If this was the case, then Jesus performed His ministry without money. There are scenes in the New Testament that seem to support the belief that Jesus miraculously ran His ministry without money.
Let us examine those scenes and other scenes in the life of Christ and ponder the relationship that Jesus had with money.
MARY THE YOUNG ORPHAN
Mary, the mother of Jesus, was very poor. According to one account, Mary was an orphan whose elderly parents died while she was an adolescent. Mary became a ward of the Temple and she did menial work to justify her room and board. But, she would be evicted when she reached age 16, at which time she had to somehow live on her own or live with relatives. In other words, Mary was independently poor.
The Miraculous Conception of Mary was actually a blessing, because benevolent priests hastily arranged a shotgun marriage in order to cover the scandal of her pregnancy. Kind-hearted Joseph was stuck with a pregnant child bride, whom he had to accept because of Biblical law.
JOSEPH, MIDDLE CLASS CARPENTER
Joseph was a carpenter and he probably lived a lower-middle class lifestyle. Some researchers say that Joseph was a widower, and he already had several of his own children to take care of. In other words, Jesus was destined to become a blue-collar worker and to have a lower-middle class lifestyle like His human Dad. But, Jesus was NOT POOR or RICH.
THREE MAGI & EXTRAVAGENT GIFTS TO BABY JESUS
King (or Governor) Herod tried to kill Baby Jesus. God knew that in advance and had arranged for wealthy visitors from the East to meet the Holy Family and present extravagant gifts that were worth a fortune when sold. What did Joseph use this fortune for? He used it to escape to Egypt and provide for his family until Herod died. That relocation required that the gifts of the Magi be sold so that expenses would be covered for several years. No doubt, Joseph had to work while he was in Egypt.
Through the Magi, God had provided some living expenses for the Holy Family, and there probably was little money left when the family returned from Egypt in order to live in Galilee. We could conclude that Joseph was not a wealthy man because God had to provide his traveling expenses to Egypt and living expenses while Joseph was in Egypt. Even so, Joseph WAS NOT POOR or RICH.
EXPENSES FOR THE MINISTRY OF JESUS
Jesus was a small businessman like every evangelist is. Jesus had twelve disciples, which meant that Jesus had to pay salary for twelve men. Those men probably had wives and children, so that salaries had to be adequate for rent, food and clothing. No doubt, some of the wives stayed in permanent dwellings because they had children to feed and to school. There was rent to pay. It all adds up. Jesus was a traveling evangelist, we might say, so he had to buy food from food vendors along the way. It costs a lot of money to eat at restaurants every day.
Jesus wore expensive clothes. Evidently, His Disciples also wore expensive clothes. I guess that we could compare the clothes of Jesus to the expensive suits that Televangelists wear on television shows. Roman soldiers were certainly impressed with the clothes of Jesus; that is why they cast lots rather than fight each other for the clothes. Nobody would fight over my clothes; I can guarantee you!
WOW, Jesus must have had a very large budget when we consider all His business expenses! Jesus was too busy preaching to do bookkeeping, so he delegated the bookwork to one of His Disciples, whom we know to be Judas Iscariot. Jesus probably had Roman business taxes as well as Jewish business taxes to pay, because Romans were extracting money from Jewish citizens in every way that they could think of. Romans probably required Jesus to pay taxes on the donations that He received.
DONATIONS TO JESUS
WOW, there is a concept: Jesus received donations! The money had to come from somewhere. There are NO accounts of Jesus creating golden coins. That would have been counterfeiting, so Jesus definitely did not create money! Jesus was operating on real money that could only come from donations.
COST OF FAST FOOD
Jesus did not miraculously create food as a routine procedure. Normally, Jesus had to pay for food for everybody and their families. Jesus created food ONLY when He needed to as part of His evangelical ministry. In a sense, it was a form of advertising, some might say. Passover season was an opportune time for Jesus to draw large pilgrim crowds. Curious people followed Jesus, and they were so awestruck that they failed to consider their food supplies. You remember the account of the charitable young boy who donated his meal to Jesus in order to feed about 5000 people. Jesus parlayed that child’s love into more than enough food to feed every man, woman and child.
You remember the account of Jesus and His Disciples gleaning a field as they walked. From that account, we see that Jesus and His Disciples ate only what they needed to survive on, and that Jesus did not miraculously create meals as a normal practise.
In other words, Jesus normally covered the expense of meals just as every evangelist has to do when his entourage is touring. Like Jesus, evangelists typically do not have budgets that would cover meals for 5,000 people at a time.
In other words, Jesus had typical business expenses and He did not rely on miracles to routinely cover them.
JESUS & TAXES
Jesus needed a bookkeeper because He paid both Roman and Judean taxes. But, didn’t Jesus perform a miracle in order to pay His Temple Tax? (Temple Tax was charged to Jewish males every year and the revenue was to maintain the Temple.)
