Jesus was poor so we could be rich

JESUS WAS POOR SO WE COULD BE RICH
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
2 Corinthians8:9 9For you know the grace of our
LORD Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for
your sake he became poor, so that you through his
poverty might become rich.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The CondescensionOfChrist
2 Corinthians 8:9
J.R. Thomson
According to the teaching of the New Testament, human kindness should be
basedupon Divine benevolence. Suchis the import of this wonderful
parenthesis - a jewelwhich the inspired writer drops by the way and passes
on.
I. CHRIST'S NATIVE RICHES CONTRASTED WITHHIS VOLUNTARY
POVERTY,
1. His proper rightful wealthis apparent, not only from his nature as the Son
of God, but from his evident command, during his earthly ministry, of all the

resources ofnature. Bread, wine, money, he could multiply or create;the
earth and the sea obeyedhis will; diseases anddemons fled at his bidding.
2. His poverty was not compulsory; it was a "grace." We see it in his
incarnation, in which he emptied himself of his glory; in his ministry, passed
in a lowly and all but destitute condition of life; in his refusalto use his power
for selfishends; in his cheerful submission to a shameful death. Compare the
glory which he claimed to have had with the Father before the world was,
with the homelessnessand poverty of his life and the desertion and ignominy
of his death, and his "grace"appeals to every just mind, to every sensitive
heart.
II. OUR NATIVE SPIRITUAL POVERTYCONTRASTEDWITH OUR
ACQUIRED SPIRITUAL WEALTH.
1. Our natural destitution is undeniable; by sin we have lostour possessions,
our inheritance, our powers of acquisition, and are left resourcelessand
friendless. Apart from the interposition of Christ, and where Christianity is
unknown, such is still the state of man.
2. Christ's humiliation was for the sake ofman's spiritual enrichment. Only
by condescension, compassion, andsacrifice could man be reached. Thus he
drew near to us, and imparted to us of his own true and Divine riches, of
knowledge, ofrighteousness,offavour, and of glory.
3. By Christ's mediation all things are ours, God, giving Christ, gives with him
all goodthings. "I have all things and abound," is the testimony of every
right-minded and appreciative disciple of Christ. The history of the Church is
the history of the enrichment of the race;and this in turn is the pledge and
promise of the inestimable and inexhaustible riches of eternity. - T.
Biblical Illustrator
For ye know the grace ofour Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich.
2 Corinthians 8:9

What we know through knowing the grace ofour Lord Jesus Christ
C. Clemance, D. D.
I. HOW DO WE KNOW IT. "Ye know."
1. There are records which establishthe fact — the gospels, epistles,etc., the
burden of all of which is, "He was rich, yet for your sakes," etc. The contents
may be classifiedthus —
(1)Earthly facts in the realm of history (Acts 10:38).
(2)Antecedent facts in the realm of testimony (John 16:28).
(3)The meaning of the facts in the realm of inspiration (1 Timothy 1:15).
(4)The after issues ofthe facts in the realm of experience (Ephesians 2:13).
2. There are the fathers who acceptedand expounded the fact.
3. Through all the entanglements of controversyin the history of the Church
this factand doctrine remains undisturbed.
4. The continuity of the Church has no other solution but this. "He was rich,"
etc.
II. WHAT IS THE FACT WHICH WE KNOW.
1. The person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. His pre-existence (John 17:5) — rich in the Father's love and in the
plenitude of power.
3. His incarnation (John 1:14). "He became poor." He descendedinto the
lowestrank amongstcreatedintelligences, andin that rank was the poorestof
the poor.
4. The purpose. "That we might be made rich." He descendedfrom His
throne that we might ascendto it.
5. This was all prompted by grace. Infinite love finds its highestjoy in giving
itself to enrich others.

III. WHAT DO WE COME TO KNOW THROUGH KNOWING THIS?
There are many truths which are valuable, not merely in themselves, but also
on accountof the further knowledge we acquire through them — e.g., to know
how to secure the best microscope is of value in this sense, so with the
telescope.There are four fields of knowledge openedup by our knowledge of
the grace ofChrist.
1. The infinite love of God (Romans 5:8).
2. The value of man in the eye of Heaven.
3. The Divine consecrationof self-sacrifice.
4. The Divine lever by which God would lift the world.
IV. THIS ADDITION TO OUR KNOWLEDGE OUGHT TO BE THE
MEANS OF GREATER FULNESS IN OUR LIFE. Knowing this fact our
response should be —
1. Loyalty.
2. Joy.
3. Elevationand holiness.
4. Earnestnessin commending it to others.
(C. Clemance, D. D.)
The grace ofour Lord Jesus Christ
W. M. Taylor, D. D.
I. THE ORIGINAL GREATNESSOF CHRIST. "He was rich." When? Not
during His life upon the earth. It could not be said that He was born rich.
Neither did He acquire wealth. It must have been then at some other time. We
take, therefore, the term "rich" to designate "the glory which Christ had with
the Fatherbefore the world was." NotHis Godhead, but its manifested
splendour. When Peterthe Great wrought as a common shipwright he did not

ceaseto be the autocratof Russia, but his royalty was veiled. So the Lord did
not lay aside His deity, but the advantages ofit.
II. THE LOWLINESS OF HIS AFTER LOT. Marvellous condescension!
III. HIS PURPOSE. Three things are implied —
1. That men are poor in respectof the spiritual riches. Intellectually the mind
of the sinner may be wellfurnished, but he has no knowledge ofGod, no peace
with God, no portion in God.
2. Christ became poor in order to enrich men, to bring us pardon, purity,
peace, and happiness.
3. These riches come to us through the poverty which Christ endured. He
could not have enriched us if He had not thus emptied Himself, for our
poverty had its root in our sin, and that sin had to be atoned for before we
could be blessed(cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21).
(W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
The grace ofChrist
T. Binney.
I. A FACT STATED. ThatChrist being rich became poor.
1. He was rich in the possessionofthe ineffable glory which He had with the
Father before all worlds (John 17:5; John 1:1; Hebrews 2:14-16). ThoughHe
could not change the attributes of His nature, He suspended their glorious
manifestation. This was a voluntary act;He existedin such a mode that He
had the power to lay aside His effulgence.
2. He was rich not only in glory but in virtue. He was the object of supreme
complacencywith the Fatherfor His immaculate perfection. This character
could not be put off, yet His relative position to law was altered. Though He
could not become poor in the sense ofbeing a sinner, He did in the sense of

being treated like one. He was regardedby the law as a debtor, and His life
was the forfeit of such moral poverty.
II. THE DESIGN TO BE ACCOMPLISHED. "Thatwe through His poverty
might be made rich."
1. We were poor —(1) In having lost the glory and dignity with which we were
originally invested.(2) In being sunk in positive and practicalsin.(3) In the
sense that we had nothing to pay. We were bankrupts as well as debtors. We
could not answerthe demands of law.
2. Christ became poor, and so made us rich —(1) By laying the foundation for
our pardon in His sacrificialand vicarious death.(2) By affording a ground in
virtue of which the Holy Spirit is dispensed, by whom we are renewedin
righteousness andtrue holiness after the image of Him who createdus.(3) By
giving us a hope of being richer in the next world than we can be in this. We
now know something of "the riches of His grace," but we read also of His
"riches in glory."
III. THE KNOWLEDGE WHICH YOU ARE SUPPOSEDTO POSSESS OF
ALL THIS. "Ye know."
1. You know it is true. This is an appeal to judgment and reason, guided by
evidence in support of the truth.
2. You know it in yourselves, as enriching you now. You have tasted that the
Lord is gracious.
3. You know it as the ground on which all your hopes are built for futurity,
the source from which you derive grace upon earth, and to which you feel
yourselves to be indebted for all the honour and glory which eternity will
disclose.This is an appeal to Christian consistency, forit is only the consistent
Christian that can feel the confidence that he is standing upon this rock, who
can look forward now in time to what eternity will disclose.In conclusion,
learn —
1. The importance which it becomes us to attachto all matters which are
matters of pure revelation, of which this subjectis one.

2. The actual necessitythat there is for the doctrines of the Cross to give
coherencyand consistencyto the whole system of revealedtruth.
3. How grace is exercisedtowards us; and then you learn the claims which
Christ has upon our affections and our gratitude.
4. The necessitythat there is for your examining into the extent, the accuracy,
and the influence of your knowledge ofreligious truth. What a shame it would
be if, when the language were addressedto you, "You know this," you were to
reply, "No, I do not know it; I have never read nor thought of it."
5. That Christian morality is animated and sustainedby purely Christian
motives. It is very observable how Paul associatesalmostevery moral virtue,
in some way or other, with our obligations to Christ.
6. That the riches of the Church throughout eternity wilt bear a proportion to
the poverty by which they were obtained. The Church shall be lifted so high,
and her riches shall be so transcendent, as the poverty of Christ was extreme
and aggravated.
(T. Binney.)
Poverty and riches
ArchdeaconHare.
It can scarcelybe needful that I should bid you give your attention to these
words. For we prick up our ears the moment we catch the slightestsound that
seems to hold out a promise of making us rich. Will any of you tell me that
you have no wish to be richer than you are? Happy are you. You must be
truly rich; and you must have gainedyour riches in the only way in which
true riches can be gained, through the grace and the poverty of Christ.
I. CHRIST WAS RICH
1. When He was with God, even from the beginning, sharing in the Divine
powerand wisdom and glory, and showing forth all this in creating the
worlds.

