born in a shelter for animals, a place that lacked even the most basic accommodations for a newborn infant (Luke 2:4-7).
- He had no place of permanent residence, having said on one occasion, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20).
- Others helped support Him from their personal resources (Luke 8:1-3).
- Jesus apparently held no personal assets other than His clothing at the time of His death (John 19:23-24).
So how did a Man who seemed to have so little make so many rich? Well, we can turn to Paul’s Biblical letter to the Philippian church for the answer…
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:5-11).
It is humbling to consider how Jesus chose to lower Himself to the level of human existence in this manner. Yet as we’re told in the passage quoted above, “…for your sakes he impoverished himself, even though he was rich, so that he might make you rich by means of his poverty” (CJB).