Jesus DID NOT pay Temple Tax, and it was not because He was broke. Jesus had the money to pay Temple Tax, but Jesus did not pay Temple Tax because of principle.
Jesus was teaching Peter and the other Disciples that, as Christians, they were brothers of the King ("brothers in Christ" - "Jesus, the first of many brothers."). Brothers of a king would not pay any tax, including Temple Tax. Jesus would become the King of kings and Lord of lords and He therefore refused to abdicate His position by paying certain taxes.
Jesus WAS the High Priest. The High Priest RECEIVED taxes- not the other way around. Therefore Jesus, as the High Priest, would not subject Himself to the authority of inferiors by paying Temple Tax to them. We know from the account of Esau that our gestures can be binding in Heaven, and that is why Esau lost his birthright to Jacob. Jesus refused to abdicate His position as our HEAVENLY High Priest to a human High Priest- by a gesture of paying Temple Tax.
What is more, Jesus WAS THE TEMPLE! Jesus said, “Destroy this TEMPLE, and in three days it will rise up again!” Jesus refused to abdicate His identity as the Temple Of God to a building made of mere stones and wood. Jesus is the Church and the Church is the BODY OF CHRIST.
So who paid the Temple Tax if Jesus did not pay it? The person who lost the gold coin paid the Temple Tax. Jesus told Peter to collect a coin from the mouth of a fish that scooped the coin up from the bottom of the Sea of Galilee. In other words, a non-Christian gave a gold coin to the Temple. It would be humorous to find that the High Priest had been the one to lose that particular coin, because the High Priest would have been paying taxes, even though he was exempt. What is more, the human High Priest would have made a gesture before God whereby he lost his position as priest. God LOVES ironic humor like that!
Jesus DID PAY Roman taxes because Jesus was not yet King of Rome. Jesus eventually became the Heavenly King of every Christian nation, but until He was received at the right hand of God in Heaven, Jesus dutifully acknowledged the authority of Satan over the kingdoms of the ancient world, and He obediently paid taxes to rulers whom Satan set up in Rome. Jesus acknowledged that Satan was ruler of the Earth ever since Adam and Eve abdicated their authority to Satan.
"Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" He said to them, “...give to Caesar what is Caesar’s," Matthew 20:22-25
In order words, the ministry of Jesus received enough money to pay excessive taxes on it.
WHERE DID JESUS GET MONEY?
One source of money could have been the savings that Jesus had from the years he lived at home while working as a carpenter. That would not be much, because Jesus could not have saved enough as a common laborer. Jesus probably used all of His pay to care for his family, especially after his human father Joseph died. In other words, Jesus could not save any money for His ministry.
The ministry of Jesus would require steady and substantial income. That income was most likely from donations. After all, Joseph had received his traveling money (to relocate in Egypt for several years) from donations- from the three Magi.
It is highly probable that Jesus accepted donations from people whom Jesus had healed. I am sure that you, for example, would gladly donate a hundred dollars to Jesus if He miraculously healed your child of some fatal disease. After all, you would have spent thousands in medical bills in the hope that your child would be cured. Plus, your child could have died if not for the miracle that Jesus performed. How much would the life of your precious child be worth to you? The answer is every cent!
If a wealthy parent had not donated something to Jesus after Jesus cured his child of a deadly disease, that man would truly have been a selfish and ungrateful person. I am sure that your blood boils at the thought. And how much more angry would God be at that selfish man?
In other words, innumerable people would have gladly and generously donated to Jesus. We know this because we would have.
WE SHOULD DONATE TO MEN OF GOD

God's Preachers are Worthy of Our Donations.
The Bible tells us to donate to men of God when they preach to us and pray for us. That was the case with Samuel the prophet. People donated to Samuel when he prophesied for them (1 Samuel 9). For example, Saul lost a donkey and went to Samuel with a donation in order to find out where the donkey was.
Jesus was a prophet, and so much more! So, how much more would people have donated to the ministry of Jesus than to the ministry of Samuel the prophet!
JESUS IS WORTHY OF GIFTS
If people gave the very best gifts to prophets of old, how much more are people to give gifts to preachers of Jesus, King of kings and Lord of lords!
Take a gift with you and go to meet the man of God. Consult the LORD through him; ask him, Will I recover from this illness?
Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him as a gift forty camel-loads of all the finest wares of Damascus. (2 Kings 8:7-9)
In other words, Jesus would NOT have refused gifts and donations to His ministry, because there were precedents in the Bible that Jesus would have followed. Gifts and donations adequately financed the 3-year ministry of Jesus- but not extravagantly. And, if Jesus received donations and gifts, then there are works by men of God in our time that could and should receive donations and gifts.
Here is an example of a very costly gift that Jesus received:
Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus... John 12:3
In other words, Jesus accepted very costly gifts and donations, and Scripture illustrated that this was acceptable and expected.