2. When He said, "Let there be light." The light which has been streaming
ever since in such a rich, inexhaustible flood, was merely a part of His riches.
3. When He bade the earth bring forth its innumerable varieties of herbs and
plants and trees, and peopled it with living creatures, equally numerous.
4. When He made man, and gave him the wonderful gifts of feelings,
affections, thought, speech, etc., whenHe gave him the powerof knowing Him
who was the Author of all things, and of doing His will. This was the crowning
work in which Christ showedforth His riches; and yet in this very work
before long we find a mark of poverty. Forman, though made to be rich,
made himself poor. He made himself poor in that he, to whom God had given
the dominion over every creature, made himself subject to the creature, and
chained his soul to the earth, as a dog is chained to its kennel;in that, instead
of opening his soul to receive the heavenly riches wherewithGod had
purposed to fill it, he closedit againstthat riches, while he gave himself up to
acquiring what he deemed far more valuable; in that, insteadof lifting up and
spreading out his heart and soulin adorationto God, he dwarfed and
cramped them by twisting and curling all his thoughts and feelings around the
puny idol, self.
II. HE BECAME POOR. How? In the very actof taking our nature upon
Him, in subjecting Himself to the laws of mortality, to the bonds of time and
space, to the weaknessesofthe flesh, to earthly life and death. Even if He had
come to reign overthe whole earth He would have descendedfrom the summit
of power and riches to that which in comparisonwould have been miserable
poverty. But then He would not have setus an example how we too are to
become rich. Therefore He to whom the highestheight of earthly riches would
have been poverty, vouchsafedto descendto the lowestdepths of earthly
poverty. And at His death He vouchsafedto descendinto the nethermostpit of
earthly degradation, to a death whereby He was "numbered among the
transgressors."
III. HE BECAME POOR THAT WE THROUGH HIS POVERTYMIGHT
BE RICH. Note that our poverty was twofold — that which haunted us
through life in consequenceofour seeking false riches, wherebywe are sure to

lose true riches;and that to which we become subjectin death, an eternal
poverty, which awaits all such as have not laid up treasure in heaven. Now —
1. The example of Christ's life, if we understand it and receive its blessings
into our hearts, will deliver us from that poverty which arises from our
seeking afterfalse riches. For that poverty results in no small measure from
the mist which is over our eyes which keeps us from discerning the true value
of things, and deludes us by outward shows. It results from our supposing that
riches consists in our having worldly wealth. Yet what is the real value of this
under any grievous trial? Assuredly we may say to the things of this world,
"Miserable comforters are ye all." Therefore had it been possible for our
Lord to be deluded by the bribe of the tempter, He would only have sunk
thereby into far lowerpoverty than before. For He would thereby have lost
that heavenly riches which lay in cleaving to the Divine word, "Thoushalt
worship the Lord thy God," etc. He would have lost the riches and the power
of that word which was mightier than all the kingdoms of the earth; for it
made the devil depart from Him, and angels come and minister to Him, which
all the armies of all the kingdoms of the earth could not have done. This, our
Lord teaches us, is true riches. Moreoverour Lord's example teaches us that
true riches, while it does not consistin what we have of the things of this
world, does consistin what we give. Nor is this to be measured by the amount
given, but by the heart which gives it. The poor widow was rich in some
measure after the pattern of our Saviour Himself. She had the riches of love,
of freedom from care, of a full trust in Him who feeds the fowls of the air, and
clothes the grass of the field. Here you may see plainly how the poorestof you
may become rich through Christ's poverty.
2. By the sacrifice ofHis death. One of His first declarations was, that the
poor are blessedbecause theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Now they who have
an inheritance in this are rich not for a few days or years, but to eternity. But
something more is needed in order to attain it beside the mere fact of being
poor. Forwe do not enter into that kingdom through our ownpoverty, but
through Christ's. But when we remember Christ's poverty, when we feelthat
He died in order that we might live, when we know that through His precious
sacrifice we are reconciledto the Father, and that, poor as we are in ourselves,
and destitute of every grace, He has obtained the power of the Spirit for us,

and through Him will give us grace forgrace — then for the first time we find
out that in Him we are truly rich. When we considerourselves apart from
Christ we are always poor— in strength, in grace, in hope. But when we have
been brought by His Spirit to feelourselves at one with Him, when we think,
and pray, and act, not in our own strength, but in His, then we become
partakers of those infinite riches He came to bestow.
(ArchdeaconHare.)
The riches and poverty of Christ
W. Pulsford, D. D.
I. THE NATIVE RICHES OF CHRIST. They are the riches of God.
WhateverGod is, and has, "the Only-begotten of the Father" possesses.
1. These riches were first displayed in the things which He made (John 1:2;
Colossians 1:15-17). He is the hidden spring, the open river, and the ocean
fulness of universal life and being.
2. But, whilst He is the presupposition of all things, He is also the prophecy of
all things. All things look to, move towards, and only rest in Him. Creatures
have latent powers that they cannotexercise, desires thatthey never satisfy.
Man is felt and seento be the crownof nature. But among the sons of men
there is no complete man. When "the Word became flesh," human nature
first became complete and crowned.
3. What then must His riches be who is the wealth of God? Riches among men
are distributed. To one is given genius;to anotherforce of character;to
another socialeminence;to another worldly abundance. But the native riches
of our Lord is the wealthof all wealth. In Him it pleases the whole fulness of
God to dwell. Considerfirst the earth in all its wealthof land and ocean;its
production of life in all its forms; the riches of its hidden wisdom in the
prevailing order of its silent forces;and the wealthof goodness displayedin
the designedbeneficence that constrains all things to subserve the well-being
of all creatures. Thencallto mind the wealth which flows in the stream of

human life. From the earth we must rise to the starry heavens, and thence to
the infinite unseen beyond, before we can begin to estimate the native riches of
Him of whose grace ourtext speaks;the "unsearchable riches" whichHe had
with the Fatherbefore all worlds, by the possession ofwhich it became His
greatwork to "causeall to see," etc. (Ephesians 3:9, 10), The riches of our
Lord will only be seenin the end.
II. THE POVERTYHE CHOSE. To be poor, never having been anything
else, canscarcelybe regarded as an evil; but to become poor — how greata
calamity! Yet He who was rich in all the wealth of God became poor. Consider
the poverty of —
1. His nature. "The Word became flesh," the frailestand most corruptible of
all the forms of life. He who had life in Himself became dependent for life, and
breath, and all things. He whom angels worshipped was made so much lower
than they as to welcome their ministrations. He who was the bread of God
became dependent upon the bread of the world. He, the Eternal Son, having
"life in Himself," became partakerof a life subject to all the laws of developed
existence. He who was the Wisdom of God grew in knowledge. He who was
possessedof "allpower" craves the sustaining fellowship of men. And He to
whom all pray became Himself a man of prayer, whose prayers were agonies
unto blood-sweating.
2. His circumstances.(1)The time of His birth was poor — when the
degradationof His nation was complete, whenJudaea wore a foreign yoke.(2)
The place of His birth was in keeping with the time.(3) As He was born in
poverty, so in poverty He was brought up, and in poverty He lived and died.
3. His experience. He was "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." Now
there is nothing makes us feel how utterly poor we are like sorrow. We only
weepwhen we are at our wits' end, and our last resource has been exhausted.
Jesus was "stricken, smitten of God and afflicted";"He was numbered with
transgressors."
III. THE WEALTH OF HIS POVERTY. It is through His poverty that we are
made rich. His riches flow to us, and become ours, through His poverty. His

riches require poverty as the medium through which alone they can be given
to the poor. Note —
1. Its voluntariness. He became poor. By His own act "He became poor," the
act of His eagerlove and obedience (Hebrews 10:5-7). No one took from off
His brow the crown of heaven, He laid it aside;no one stripped Him of His
royal robes, He unrobed Himself; no one paralysedthe arm of His power, of
Himself He chose our weakness;He laid down the life of heavenfor the life of
earth, as He laid down the life of earth for the life of heaven.
2. Its vicariousness. His riches were not laid aside for the sons of light; or for
the angels who kept not their first estate, but for the dust-clothed and sinful
children of earth. Had our circumstances andcondition, calling for His help,
been the result of misfortune or ignorance, His pity were not so strange. But
He became poor for sinners, for rebels, hard and unrelenting in their
rebellion. "Hereby perceive we the love of God," "in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us." Through such poverty flow riches enough to
quicken the dead in trespasses andsins.
3. The beneficence of its purpose. He does not contemplate our deliverance
merely, nor our restorationto man's primitive state. He became poorthat we
may be rich in all the filial correspondencesofthe Father's wealth. "My God
shall supply all your need," etc.
4. The fittingness of His poverty for the communication of His riches. We
must become that which we would bless. The father makes himself a child that
he may win the child's heart; the teachermakes himself one with his scholars
that he may the better teachthem. We must weepwith those who weepif we
would comfort them, and lie under the sins of sinners if we would save them
from their sins. The riches of Christ's grace couldonly be communicated
through the poverty which brought Him under our condition. "He who was
rich became poor," "was compassedwith our infirmity," "touchedwith our
feeling," "tempted in all points as we are," "that we might find grace to help
in every time of need," and that He might become our "eternalsalvation."
5. The capacity for wealth containedin poverty. Only a nature capable of
greatriches canbe subjectto greatpoverty. But the depth of poverty

measures the experience of the riches which deliver from its destitution. Only
a creature made in the image of God, and constituted a partakerof the Divine
nature, could suffer the loss of God and be "without hope in the world." And
only on those who have suffered from the want of God could there be the
display of His innermost riches. The deepestwants in man are met by the
innermost "needs be" in God. Sin opens up and explores in the creature
solemn and awful depths, but the awful depths of sin become filled with God's
mercy towards sinners.
(W. Pulsford, D. D.)
The greatrenunciation
W. L. Watkinson.
Here we are reminded of the manifestation of the Divine love in Jesus Christ,
and of the grand design of that manifestation.
1. Christ became poor in character. In the past eternity He dwelt in a holy
universe; was circled about with holy hosts;He was Himself the light in which
there was no darkness at all. But He "became poor." He condescendedto
dwell with sinners; to become the substitute and representative of a guilty
race. "He was made in the likeness ofsinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin
in the flesh." Here is the heart of the text. "He was made sin for us who knew
no sin." We all heard a few years ago of the island in the South Seas called
Leper Island; all who became infected with the terrible disease in any of the
adjoining islands were banished to Leper Island, and there ultimately they
miserably perished. And then we were told of a priest who out of pure pity
went to live in the plague spot. He was not a leper, but he cut himself off from
civilisation, and was willing to share the lot of the sufferers so that he might
minister to them, living with them, being buried with them. The conductof
that missionary was a reflection of the greatsacrifice ofJesus Christ. The
Catholic missionary consenting to live with the leprous community could not
communicate his health to them — that was utterly beyond his designand
power; the fact is the priest became infected with the leprosy himself and died

of it. But Christ came to healus of our direful malady, to make us share His
strong and beautiful life, to touch our lips with cleansing, to banish our
corruptions, to send heavenly health through all our veins, to give to our
whole being the vitality and bloom of righteousness. Whatis more clearthan
the factthat Christ has enriched the race with a new, a higher, a more
powerful righteousness? Whenthe incarnation came the world was poor
enough in character. The nations had wastedtheir substance in riotous living,
and Jew and Greek were alike hopeless and corrupt. But let us not lose
ourselves in generalities. "Foryour sakes." The apostle individualises. Let us
personally claim that grace, andalthough we are poor and blind and naked
and defiled, He shall cleanse us from every spot, and make our raiment to be
of gold and fine needlework.
2. Christ became poor in dominion. In the eternity of the past Christ sat on
the throne. He was the Creator, Ruler, Heir of all things. But for "our sakes
He became poor." The fact of His poverty is seenin that it was possible for
Him to be tempted. He took upon Himself the form of a slave and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. "Thatwe might become
rich." That, slaves as we were, the lost kingship might be restoredto us.
Christ restores us to self-government. This crownof self-governmenthas
fallen from our head. We are tyrannised over by vile passions —
intemperance, anger, pride, avarice — all these vices triumph over us, and
make a show of us openly. Christ once more puts the fallen crownupon our
head. He restores in us the government of God. Christ gives to us self-mastery
— first and grandestof coronations. Christ restores to us the government of
nature. In the beginning man was the vicegerentof God. But that dominion
has been broken, and instead of man ruling nature, nature has ruled man,
affrighted him, crushed him. But as man recovers self-rule he mysteriously
acquires power overall things. Do we not see this in the progress ofour
Christian civilisation? As men master themselves their relation to nature is
changed, they lift themselves out of the stream of physical forces, and attain a
wider freedom. Science is only possible through character, and as Christ
makes us free from the power of evil we lay our hand on the sea, direct the
lightning, and inherit the riches of the world. Christ restores us to an abiding
government in the kingdom of the future. We read much in the New

