“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me
Because He has anointed me
To preach the gospel to the poor…” IS 61:1

One of the kids came back from school and said the teacher had criticized a ministry that was targeting the rich and upper class of society with the gospel, stating unequivocally that “the gospel is supposed to be preached to the poor!” I realize that this is what this text says, but is that what it means?

Over the years I have come across a number of cases where translations of the Biblical text have led people down some real slippery slopes. The person who had said this was the Bible teacher at the school, so how much more should he have known that the Hebrew word translated “poor” here does not have an economic intent. The word anav conveys the idea of being needy, or humble, or weak. It is the same word which described Moses when he was effectively serving as a redeemer, savior figure over the nation of Israel during the Exodus. It is one of the terms King David often used to describe his heart condition before God, expressing his hunger and intense need for more of God in his life.

I have heard this sentiment spoken of, and seen it written in books, and though there is an appearance of “working with the poor” that sounds spiritual, I have come to believe this sentiment is misguided. The gospel is not for the economically poor; it is for the anav who sit in seats of power and who are wealthy too. Consider for a moment these words to Paul:

“Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before
Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel” Acts 9:15

And how he testified obedience to God’s call near the end of his life:

“Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I
stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other
things than those which the prophets and Moses…” Acts 26:22

The Greek word for great is megas, and means persons eminent in ability, virtue, authority, or power. The point here clearly is that Paul was called to reach all people, not just the poor.

So what about Jesus? When He first stood up He opened Isaiah’s scroll to exactly this passage in 61:1. Did the Son of Man, therefore, specifically approach the people in the slums or ghettos of his day? Some may quote Jesus’ words about a camel going through the eye of a needle, or about his interaction with the rich young ruler when he tells him to “go, sell what you have and give to the poor”, and how he “went away sorrowful” (MT 19:21-24). But did Jesus always and only favor the poor in His three plus years of ministry?

In fact, Jesus reached out to rich and poor alike. He loved those in high places, and those in low. The gospel is not just for all nations, it is for all types of people too. His blood was not just shed for people on welfare; it was shed for people on Wall Street too. While Jesus did spend a lot of his time with common folk, spoke parables about servants and people who held lowly denarius-a-day jobs, he also did not rebuke the woman who could have sold her alabaster ointment and given it to the poor.

It is true, many of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen, a class of people considered to be hard-working and yet very ordinary. It is also true that he had a Levi, a tax collector, yes, a man of means, among the twelve. It is true, his greatest conflict was with the powerful religious leaders of his day; but it is also true that Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, both of the Sanhedrin, were among His disciples. Jesus did not just minister to the little children, he reached out to a nobleman, a centurion, and a lawyer. In some of His parables he even indicates that sometimes it is those who have less who prove to be less worthy.

One of the most dramatic examples of Jesus’ perspective is when he is literally days from his death and making his final ministry tour, passing through towns and villages to make it to Jerusalem in time for the Passover. The last major city to en route before his famed triumphal entry on the foal of a donkey into the Holy City was the ancient city of Jericho. Known as the City of Palms, Jericho was the richest part of the country, also called the “Little Paradise”. Due to his increasing fame, the outstanding miracles–including Lazarus being raised from the dead–throngs of people were now gathering in the places where they knew he was going to pass. Mothers wanted him to touch and bless their children. The blind, the lame, the infirmed, were certainly among the most hopeful that Jesus would single them out.

The atmosphere must have been electric. The excitement. The anticipation. Would this be my day? To whom did Jesus go? To the bewilderment of every man and woman in the crowd, He stopped and called out the name of a short man by the name of Zacchaeus. Short in stature, mind you, but not small in influence or reputation. Outside of the Roman royals, Zacchaeus was one of the richest men in the richest city in Palestine. A “chief tax collector”, he was the top of the MLM ladder of his time. And yet, on this day, Zacchaeus was the poorest in the eyes of Jesus.

Jesus was not conflicted, nor was he being hypocritical when he chose to preach the gospel to this rich poor man. He was giving us an object lesson in the true definition of poor.

Within a few years of the resurrection, “a great many priests” had become obedient to the faith (Acts 6:7). Among the first leaders of the Antioch church was Manaen “who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch” (Acts 13:1). By the time Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians, members of “Caesar’s household” had come to Christ (Phil 4:22). His impromptu “Shipwreck Crusade” had resulted in an island-wide revival following the conversion of Publius, the highest ranking person in Malta (Acts 28:7). Within a couple hundred years, the Emperor himself of one of the most powerful empires in the history of the world bowed his knee to the Savior.

The call of God may lead one to this type of ministry, one to another. Peter was called to the Jews; Paul to the Gentiles. Mother Teresa went to the poorest poor in Calcutta; Ravi Zacharias speaks in the world’s premier universities and at the UN. There are poor people everywhere: in slums, in penthouses. They are in rags, and in Armani’s. God help us to preach to them whoever, wherever, they are. The Spirit of the Lord has anointed you for this. Come on, say it: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.”