SHOULD WE BEGRUDGE GIFTS TO GOD’S MINISTRIES?
Then said Judas Iscariot, who would betray Jesus, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? John 12:4-6
WHO BEGRUDGES DONATIONS?
People like Judas Iscariot begrudge donations to ministries, and their motives are not right.
Judas Iscariot cared nothing for the poor, because he was a thief, and carried the purse, and pocketed money while doing the bookkeeping. John 12:4-6
How would Jesus answer people who do not want ministries to receive gifts?
Jesus said, Let Mary alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you, but me ye have not always. John 12:7-8
HELP PEOPLE WITH BOTH FOOD AND KNOWLEGDE
Yes, there is always a need to help the poor, and we should never neglect to help them, as we are able. But, we should always have something for ministries that provide spiritual food, because man does not live by bread alone. And, it is sometimes true that we can help people more in the long run by revealing to them principles, morality and ethical conduct that is demonstrated in the Word of God and has the effect of causing prosperity.
Jesus rebuked Satan by saying, It is written: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Matthew 4:4
DOES GOD SELL THE WORD OF GOD? YES!!!

Please do not steal Bibles and Books from Christian Book Stores.
Yes, every Christian should BUY the WORD OF GOD. God has used the excellent publishing industry of Western nations to made sure that Christians can buy Bibles at reasonable prices. Do not steal Bibles. Buy them if you are able. Bibles are free to read at Christian Science Reading Rooms throughout the United States. Christians are to be professionals in Bible Study! Every professional Christian spends liberally on Bibles and books, so that he might be the best that he can be.
Study to show thyself approved unto God. Be a workman that need not to be ashamed, because he can rightly divide the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15
It is illegal to steal the Bible, and God does NOT want you to steal the Word of God or to mooch Bibles from others when you can afford to buy your own!
The same principle applies to books that help us to understand the Bible, such as prophecy books. God inspires people to write books that will edify His People! In this way, GOD SELLS BOOKS & YOU NEED TO BUY THEM!
I counsel thee to BUY of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; Revelation 3:18
Christians who do not NOW buy books to help them better understand the Bible- and instead spend their money on video games and pizza- will SOON have to buy books IN THE TRIBULATION-ARMAGEDON! Then they will pay fortunes (in gold coins) for the Bible and associated books!
We must do God’s work while it is day. The night when no one can do anything is coming. John 9:4
Christians that do not buy books about Bible prophecy will be REJECTED BY JESUS AT THE RESURRECTION to eternal life- so buy the oil of prophecy while you can!
The foolish virgins took their lamps with no oil in them... and Jesus said to them, "I DO NOT KNOW YOU!" Matthew 25:5
If you do not buy Bibles and prophecy books (oil for your lamp), then your name will be erased from the Book of Life! Enjoy your pizza and video games while you can, because you will soon watch in horror as your family and friends leave you behind as they ascend into Heaven. You will look around to see that you are being glared at by frightening humans that are perverts, sadistic murderers and demon-possessed.
DO NOT CHEAT WORKERS OUT OF THEIR PAY
It is not right to expect to receive Bibles and books for free, because factory workers need to be paid and ministers need to be compensated in order to finance their ministries.
This is a Biblical principle. We must always fairly compensate workers for their labor. Think about people who work in factories that make books. We should happily pay the reasonable prices of books so that factory workers will be paid and be able to buy food and clothing for their families. Poor factory workers live from day to day.
But thou shall pay him the price of his labor the same day, before the going down of the sun, because he is poor, and with it maintains his life: lest he cry against thee to the Lord, and it be reputed to thee for a sin. Deuteronomy 24:15
Don’t get God mad at you for stealing and/or mooching Bibles and books! Preachers are laborers for God, and they need to be paid in order to finance their ministries.
[the Lord said to His Disciples] Remain in a hospitable house, and do not be shy to accept what they give to you: for you are a laborer who is worthy to receive it. Luke 10:7
SUMMATION
• Jesus was very much like the typical evangelist of our time. He had to run a business with at least twelve employees (Disciples), and He received enough donations to where he had a bookkeeper (Judas Iscariot) to keep track of income, expenses and taxes.
• Jesus received donations and gifts, just like preachers do today.
• God wants us to buy His Bible and other books in order to be professional Christians.
• We are not to steal Bibles and other worthy books. We are not to mooch them when we are able to buy them.
• (Books are free to read at local libraries in the United States. Just have a librarian fill out a form about the book that you want the library to carry. In this way, God has provided books for poor Americans.)
• We are to fairly pay for our books so that factory workers are paid for their labor and authors are paid for their time and investments. Plus, we want authors to be more than compensated so that they will have investment money to do more research, publish more books and reveal more about God.
-Edward McKinney
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