Testamentabout the saints reigning as kings. Christ is to be King in the world
of the future, and all who are loyal to Him shall share in the undisputed and
everlasting sovereignty.
3. Christ became poor in blessedness.Revelationbrings the Deity before us as
infinitely blissful. In God is the unutterable bliss springing from perfect
knowledge, absolute will, ineffable love, everlasting righteousness. Here, once
more, for "our sakes He became poor." And how profoundly poor! He
became poor "that we might become rich." What an extraordinary gladness
throbbed in the apostles — everywhere in the New Testamentwe feel the
pulsations of a mighty joy! And so it is still with all those whose lives are hid
with Christ in God. In the midst of a world of sorrow and death He brings to
us the blessednessofcelestialworlds. A little while ago I read of a gentleman
in the heart of a greatcity listening to a telephone, when he was surprised to
hear the rich music of forestbirds. It seemedthat the wire passedthrough the
country, and so some way caughtthe music of the far-awaywoods and
transmitted it to the heart of the black toiling city. Christ has restoredthe
missing chords between heavenand earth, and now in a world of care and
conflict, of suffering and tears, we are delighted to catchthe echoes offar-off
music, to taste the joy unspeakable and full of glory which belongs to the
perfect universe. Many of us are poor enough in joy, but it is not our own
fault. If we would only claim more of that glorious grace which Christ gives,
our peace should flow as a river, our hearts be as a wateredgarden whose
waters fail not.
4. Christ became poor in life. He was rich in life. "He only hath immortality."
But for "our sakes He became poor." He shared our mortality. The Rose of
Sharon faded as other roses do;the Lily of the Valley withered as lilies nipped
by the frost. He did not even attain the poor threescore years and ten. The text
assumes the poverty of humanity. Yes, we are poor, paupers indeed. There is a
deep destitution under all our displays of knowledge,power, happiness,
character. The enrichment of humanity is through the humiliation of Christ.
In Him the riches of eternity are poured into the bankrupt life of man. There
is no other way to true riches but through Him.
(W. L. Watkinson.)

Poverty and riches with Christ
J. OswaldDykes, D. D.
I. CHRIST BECAME POOR.
1. This cannotmean that He ceasedto be the owner and Lord of all things.
That sort of limited ownershipwhich the law gives me over what is mine I can
renounce. Not so with the absolute ownershipof God. The use of them He may
lend; His own proprietorship in them He cannot alienate. Still less is it
possible to strip oneselfof those moral and personal qualities which make up
the wealthof one's very nature. Could a Divine Person ceaseto carry in
Himself the unsearchable riches of Divine power, or wisdom, or goodness?
2. Christ became poor in the sense offorbearing to claim His wealth or to
avail Himself of it. The nobleman, e.g., who leaves behind him his estates,
concealshis rank, and goes abroadto maintain himself on what he can earn
by daily labour, becomes poor, not by loss indeed, but by renunciation. What
motive could be purer than this, "Foryour sakes"?Whatdesign nobler than
this, "That ye through His poverty might be rich"? So Christ's poverty was
not an outward condition so much as an inward act. At the most the outward
condition only mirrored the inward act. All things were not less truly His own
than before; only He refused to assertHis right to them, or to enjoy their
benefit. And why? That He might make Himself in all things like unto us, His
human and fallen brethren.(1) We are creatures who hang upon God with
absolute dependence. Is not that poverty — to be derived from, sustained, and
led by another? To this Christ stooped. Thoughinherently equal to the
Father, He consentedto occupy the position of a creature's inferiority: "My
Father is greaterthan I." Though Makerof the universe, He consentedto
receive His ability from God: "The Son can do nothing of Himself." Of the
infinite treasures whichwere His, He would not turn so much as a stone to
bread to feedHis own hunger.(2) There are restrictions under which we are
bound to act — the confining bonds of law. No man is free to do whateverhe
likes. Against this curbing and prescribing law, whether of morals or of social
custom, all men fret; and Jewishmen in particular were saddled with a yoke

of ancient prescriptions peculiarly vexatious. To all this Christ submitted. He
became too poor to have a will of His own or be a law unto Himself, for He
was "made under the law."(3)Sin has wrought for us a deeper poverty than
God meant for men. There is no shame in having nothing but what our Father
gives;no shame in being free only to do His will. But there is shame in
wearing a life forfeit to the law through criminal transgression. This is
poverty indeed. Yet Jesus walkedonearth with a forfeited life because He had
devoted it to the law. Here was the acme of self-impoverishment. He held not
even Himself to be properly His own. On the contrary. He held Himself to be a
ransom for our transgression, a price due, a Persondoomed.
II. IT IS THIS SPONTANEOUS ABNEGATIONWHICH GIVES US THE
MORAL KEY TO THAT MYSTERIOUS ATONING LIFE AND DEATH
OF THE SON OF GOD. In this act there lay the perfection both of that love
which gives and of that humility which stoops and veils itself. It forms the
most consummate antithesis to the immoral attitude takenup by our fallen
world. This world, being indeed helpless and dependent, yet renounces God,
asserts itself, dreams of self-sufficiency. For an answerto such sinful folly, the
Son of God, being indeed rich, becomes as pooras the world is. He stoops to
show us men our true place. We shall reap no profit from this adopted
poverty of His unless we learn of Him how to be poor in spirit before God. For
me as for Him the pathway is one of renunciation. My would-be independence
of God I must frankly abandon. God's claims I must own as Jesus Christ
owned them in my name. The sentence which righteously condemns me I must
acceptas He acceptedit for me. The sacrifice ofHis costlylife I must regard
as the due equivalent for my own life, forfeit for my guilt. Then I, too, am
poor. I, too, owe everything to God. I am so poor that I am not even my own
any more, but His who gave Himself for me; so poor that I do not live any
more, for I died in His death; or, if I live, it is no more I, but Christ who liveth
in me.
III. THIS CHRIST-LIKE PATH CONDUCTS TO TRUE ENRICHMENT.
Compare the Jesus whom John describes in chap. John 19 with the Jesus
whom John describes in Revelation

1. On the pavement, in the praetorium, and on the Cross, He let them strip
Him. Was everman stripped so poor as this one, buried at last in a borrowed
grave? Look up and see the vision of Patmos. The same Man; but His eyes are
a flame of fire, etc. Has not His path through uttermost poverty been a path to
boundless wealth? Ponderthis comment of St. Paul, and you will know what I
mean (Philippians 6:6-11). Such glory as He had with the Father before the
world was, He first laid aside that He might be made like unto us, inglorious
in all things. Then when He stoodamong us as our priestly Head on the night
when He was betrayed, He askedthe Fatherto give Him back of His grace
that same glory which He would not claim by right, saying, "Now, O Father,
do Thou glorify Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee
before the world was!" Why does He thus stoopto be a petitioner for His
own? Because He would receive it on such terms that He may share it with us.
Hear Him add (as one who believes that he has what he has asked), "The
glory which Thou hast given to Me, I have given to them."
(J. OswaldDykes, D. D.)
The poverty of Christ the source of heavenly riches
R. Treffry.
I. THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. The term "grace"is of
common use in the Scriptures, the meaning of which is determined by its
connection. It sometimes implies wisdom, "Let no corrupt communication,"
etc. (Ephesians 4:29). It also signifies power, "My grace is sufficient for thee,"
etc. (2 Corinthians 12:9). But generallyit imports benevolence, favour, love,
or goodwill(Romans 5:20; 1 Timothy 1:14). This grace is —
1. Free and generous in its nature. Grace must be liberal and spontaneous,
otherwise it is no more grace. Had the conductof Christ towards man been
the result of any overwhelming necessity, it could not, with any propriety,
have been denominated grace. All the movements of the Deity are voluntary
and free. God never acts necessarily.
2. Unsolicited and unsought on the part of man.

3. Disinterestedin its character. Human beings are selfishin their actions.
Self-interestsways the multitude, and it is difficult to divest ourselves ofthis
principle: we have generallysome interest in all we do, either presentpleasure
or the expectationof future reward. But the Lord Jesus is the supreme and
eternal God, who is infinitely removed from all those low and sordid views by
which man is actuated. His actions are perfectly disinterested.
4. Distinguishing in its operations. Two orders of intelligent beings offended
their Maker, angels and men. But the grace of our Lord Jesus Christwas
displayed to man — fallen, miserable, rebellious man.
5. This grace was made known. "Ye know the grace ofour Lord Jesus
Christ." Godhath gloriously displayed it. It was made known to our primitive
parents almostas soonas sin entered into the world. It was revealedto
Abraham, to Moses, to David, to Isaiah, and all the prophets; for "to Him,"
namely, to Christ, "give all the prophets witness" (Acts 10:43).
II. CONSIDERTHE DISPLAY OF THIS GRACE. "ThoughHe was rich, yet
for your sakesHe became poor.
1. He possesedall the incommunicable perfections of the Deity.
2. He possessedallthe moral perfections of the Deity. Now thus think upon
Christ.
(1)Considerthe grandeur of His abode.
(2)Considerthe extent of His dominion.
(3)Considerthe dignity of His titles.
(4)Considerthe number and splendour of His attendants.
(5)Considerthe profusion of His liberality. See how He scatters His bounty in
every direction. There is not a particle of animated matter that He does not
feed.The riches of Christ are widely different from the riches which men
possess.(a)His riches are His own, exclusively and eternally. Ours are derived
from others. The riches of Christ are His, not derived, not procured, but
essentialto His nature.(b) Christ's riches are undiminishable and

inexhaustible. Ours may be squandered and exhausted.(c)The riches of
Christ are illimitable and incomprehensible.But He "became poor," that is —
1. He assumedour nature in its lowliestand most degradedstate.
2. He suffered the penalty due to our sin.
III. THE DESIGN FOR WHICH THE GRACE OF CHRIST WAS
DISPLAYED.
1. That we might be rich in grace;rich in all the fruits of righteousness.
2. Rich in glory. We shall inherit a glorious place (2 Peter 1:11). We shall be
associatedwith glorious society, and be invested with glorious privileges.
These are the true riches in opposition to those of the world, which are
treacherous, false, anddeceitful. Satisfactory, in opposition to earthly wealth,
which cannot satisfy the infinite desires of the mind (Luke 12:15).
Imperishable, in opposition to those which wax old and perish in the using.
They are riches attainable by all. The goodthings of this world are possessed
by few. The connectionbetweenthe poverty of Christ and the riches of the
Christian may be easilydiscovered.(1)By the humiliation, sufferings, and
death of Christ an atonement was made for sin, and a wayof accessto God
made plain. God is the chief good:man by sin became an alien from Him.(2)
By the atonement of Christ all the blessings of grace and glory are procured
for us.
(a)From the subjectbefore us we infer how deeply we are indebted to Christ.
(b)We see with what confidence we may come to Christ.
(c)We discoverfrom the text that it is our privilege, no less than our duty, to
know the grace ofour Lord Jesus Christ.
(R. Treffry.)
Genuine philanthropy
D. Thomas, D. D.

In the context we have three facts in relation to Christian philanthropy.
1. That true love for humanity is essentiallyassociatedwith piety. Paul is
speaking ofthe kindness which the church at Macedonia had shownto the
sufferings of the mother-church at Jerusalem. The affectionthat binds to God
will bind to the race.
2. That true love for humanity is an earnestelement of character. These
Macedonians seemto have been poor and afflicted, probably the subjects of
persecution(ver. 2). Their benevolence was nota mere sentiment.
3. That true love for man has in Christianity the highestexample. "Ye know
the grace,"etc. Note that genuine philanthropy —
I. Is IDENTICALWITH THE LOVE DEVELOPED BYCHRIST. This grace
of Christ was —
1. All-embracing. There are some who sympathise with the physical woes of
man and overlook the spiritual; some feel for a few, and are regardless of
others. But Christ regards the bodies and souls of all men.
2. Perfectlydisinterested.
3. Self-sacrificing.
II. SACRIFICES THE MATERIAL FOR THE SPIRITUAL.. "He who was
rich," etc.
III. AIMS SUPREMELYAT THE PROMOTION OF SPIRITUAL
WEALTH. "That ye through His poverty might be rich." Spiritual wealth is
—
1. Absolutely valuable. Materialwealth is not so. In some countries and ages it
is not of much value. Of what advantage would a handsome fortune be to a
savage?But spiritual wealthis valuable here, everywhere, and for ever.
2. Is essentiallyconnectedwith happiness. There is often greattrial in the
getting and the keeping of worldly wealth.

3. Is within the reachof all; earthly wealthis not. Conclusion:Observe —(1)
That to promote moral wealthrequires the sacrifice ofsecularwealth. Let us
suppose that Jesus had not become poor. What would have been the result?
The material must be given up to the spiritual.(2) That no sacrifice is too great
to promote spiritual wealth. "Christ gave Himself."
(D. Thomas, D. D.)
On the benefits derived from the humiliation of Jesus Christ
W. Thornton.
I. LET US CONSIDER THE ORIGINAL CONDITION OF THE PERSON
HERE MENTIONED. "He was rich."
II. HOW THIS ILLUSTRIOUS PERSON ACCOMPLISHED THE PLAN OF
OUR REDEMPTION."He became poor."
III. TO CONSIDERTHE PERSONSFOR WHOM THESE SUFFERINGS
WERE ENDURED. "Foryour sakesHe became poor."
IV. THE BENEFITS WHICHFLOW THROUGH THE HUMILIATION OF
CHRIST.
1. The view which has been takenof Divine grace shouldawakenyour
gratitude.
2. The view taken of Divine grace is calculatedto begetyour confidence.
3. The view taken of Divine grace shouldconstrain you to the diligent use of
all the appointed means of grace and salvation.
(W. Thornton.)
Christ's motive and ours
Spurgeon.

(text and Philippians 1:29): —
1. The true test of any actionlies in its motive. Many a deed, which seems to
be glorious, is really ignoble because it is done with a base intention; while
other actions, which appear to be poor, are full of the glory of a noble
purpose. The mainspring of a watchis the most important part of it; the
spring of an action is everything.
2. The less of self in any effort, the nobler it is. A greatwork, undertaken from
selfishmotives, is much less praiseworthy than the feeble endeavour put forth
to help other people.
3. We are often told that we should live for the good of others, and we ought to
heed the call;but there is so little in our fellow-mento callforth the spirit of
self-sacrifice,that if we have no higher motive, we should soonbecome tired of
our efforts on their behalf. Consider —
I. THE MOTIVE OF CHRIST'S WORK. "Foryour sakes."
1. The august person who died "foryour sakes."He was God. "Without Him
was not anything made that was made." All the powers of nature were under
His control. He might truly say, "If I were hungry I would not tell thee: for
the world is Mine, and the fulness thereof." Hymned day without night by all
the sacredchoristers, He did not lack for praise. Nor did He lack for servants;
legions of angels were everready to do His commandments. It was God who
came from heaven "for your sakes."It was no inferior being, no one like
yourselves. If I were told that all the sons of men caredfor me, that would be
but a drop in a bucket comparedwith JehovahHimself regarding me. If it
were said that all the princes of the earth had fallen at some poor man's feet,
and laid aside their dignities that they might relieve his necessities, suchan act
would not be worthy to be spokenof in comparisonwith that infinite
condescensionand unparalleled love which brought the Saviour from the
skies.
2. The insignificant clients on whom all this wealth of affectionwas poured. If
our whole race had been blotted out, He had but to speak the word, and
myriads of creatures prompt to obey His will would have filled up the space.

But we are not only insignificant, we are also iniquitous. As sinners, we
deserve nothing but God's thunderbolts. Many of us, also, were peculiarly
sinful. Some of us feelinclined to dispute with Saul of Tarsus for the title,
"chiefof sinners." It will ever remain a wonder to me that the Son of God
should have condescendedto die for me.
3. The wondrous work which this master-motive inspired. "Foryour sakes"
the Sonof Godtook into union with Himself our nature, without which He
could not have suffered and died. "He became poor." The poverty of a man is
reckonedin proportion to the position of affluence from which he has come
down. When the Christ of God, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, was
forsakenby His Father, deserted by His friends, and left alone to suffer "for
your sakes," thatwas the direst poverty that was ever known. See your Lord
beneath the olives of Gethsemane. Thensee Him before Herod, Pilate, and
Caiaphas. BeholdHim, as they lift Him up to suffer the death of the Cross!All
this Christ suffered "for your sakes." Whatlove and gratitude ought to fill
your heart as you think of all that Jesus bore on your behalf! There is a story
of an American gentleman who was accustomedto go frequently to a tomb
and plant fresh flowers. When some one askedwhy he did so, he said that,
when the time came for him to go to the war, he was detained by some
business, and the man who lay beneath the sod became his substitute and died
in the battle. Over that carefully-keptgrave he had the words inscribed, "He
died for me!" There is something melting in the thought of another dying for
you; how much more melting is it when that One is the Christ of Calvary!
4. The comprehensive motive for which He wrought the wondrous work.
Everything He was and did was "foryour sakes."
II. THE MOTIVE WHICH SHOULD INSPIRE ALL OUR SERVICE FOR
HIM. "ForHis sake." Whatare we that we should be allowedthe high honour
of suffering "for His sake"?It is a greatprivilege to do, or to be, or to bear
anything for Him. The thought expressedin these words may be enlarged, and
assume six or sevenphases.
1. "Forrighteousness'sake"(Matthew 5:10). If a man suffers as a Christian
for doing that which is right, he is suffering for Christ's sake.

2. "Forthe gospel's sake"(1 Corinthians 9:23). Now, if you are put to any
shame for the sake ofthe gospel, you suffer "forHis sake";and if you labour
to spread the gospelyou are doing something "for His sake."
3. "ForHis body's sake, whichis the Church" (Colossians1:24). We ought to
do much more than we do for God's people.
4. "Forthe elect's sakes" (2 Timothy 9:10), i.e., not only those who are in the
Church as yet, but those who are to be. Happy is that man who spends his
time in seeking out poor wanderers, that he may bring in God's elect.
5. "The kingdom of God's sake"(Luke 18:29). No one who has left aught for it
shall fail of present and eternal reward.
6. "Forthe truth's sake, whichdwelleth in us" (2 John 2). It is not merely the
gospelwe are to defend, but that living seedwhich the Holy Ghosthas put into
us, that truth which we have tasted, and handled, and felt; that theology
which is not that of the Book only, but that which is written on the fleshy
tablets of our hearts. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Now, therefore, perform the doing of it
Performances
W. M. Statham.
There is an eloquence of promise in many men. In the commercialworld they
excelin promissory notes. In the socialworld they are the generous
distributors of vague invitations guiltless of date. Men stop as pilgrims at the
inn of GoodIntent, and their position is that of "almostChristians." Notice
promises —
I. IN RELATION TO THE KINGDOM OF EVIL. Men do not like to lose
sight of the City of God. There is a purpose to be true to Christ some day.
They mean well. Meanwell! What slave of vice does not do that? But let the
soul be brought face to face with the necessityof endeavour, and then De
Quincey, when an opium eater, is not more powerless. There is no hope in,

"I'll think about it," in a convenient season, in the promise, "when I change
my neighbourhood." Now, perform the resolution like a man, for "Now is the
acceptedtime."
II. IN RELATION TO RESPONSIBILITIES.
1. Of gift. "I would give if I were rich." No; if you do not yield God a fair
measure of your income now you would not then. It is as easyto be miserly
with a hundred a-year as it is with a thousand. God performs. He promised
that the seedof the woman should bruise the serpent's head, and we see the
triumph over evil in the Cross. Christ has promised a prepared place, and our
departed ones are now confessing thatit was all true.
2. Of service. Service is of many kinds, but there is always a "now" about it.
Moreover, performance once honestly commencedtempts out more and more
of loyal effort. It is compensative, too, and brings surely its own blest reward.
Nevermind the initial difficulties. All great men have found them and have
masteredthem. Begin.
III. IN RELATION TO THE EXAMPLE OF CHRIST (ver. 9). In His
incarnation He "performed the promise made to our forefathers." His life was
one long performance. He performs still. Be ye imitators of Him.
IV. IN RELATION TO THE BOUNTIFULNESSOF GOD. Meditating on
our redemption we sing, "Love so amazing," etc. Perform, then, the doing of
it.
V. IN RELATION TO INFLUENCES. Actions speak louder than words.
(W. M. Statham.)
The laws of Christian liberality
J. Denney, B. D.
I. READINESS,ora willing mind. What is given must be given freely; it must
be a gracious offering, not a tax. This is fundamental. The O. T. law is re-
enacted. "Ofevery man whose heart maketh him willing shall ye take the

Lord's offering." What we spend in piety and charity is not tribute paid to a
tyrant, but the response of gratitude to our Redeemer, and if it has not this
characterHe does not want it. If there be first a willing mind, the rest is easy;
if not, there is no need to go on.
II. ACCORDING AS A MAN HAS. Readiness is the acceptable thing, not this
or that proof of it. If we cannot give much, then a ready mind makes evena
little acceptable. Onlylet us remember this, that readiness always gives all
that is in its power. The readiness of the Macedonianswas in the depths of
poverty, but they gave "themselves" to the Lord; yet this moving appealof the
apostle has been profaned times innumerable to cloak the meanestselfishness.
III. RECIPROCITY. Pauldoes not write that the Jews may be releasedand
the Corinthians burdened, but on the principle of equality. At this crisis the
superfluity of the Corinthians is to make up what is wanting to the Jews, and
at some other the situation will be exactly reversed. Brotherhoodcannot be
one-sided; it must be mutual, and in the interchange of services equality is the
result. This answers to God's designin regard to worldly goods, as that design
is indicated in the story of the manna. To be selfish is not the way to get more
than your share;you may cheatyour neighbour by that policy, but you will
not getthe better of God. In all probability men are far more nearly on an
equality in respectof what their worldly possessionsyield, than the rich in
their pride, or the poor in their envious discontent would readily believe; but
when the inequality is patent and painful — a glaring violation of the Divine
intention here suggested — there is a call for charity to redress the balance.
Those who give to the poor are cooperating with God, and the more a
community is Christianised, the more will that state be realisedin which each
has what he needs.
(J. Denney, B. D.)
commentaries

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(9) Ye know the grace ofour Lord Jesus Christ.—The meaning of the word
“grace”appears slightly modified by the context. The theologicalsenseofthe
word, so to speak, falls into the background, and that of an actof liberality
becomes prominent.
That, though he was rich, . . . he became poor.—Better, that, being rich . . .
The thought is the same as that expressedin Philippians 2:6-7, especiallyin
the words which ought to be translated He emptied Himself. He was rich in
the ineffable glory of the divine attributes, and these He renouncedfor a time
in the mystery of the Incarnation, and took our nature in all its poverty. This
is doubtless the chief thought expressed, but we can scarcelydoubt that the
words refer also to the outward aspectof our Lord’s life. He chose the lot of
the poor, almost of the beggar(the Greek word “poor” is so translated, and
rightly, in Luke 16:20-22), as Francis ofAssisiand others have done in seeking
to follow in His steps. And this He did that men might by that spectacle ofa
life of self-surrender be sharers with Him in the eternal wealth of the Spirit,
and find their treasure not in earth but heaven. As regards the outward
mendicant aspectofour Lord’s life, and that of His disciples, see Notes on
Matthew 10:10; Luke 8:1-3; John 12:6.
MacLaren's Expositions
2 Corinthians
RICH YET POOR
2 Corinthians 8:9The Apostle has been speaking about a matter which, to us,
seems very small, but to him was very greatviz., a gathering of pecuniary help

from the Gentile churches for the poor church in Jerusalem. Large issues, in
his estimation, attended that exhibition of Christian unity, and, be it greator
small, he applies the highestof all motives to this matter. ‘For ye know the
grace ofthe Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich yet for your sakes He
became poor.’ The trivial things of life are to be guided and shapedby
reference to the highest of all things, the example of Jesus Christ; and that in
the whole depth of His humiliation, and even in regardto His cross and
passion. We have here set forth, as the pattern to which the Christian life is to
be conformed, the deepestconceptionof what our Lord’s careeronearth was.
The whole Christian Church is about to celebrate the nativity of our Lord at
this time. This text gives us the true point of view from which to regard it. We
have here the work of Christ in its deepestmotive, ‘The grace of our Lord
Jesus.’We have it in its transcendent self-impoverishment, ‘Though He was
rich, yet for our sakes He became poor.’ We have it in its highest issue, ‘That
ye through His poverty might become rich.’ Let us look at those points.
I. Here we have the deepestmotive which underlies the whole work of Christ,
unveiled to us.
‘Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.’Every word here is significant.
It is very unusual in the New Testamentto find that expression‘grace’applied
to Jesus Christ. Exceptin the familiar benediction, I think there are only one
or two instances of such a collocationof words. It is ‘the grace ofGod’ which,
throughout the New Testament, is the prevailing expression. But here ‘grace is
attributed to Jesus’;that is to say, the love of the Divine heart is, without
qualification or hesitation, ascribedto Him. And what do we mean by grace?
We mean love in exercise to inferiors. It is infinite condescensionin Jesus to
love. His love stoops when it embraces us. Very significant, therefore, is the
employment here of the solemn full title, ‘the Lord Jesus Christ,’which
enhances the condescensionby making prominent the height from which it

bent. The ‘grace’is all the more wonderful because ofthe majesty and
sovereignty, to saythe leastof it, which are expressedin that title, the Lord.
The highest stoops and stands upon the level of the lowest. ‘Grace’is love that
expresses itselfto those who deserve something else. And the deepestmotive,
which is the very key to the whole phenomena of the life of Jesus Christ, is
that it is all the exhibition, as it is the consequence, ofa love that, stooping,
forgives. ‘Grace’is love that, stooping and forgiving, communicates its whole
self to unworthy and transgressing recipients. And the key to the life of Jesus
is that we have set forth in its operationa love which is not content to speak
only the ordinary language ofhuman affection, or to do its ordinary deeds,
but is self-impelled to impart what transcends all other gifts of human
tenderness, and to give its very self. And so a love that condescends, a love
that passes by unworthiness, is turned awayby no sin, is unmoved to any kind
of anger, and never allows its cheek to flush or its heart to beat faster, because
of any provocationand a love that is contentwith nothing short of entire
surrender and self-impartation underlies all that precious life from Bethlehem
to Calvary.
But there is another word in our text that may well be here takeninto
consideration. ‘Foryour sakes,’says the Apostle to that Corinthian church,
made up of people, not one of whom had ever seenor been seenby Jesus. And
yet the regard to them was part of the motive that moved the Lord to His life,
and His death. That is to say, to generalise the thought, this grace, thus
stooping and forgiving and self-imparting, is a love that gathers into its
embrace and to its heart all mankind; and is universal because it is
individualising. Just as eachplanet in the heavens, and eachtiny plant upon
the earth, are embraced by, and separatelyreceive, the benediction of that all-
encompassing archof the heaven, so that grace enfolds all, because it takes
accountof each. Whilst it is love for a sinful world, every soul of us may say:
‘He loved me, and’--therefore--’gave Himself for me.’ Unless we see beneath
the sweetstoryof the earthly life this deep-lying source of it all, we fail to
understand that life itself. We may bring criticism to bear upon it; we may
apprehend it in diverse affecting, elevating, educating aspects;but, oh!
brethren, we miss the blazing centre of the light, the warm heart of the fire,

unless we see pulsating through all the individual facts of the life this one, all-
shaping, all-vitalising motive; the grace--the stooping, the pardoning, the self-
communicating, the individualising, and the universal love of Jesus Christ.
So then, we have here set before us the work of Christ in its--
II. Mostmysterious and unique self-impoverishment.
‘He was . . . He became,’there is one strange contrast. ‘He was _rich_ . . . He
became _poor_,’there is another. ‘He was . . . He became.’What does that
say? Well, it says that if you want to understand Bethlehem, you must go back
to a time before Bethlehem. The meaning of Christ’s birth is only understood
when we turn to that Evangelistwho does not narrate it. For the meaning of it
is here; ‘the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.’ The surface of the fact
is the smallestpart of the fact. They say that there is seventimes as much of
an iceberg under wateras there is above the surface. And the deepestand
most important factabout the nativity of our Lord is that it was not only the
birth of an Infant, but the Incarnation of the Word. ‘He was . . . He became.’
We have to travel back and recognise thatthat life did not begin in the
manger. We have to travel back and recognisethe mystery of godliness, God
manifest in the flesh.
And these two words ‘He was . . . He became,’imply another thing, and that
is, that Jesus Christwho died because He chose, was notpassive in His being
born, but as at the end of His earthly life, so at its beginning exercisedHis
volition, and was born because He willed, and willed because of‘the grace of
our Lord Jesus.’

Now in this connectionit is very remarkable, and well worth our pondering,
that throughout the whole of the Gospels,whenJesus speaksofHis coming
into the world, He never uses the word ‘born’ but once, and that was before
the Romangovernor, who would not have understood or caredfor anything
further, to whom He did say,’To this end was I born.’ But even when speaking
to him His consciousness thatthat word did not express the whole truth was
so strong that He could not help adding--though He knew that the hard
Roman procurator would pay no attention to the apparent tautology--the
expressionwhich more truly correspondedto the fact, ‘and for this cause
came I into the world.’ The two phrases are not parallel. They are by no
means synonymous. One expresses the outward fact; the other expresses that
which underlay it. ‘To this end was I born.’ Yes! ‘And for this cause came I.’
He Himself put it still more definitely when He said, ‘I came forth from the
Father, and am come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go unto the
Father.’So the two extremities of the earthly manifestation are neither of
them ends; but before the one, and behind the other, there stretches an
identity or oneness ofBeing and condition. The one as the other, the birth and
the death, may be regardedas, in deepestreality, not only what He passively
endured, but what He actively did. He was born, and He died, that in all
points He might be ‘like unto His brethren.’ He ‘came’into the world, and He
‘went’ to the Father. The end circled round to the beginning, and in both He
actedbecause He chose, andchose because He loved.
So much, then, lies in the one of these two antitheses of my text; and the other
is no less profound and significant. ‘He was rich; He became poor.’In this
connection‘rich’ can only mean possessedof the Divine fulness and
independence; and ‘poor’ can only mean possessedof human infirmity,
dependence, and emptiness. And so to Jesus of Nazareth, to be born was
impoverishment. If there is nothing more in His birth than in the birth of each
of us, the words are grotesquelyinappropriate to the facts of the case. Foras
betweennothingness, which is the alternative, and the possessionof conscious
being, there is surely a contrastthe very reverse of that expressedhere. For
us, to be born is to be endowed with capacities, with the wealth of intelligent,
responsible, voluntary being; but to Jesus Christ, if we acceptthe New

Testamentteaching, to be born was a step, an infinite step, downwards, and
He, alone of all men, might have been ‘ashamedto callmen brethren.’ But
this denudation of Himself, into the particulars of which I do not care to enter
now, was the result of that stooping grace which ‘counted it not a thing to be
clutched hold of, to be equal with God; but He made Himself of no reputation,
and was found in fashion as a man, and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the Cross.’
And so, dear friends, we know the measure of the stooping love of Jesus only
when we read the history by the light of this thought, that ‘though He was
rich’ with all the fulness of that eternalWord which was ‘in the beginning
with God,’ ‘He became poor,’ with the poverty, the infirmity, the liability to
temptation, the weakness,that attachto humanity; ‘and was found in all
points like unto His brethren,’ that He might be able to help and succourthem
all.
The lastthing here is--
III. The work of Christ setforth in its highest issue.
‘That we through His poverty might become rich.’ Of course, the antithetical
expressions must be taken to be used in the same sense, and with the same
width of application, in both of the clauses. And if so, just think reverently,
wonderingly, thankfully, of the infinite vista of glorious possibility that is open
to us here. Christ was rich in the possessionofthat Divine glory which Had
had with the Father before the world was. ‘He became poor,’ in assuming the
weakness ofthe manhood that you and I carry, that we, in the human poverty
which is like His poverty, may become rich with wealth that is like His riches,
and that as He stoopedto earth veiling the Divine with the human, we may
rise to heaven, clothing the human with the Divine.

For surely there is nothing more plainly taught in Scriptures, and I am bold to
say nothing to which any deep and vital Christian experience even here gives
more surely an anticipatory confirmation, than the fact that Christ became
like unto us, that eachof us may become like unto Him. The divine and the
human natures are similar, and the fact of the Incarnation, on the one hand,
and of the man’s glorificationby possessionofthe divine nature on the other,
equally rest upon that fundamental resemblance betweenthe divine nature
and the human nature which God has made in His own image. If that which in
eachof us is unlike God is clearedaway, as it can be clearedaway, through
faith in that dear Lord, then the likeness as a matter of course, comes into
force.
The law of all elevationis that whosoeverdesires to lift must stoop; and the
end of all stooping is to lift the lowly to the place from which the love hath
bent itself. And this is at once the law for the Incarnation of the Christ, and
for the elevationof the Christian. ‘We shall be like Him for we shall see Him
as He is.’ And the greatlove, the stooping, forgiving, self-communicating love,
doth not reachits ultimate issue, nor effectfully the purposes to which it ever
is tending, unless and until all who have receivedit are ‘changedfrom glory to
glory even into the image of the Lord.’ We do not understand Jesus, His
cradle, or His Cross, unless on the one hand we see in them His emptying
Himself that He might fill us, and, on the other hand, see, as the only result
which warrants them and satisfies Him, our complete conformity to His
image, and our participation in that glory which He has at the right hand of
God. That is the prospectfor humanity, and it is possible for eachof us.
I do not dwell upon other aspects ofthis greatself-emptying of our Lord’s,
such as the revelationin it to us of the very heart of God, and of the divinest
thing in the divine nature, which is love, or such as the sympathy which is
made possible thereby to Him, and which is not only the pity of a God, but the
compassionofa Brother. Nor do I touch upon many other aspects whichare

full of strengthening and teaching. That grand thought that Jesus has shared
our human poverty that we may share His divine riches is the very apex of the
New Testamentteaching, and of the Christian hope. We have within us,
notwithstanding all our transgressions,whatthe old divines used to call a
‘deiform nature,’ capable of being lifted up into the participation of divinity,
capable of being cleansedfrom all the spots and stains which make us so
unlike Him in whose likenesswe were made.
Brethren, let us not forget that this stooping, and pardoning, and self-
imparting love, has for its main instrument to appealto our hearts, not the
cradle but the Cross. We are being told by many people to-day that the centre
of Christianity lies in the thought of an Incarnation. Yes. But our Lord
Himself has told us what that was for.
‘The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give
His life a ransom for many.’ It is only when we look to that Lord in His death,
and see there the very lowestpoint to which He stooped, and the supreme
manifestation of His grace, that we shall be drawn to yield our hearts and lives
to Him in thankfulness, in trust, and in imitation: and shall setHim before us
as the pattern for our conduct, as well as the Object of our trust.
Brethren, my text was spokenoriginally as presenting the motive and the
example for a little piece of pecuniary liability. Do you take the cradle and the
Cross as the law of your lives? For depend upon it, the same necessitywhich
obliged Jesus to come down to our level, if He would lift us to His; to live our
life and die our death, if He would make us partakers of His immortal life,
and deliver us from death; makes it absolutely necessarythat if we are to live
for anything nobler than our own poor, transitory self-aggrandisement, we
too must learn to stoopto forgive, to impart ourselves, andmust die by self-
surrender and sacrifice, if we are ever to communicate any life, or good of life,
to others. He has loved us, and given Himself for us. He has set us therein an

example which He commends to us by His own word when He tells us that ‘if
a corn of wheat’ is to bring forth ‘much fruit’ it must die, else it ‘abideth
alone.’Unless we die, we never truly live; unless we die to ourselves forothers,
and like Jesus, we live alone in the solitude of a self-enclosedself-regard. So
living, we are dead whilst we live.
BensonCommentary
2 Corinthians 8:9. For ye know — And this knowledge is the true source of
love; the grace — The most sincere, mostfree, and most abundant love; of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich — (1st,) In the glories of the divine
nature, for, (John 1:1,) the Word was God, and subsisted in the form of God,
(Php 2:6,) in the most perfect and indissoluble union with his eternalFather,
with whom he had glory before the world was, John 17:5; and by whom he
was beloved, as the only-begotten Son, before the foundation of the world, 2
Corinthians 8:24. (2d,) In the possessionofthe whole creationof God, which,
as it was made by him, (John 1:3,) so was made for him, (Colossians 1:16,)and
he was the heir and owner of it all, Hebrews 1:2. (3d,) In dominion over all
creatures;he that comethfrom above, (said the Baptist, John 3:31,) is above
all; Lord of all, Acts 10:36;over all, God blessedfor ever, Romans 9:5. All
things being upheld were also governed by him, Colossians1:17;Hebrews 1:3.
(4th,) In receiving glory from them all; all creatures being made, upheld, and
governedby him, manifested the wisdom, power, and goodness,the holiness,
justice, and grace ofhim, their greatand glorious Creator, Preserver, and
Ruler. (5th,) In receiving adoration and praise from the intelligent part of the
creation, Psalm97:7; Hebrews 1:6.
For your sakeshe became poor — Namely, in his incarnation: not, observe, in
ceasing to be what he was, the Wisdom, Word, and Song of Solomonof God,
and God, in union with his Father and the Holy Spirit; but in becoming what
before he was not, namely, man; in assuming the human nature into an
indissoluble and eternal union with the divine, John 1:14; Hebrews 2:14;
Hebrews 2:16. In doing this he became poor, 1st, In putting off the form of
God, and taking the form of a servant, appearing no longer as the Creator,

but as a creature, veiling his perfections with our flesh, and concealing his
glories from human eyes. 2d, In taking the form of a mean creature, not of an
archangelor angel, (Hebrews 2:16,) but of a man; a creature formed out of
the dust of the earth, and in consequence ofsin returning to it; and becoming
a servant to the meanestof them. I am among you, (said he;) among whom?
— Among princes? No; but among fishermen; as one that serveth. 3d, In
taking the form even of a sinful creature, being made in the likeness ofsinful
flesh, Romans 8:3. For, though without sin, he appeared as a sinner, and was
treated as such. And this likeness he assumed, 4th, Notin a state of wealth,
and honour, and felicity, but in a state of extreme poverty, and infamy, and
suffering. 5th, In this state our sins and sorrows were imputed to him, and laid
upon him, and his honour, his liberty, and his life, were takenaway, in
ignominy and torture.
That ye through his poverty might be made rich — It is implied here that we
were poor, and could not otherwise be made rich, but may in this way. When
man was first formed, he was rich in the possessionof God, and of this whole
visible creation. 1st, In the favour and friendship, the protection, care, and
bounty of his Creator; in the knowledge, love, and enjoyment of him. All this
was lostby the fall. Man became ignorant, sinful, guilty, and a child of wrath,
Ephesians 2:3; deprived of the favour, exposedto the displeasure of his God,
and subjectedto the tyranny of his lusts and passions, and of the powers of
darkness. 2d, When first made, man was the lord of this lower world; all
things on this earth being put under his feet, and made subservient to his
happiness. This is not the case now. The creature was made subjectto vanity,
and does not satisfy or make him happy while he has it, and is constantly
liable to be torn from him, and in the end he is certainly stripped of all. 3d,
Man has even losthimself; he is so poor as not to retain possessionofhis
health, or strength, or body, or soul. He has contractedan immense debt, and
is liable to be himself arrestedand thrown into the prison of eternal
destruction. His body is due to sickness,pain, and death; and his soul to the
wrath of God, and is liable to be seizedby Satan, the executionerof the divine
wrath. Such is our natural poverty! Having forfeited all, we have nothing left,
neither the Creatornor his creatures, nor even ourselves. But the Son of God

came, that, having assumed our nature, takenour sins and sufferings, and
paid our forfeit, we might yet be rich. 1st, In the favour of God, and all the
blessedeffects thereof, in time and in eternity. 2d, In being adopted into his
family, born of his Spirit, and constituted his children and his heirs. 3d, In
being restoredto his image, and endued with the gifts and graces ofhis Spirit.
4th, In being admitted to an intimate union and fellowship with him. 5th, In
having the use of God’s creatures restoredto us, blessedand sanctified, even
all things needful for life as well as godliness. 6th, In being unspeakablyhappy
with Jesus in paradise, in the intermediate state betweendeath and judgment.
7th, In having our bodies restored, and conformed to Christ’s glorious body,
at his secondcoming. 8th, In being associatedwith all the company of heaven
in the new world which the Lord will make, admitted to the vision and
enjoyment of God, and the possessionof all things, Revelation21:7; — riches,
honour, and felicity, unsearchable in degree, and eternal in duration! And all
this we have through his poverty, through his incarnation, life, death, his
resurrection, ascension, and intercession;whereby, having expiated sin, and
abolisheddeath, he hath obtained all these unspeakable blessings for such as
will acceptofthem in the way which he hath prescribed; which is, that we
acknowledge ourpoverty in true repentance and humiliation of soul before
God, and acceptof these unsearchable riches in faith, gratitude, love, and new
obedience.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
8:7-9 Faith is the root; and as without faith it is not possible to please God,
Heb 11:6, so those who abound in faith, will abound in other gracesand good
works also;and this will work and show itself by love. Greattalkers are not
always the best doers;but these Corinthians were diligent to do, as well as to
know and talk well. To all these goodthings the apostle desires them to add
this grace also, to abound in charity to the poor. The best arguments for
Christian duties, are drawn from the grace and love of Christ. Though he was
rich, as being God, equal in power and glory with the Father, yet he not only
became man for us, but became poor also. At length he emptied himself, as it
were, to ransom their souls by his sacrifice onthe cross. Fromwhat riches,
blessedLord, to what poverty didst thou descendfor our sakes!and to what

riches hast thou advanced us through thy poverty! It is our happiness to be
wholly at thy disposal.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
For ye know ... - The apostle Paulwas accustomedto illustrate every subject,
and to enforce every duty where it could be done, by a reference to the life and
sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ. The designof this verse is apparent. It is,
to show the duty of giving liberally to the objects of benevolence, from the fact
that the Lord Jesus was willing to become poor in order that he might benefit
others. The idea is, that he who was Lord and proprietor of the universe, and
who possessedall things, was willing to leave his exalted stationin the bosom
of the Fatherand to become poor, in order that we might become rich in the
blessings ofthe gospel, in the means of grace, andas heirs of all things; and
that we who are thus benefitted, and who have such an example, should be
willing to part with our earthly possessionsin order that we may benefit
others.
The grace - The benignity, kindness, mercy, goodness. His coming in this
manner was a proof of the highestbenevolence.
Though he was rich - The riches of the Redeemerhere referred to, stand
opposedto that poverty which he assumedand manifestedwhen he dwelt
among people. It implies:
(1) His pre-existence, becausehe became poor. He had been rich. Yet not in
this world. He did not lay aside wealth here on earth after he had possessedit,
for he had none. He was not first rich and then poor on earth, for he had no
earthly wealth. The Socinianinterpretation is, that he was "rich in powerand
in the Holy Spirit;" but it was not true that he laid these aside, and that he
became poor in either of them. He had power, even in his poverty, to still the
waves, and to raise the dead, and he was always full of the Holy Spirit. His
family was poor; and his parents were poor; and he was himself poor all his
life. This then must refer to a state of antecedentriches before his assumption
of human nature; and the expressionis strikingly parallel to that in
Philippians 2:6 ff. "Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to
be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation," etc.

(2) he was rich as the Lord and proprietor of all things. He was the Creatorof
all John 1:3; Colossians1:16, and as Creatorhe had a right to all things, and
the disposalof all things. The most absolute right which canexist is that
acquired by the act of creation;and this right the Son of God possessedover
all gold, and silver, and diamonds, and pearls; over all earth and lands; over
all the treasures ofthe ocean, and over all worlds. The extent and amount of
his riches, therefore, is to be measured by the extent of his dominion over the
universe; and to estimate his riches, therefore, we are to conceive ofthe
scepterwhich he sways over the distant worlds. What wealthhas man that
can compare with the riches of the Creatorand Proprietor of all? How poor
and worthless appears all the gold that man canaccumulate compared with
the wealthof him whose are the silver, and the gold, and the cattle upon a
thousand hills?
Yet for your sakes -That is, for your sakesas a part of the greatfamily that
was to be redeemed. In what respectit was for their sake, the apostle
immediately adds when he says, it was that they might be made rich. It was
not for his own sake,but it was for ours.
He became poor - In the following respects:
(1) He chose a condition of poverty, a rank of life that was usually that of
poverty. He "took upon himself the form of a servant;" Philippians 2:7.
(2) he was connectedwith a poor family. Though of the family and lineage of
David Luke 2:4, yet the family had fallen into decay, and was poor. In the Old
Testamenthe is beautifully representedas a shoot or suckerthat starts up
from the rootof a decayedtree; see my note on Isaiah 11:1.
(3) his whole life was a life of poverty. He had no home; Luke 9:58. He chose
to be dependent on the charity of the few friends that he drew around him,
rather than to create foodfor the abundant supply of his own needs. He had
no farms or plantations; he had no splendid palaces;he had no money
hoarded in useless coffers orin banks; he had no property to distribute to his
friends. His mother he commended when he died to the charitable attention of
one of his disciples John 19:27, and all his personalproperty seems to have
been the raiment which he wore, and which was divided among the soldiers

that crucified him. Nothing is more remarkable than the difference between
the plans of the Lord Jesus and those of many of his followers and professed
friends. He formed no plan for becoming rich, and he always spoke withthe
deepestearnestnessof the dangers which attend an effort to accumulate
property. He was among the most poor of the sons of people in his life; and
few have been the people on earth who have not had as much as he had to
leave to surviving friends, or to excite the cupidity of those who should fall
heirs to their property when dead.
(4) he died poor. He made no will in regard to his property, for he had none to
dispose of. He knew well enough the effectwhich would follow if he had
amassedwealth, and had left it to be divided among his followers. Theywere
very imperfect; and even around the cross there might have been anxious
discussion, and perhaps strife about it, as there is often now over the coffin
and the unclosed grave of a rich and foolishfather who has died. Jesus
intended that his disciples should never be turned awayfrom the greatwork
to which he calledthem by any wealthwhich he would leave them; and he left
them not even a keepsakeas a memorial of his name. All this is the more
remarkable from two considerations:
(a) That he had it in his power to choose the manner in which he would come.
He might have come in the condition of a splendid prince. He might have rode
in a chariot of ease, orhave dwelt in a magnificent palace. He might have lived
with more than the magnificence ofan oriental prince, and might have
bequeathed treasures greaterthan those of Croesus or Solomonto his
followers. But he chose not to do it.
(b) It would have been as right and proper for him to have amassedwealth,
and to have sought princely possessions, as forany of his followers. Whatis
right for them would have been right for him. People often mistake on this
subject; and though it cannotbe demonstrated that all his followers should
aim to be as poor as he was, yet it is undoubtedly true that he meant that his
example should operate constantlyto check their desire of amassing wealth.
In him it was voluntary; in us there should be always a readiness to be poor if
such be the will of God; nay, there should he rather a preference to be in
moderate circumstances that we may thus be like the Redeemer.

That ye through his poverty might be rich - That is, might have durable and
eternal riches, the riches of God's everlasting favor. This includes:
continued...
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
9. ye know the grace—the actofgratuitous love whereby the Lord emptied
Himself of His previous heavenly glory (Php 2:6, 7) for your sakes.
became poor—Yet this is not demanded of you (2Co 8:14); but merely that,
without impoverishing yourselves, you should relieve others with your
abundance. If the Lord did so much more, and at so much heavier a cost, for
your sakes;much more may you do an act of love to your brethren at so little
a sacrifice ofself.
might be rich—in the heavenly glory which constitutes His riches, and all
other things, so far as is really goodfor us (compare 1Co 3:21, 22).
Matthew Poole's Commentary
For ye know the grace ofour Lord Jesus Christ; call to mind the free love of
your Lord and MasterJesus Christ, which you know, believing the gospel,
which gives you a true accountof it, and having in your own souls experienced
the blessedeffects ofit:
He was rich, being the Heir of all things, the Lord of the whole creation,
Hebrews 1:2, all things were put under his feet.
Yet for your sakes he became poor; yet that he might accomplishthe work of
your redemption, and purchase his Father’s love for you, he took upon him
the form of a servant, stripped himself of his robes of glory, and clothed
himself with the rags of flesh, denied himself in the use of his creatures, had
not where to lay down his head, was maintained from alms, people
ministering to him of their substance.

That ye through his poverty might be rich; and all this that you might be
made rich, with the riches of grace and glory; rich in the love of God, and in
the habits of Divine grace;which was all effectedby his poverty, by his
making himself of no reputation, and humbling himself. If after your
knowledge ofthis, by receiving and believing the gospel, and experiencing
this, in those riches of spiritual gifts and graces andhopes of glory which you
have, you shall yet be found strait hearted in compassionating the poverty and
afflicted state of his poor members, or strait-handed in ministering unto them,
how will you in any measure answerthis greatlove, or conform to this great
example?
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
For ye know the grace ofour Lord Jesus,.... This is a new argument, and a
very forcible one to engage to liberality, takenfrom the wonderful grace and
love of Christ, displayed in his state of humiliation towards his people; which
is well known to all them that have truly believed in Christ; of this they are
not and cannot be ignorant, his love, goodwill, and favour are so manifest;
there are such glaring proofs of it in his incarnation, sufferings, and death,
that leave no room for any to doubt of it:
that though he was rich; in the perfections of his divine nature, having the
fulness of the Godhead in him, all that the Father has, and so equal to him;
such as eternity, immutability, infinity and immensity, omnipresence,
omniscience, omnipotence, &c. in the works ofhis hands, which reach to
everything that is made, the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all that in them
are, things visible and invisible; in his universal empire and dominion over all
creature;and in those large revenues of glory, which are due to him from
them all; which riches of his are underived from another, incommunicable to
another, and cannot be lost:
yet for your sakes he became poor; by assuming human nature, with all its
weaknessesand imperfections excepting sin; he appearedin it not as a lord,
but in the form of a servant; he endured in it a greatdeal of reproachand
shame, and at last death itself; not that by becoming man he ceasedto be God,

or lost his divine perfections, thought these were much hid and coveredfrom
the view of man; and in his human nature he became the reverse of what he is
in his divine nature, namely, finite and circumscriptible, weak and infirm,
ignorant of some things, and mortal; in which nature also he was exposedto
much meanness and outward poverty; he was born of poor parents, had no
liberal education, was brought up to a trade, had not where to lay his head,
was ministered to by others of their substance, and had nothing to bequeath
his mother at his death, but commits her to the care of one of his disciples;all
which fulfilled the prophecies of him, that he should be and "poor" and
"low", Psalm41:1. The persons for whom he became so, were not the angels,
but electmen; who were sinners and ungodly persons, and were thereby
become bankrupts and beggars:the end for which he became poor for them
was,
that they through his poverty might be rich; not in temporals, but in
spirituals; and by his obedience, sufferings, and death in his low estate, he has
paid all their debts, wrought out a robe of righteousness, richand adorned
with jewels, with which he clothes them, and through his blood and sacrifice
has made them kings and priests unto God. They are enriched by him with the
graces ofhis Spirit; with the truths of the Gospel, comparable to gold, silver,
and precious stones;with himself and all that he has;with the riches of grace
here, and of glory hereafter. These are communicable from him, though
unsearchable, and are solid and substantial, satisfying, lasting, and for ever.
Now if this grace ofChrist will not engage to liberality with cheerfulness,
nothing will.
Geneva Study Bible
{4} Forye know the grace ofour Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich,
yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
(4) The fourth argument taken from the example of Christ.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary

2 Corinthians 8:9. Parenthesis which states whatholy reasonhe has for
speaking to them, not κατʼἐπιταγήν, but in the way just mentioned, that of
testing their love. For you know, indeed (γινώσκετε not imperative, as
Chrysostomand others think), what a high pattern of gracious kindness you
have experiencedin yourselves from Jesus Christ. So the testing, which I have
in view among you, will only be imitation of Christ. Olshausenrejects here the
conceptionof pattern, and finds the proof of possibility: “Since Christ by His
becoming poor has made you rich, you also may communicate of your riches;
He has placed you in a position to do so.” The outward giving, namely,
presupposes the disposition to give as an internal motive, without which it
would not take place. But in this view πλουτήσητε would of necessityapply to
riches in loving dispositions, which, however, is not suggestedatall in the
context, since in point of fact the consciousnessofevery believing readerled
him to think of the whole fulness of the Messianic blessingsas the aim of
Christ’s humiliation, and to place in that the riches meant by πλουτήσητε.
ὅτι διʼ ὑμᾶς κ.τ.λ.]that He for your sakes, etc., epexegeticalofτὴν χάριν τ.
κυρ. ἡμ. Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. The emphatic διʼ ὑμᾶς brings home to the believing
consciousnessofthe readers individually the aim, which in itself was universa.
ἐπτώχευσε] inasmuch as He by His humiliation to become incarnate emptied
Himself of the participation, which He had in His pre-existent state, of God’s
glory, dominion, and blessedness(πλούσιος ὤν), Php 2:6. On the meaning of
the word, comp. LXX. Jdg 6:6; Jdg 14:15; Psalm34:10; Psalm79:8; Proverbs
23:21;Tob 4:21; Antiphanes in Becker’s Anecd. 112. 24. The aoristdenotes
the once-occurring entrance into the condition of being poor, and therefore
certainly the having become poor (although πτωχεύειν, as also the classical
πενέσθαι, does not mean to become poor, but to be[271]poor), and not the
whole life led by Christ in poverty and lowliness, during which He was
nevertheless rich in grace, rich in inward blessings;so Baur[272]and Köstlin,
Lehrbegr. d. Joh. p. 310, also Beyschlag, Christol. p. 237. On the other hand,

see Raebiger, Christol. Paul. p. 38 f.; Neander, ed. 4, p. 801 f.; Lechler, Apost.
Zeit. p. 50 f.; Weiss, Bibl. Theol. pp. 312, 318.
ὤν] is the imperfect participle: when He was rich, and does not denote the
abiding possession(Estius, Rückert);for, according to the context, the apostle
is not speaking ofwhat Christ is, but of what He was,[273]before He became
man, and ceasedto be on His self-exinanition in becoming man (Galatians 4:4;
this also in oppositionto Philippi, Glaubensl. IV. p. 447). So also ὑπάρχων,
Php 2:6.
ἽΝΑ ὙΜΕῖς … ΠΛΟΥΤΉΣΗΤΕ]in order that you through His poverty
might become rich. These riches are the reconciliation, justification,
illumination, sanctification, peace,joy, certainty of eternallife, and thereafter
this life itself, in short, the whole sum of spiritual and heavenly blessings
(comp. Chrysostom) which Christ has obtained for believers by His
humiliation even to the death of the cross. Πλουτεῖνmeans with the Greek
writers, and in the N. T. (Romans 10:12;Luke 12:21), to be rich; but the
aorist(1 Corinthians 4:8) is to be takenas with ἐπτώχευσε. Ἐκείνου, instead
of the simple ΑὐΤΟῦ (Krüger, ad Xen. Anab. iv. 3. 30;Dissen, ad Dem. de cor.
p. 276, 148), has greatemphasis:“magnitudinem Domini innuit,” Bengel.
In opposition to the interpretation of our passage,by which ἐπτώχ. falls into
the historicallife, so that πλούσιος ὤν is taken potentialiter as denoting the
powerto take to Himself riches and dominion, which, however, Jesus has
renounced and has subjected Himself to poverty and self-denial (so Grotius
and de Wette), see on Php 2:6.
[271]As e.g. βασιλεύειν, to be king, but ἐβασίλευσα:I have become king.
Comp. 1 Corinthians 4:8; and see in general, Kühner, ad Xen. Mem. i. 1. 18;
also Ernesti, Urspr. d. Sünde, I. p. 245.

[272]Comp. his neut. Theol. p. 193:“though in Himself as respects His right
rich, He lived poor.”
[273]Comp. Rich. Schmidt, Paul. Christol. p. 144.
Expositor's Greek Testament
2 Corinthians 8:9. γινώσκετε γὰρκ.τ.λ.: for ye know the grace, i.e., the actof
grace, ofour Lord Jesus Christ, that being rich, sc., in His pre-existent state
before the Incarnation, yet for your sakes(cf. Romans 15:3) He became poor,
sc., in that κένωσις which the Incarnation involved (Php 2:5-6), (the aor.
marks a def. point of time, “He became poor,” not “He was poor”), in order
that ye by His poverty, i.e., His assumption of man’s nature, might be rich,
i.e., in the manifold graces ofthe Incarnation (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:5). This
verse is parenthetical, introduced to give the highest example of love and self-
sacrifice for others;there is nowhere in St. Paul a more definite statementof
his belief in the pre-existence ofChrist before His Incarnation (cf. John 17:5).
It has been thought that ἐπτώχευσε carries an allusion to the poverty of the
Lord’s earthly life (Matthew 8:20); but the primary reference cannotbe to
this, for the πτωχεία of Jesus Christby which we are “made rich” is not the
mere hardship and penury of His outward lot, but the state which He assumed
in becoming man.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
9. Forye know the grace ofour Lord Jesus Christ] In St Paul’s eyes “Christis
the reference foreverything. To Christ’s life and Christ’s Spirit St Paul refers
all questions, both practical and speculative, for solution.” Robertson. For
grace see above, 2 Corinthians 8:4; 2 Corinthians 8:6. Tyndale and some of
the other versions render it here by liberality, and Estius interprets by
beneficentia.

though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor] Rather, being rich (cf.
John 3:13 in the Greek and ch. 2 Corinthians 11:31). There is no was in the
original. Jesus Christdid not ceaseto be rich when He made Himself poor. He
did not cease to be God when He became Man. For became poor we should
perhaps translate, made Himself a beggar. The aoristrefers to the moment
when He became Man; and the word translated poor seems rather to require
a strongerword. (“Apostolus non dixit pauper sedegenus. Plus est egenum
esse quam pauperem.” Estius.)The word (which seems “to have almost
supersededthe common word for poverty in the N.T.” Stanley)is connected
with the rootto fly, to fall, and yet more closelywith the idea of cowering, and
seems to indicate a more abjectcondition than mere poverty. For the word,
see Matthew 5:3, also ch. 2 Corinthians 6:10, and 2 Corinthians 8:2 of this
chapter. Forthe idea cf. Matthew 8:20; Php 2:6-8.
that ye through his poverty might be rich] We could only attain to God by His
bringing Himself down to our level. See John 1:9-14;John 1:18; John 12:45;
John 14:9; Colossians1:15;Hebrews 1:3. And by thus putting Himself on an
equality with us He enriched us with all the treasures that dwell in Him. Cf.
Ephesians 1:7-8; Ephesians 2:5-7; Ephesians 3:16-19;Colossians 2:2-3, &c., as
well as Php 2:6-8 just cited.
Bengel's Gnomen
2 Corinthians 8:9. Γινώσκετε γὰρ, for ye know) by that knowledge, which
ought to include love.—χάριν, the grace)love most sincere, abundant, and
free.—ἐπτώχευσε, He became poor) He bore the burden of poverty; and yet
this is not demanded from you: 2 Corinthians 8:14.—ἐκείνου, ofHim, His)
This intimates the previous greatness ofthe Lord.—πτωχείᾳ πλουτήσητε,
through His poverty ye might be rich) So through the instrumentality of all
those things, which the Lord has suffered, the contrary benefits have been
procured for us, 1 Peter2:24, end of ver.
Pulpit Commentary

Verse 9. - The grace ofour Lord Jesus Christ. The word "grace,"as in vers. 4,
6, 7, here means "gracious beneficence." Thoughhe was rich (John 16:15;
Ephesians 3:8). Became poor. The aorist implies the concentrationof his self-
sacrifice in a single act. By his poverty. The word "his" in the Greek implies
the greatnessofChrist. The word for "poverty" would, in classicalGreek,
mean "pauperism" or "mendicancy." DeanStanley (referring to Milman's
'Latin Christianity,' 5. bk. 12. c. 6) points out how large a place this verse
occupiedin the mediaeval controversiesbetweenthe moderate and the
extreme members of the mendicant orders. William of Ockhamand others,
taking the word "poverty" in its extremest sense, maintained that the
Franciscansoughtto possess nothing; but Pope John XXII., with the
Dominicans, took a more rational view of the sense and of the historic facts.
Vincent's Word Studies
He became poor (ἐπτώχευσεν)
Only here in the New Testament. Primarily of abjectpoverty, beggary(see on
Matthew 5:3), though used of poverty generally. "Became poor" is correct,
though some render "was poor," and explain that Christ was both rich and
poor simultaneously; combining divine power and excellence withhuman
weakness andsuffering. But this idea is foreignto the generaldrift of the
passage. The other explanation falls in better with the key-note - an act of self-
devotion - in 2 Corinthians 8:5. The aorist tense denotes the entrance into the
condition of poverty, and the whole accords with the magnificent passage,
Philippians 2:6-8. Stanley has some interesting remarks on the influence of
this passagein giving rise to the orders of mendicant friars. See Dante,
"Paradiso,"xi., 40-139;xii., 130 sqq.
STUDYLIGHT RESOURCES
RICH YET POOR

2 Corinthians 8:9
The Apostle has been speaking about a matter which, to us, seems very small,
but to him was very great viz., a gathering of pecuniary help from the Gentile
churches for the poor church in Jerusalem. Large issues, in his estimation,
attended that exhibition of Christian unity, and, be it greator small, he
applies the highest of all motives to this matter. ‘For ye know the grace ofthe
Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich yet for your sakes He became
poor.’ The trivial things of life are to be guided and shaped by reference to the
highest of all things, the example of Jesus Christ; and that in the whole depth
of His humiliation, and even in regardto His cross and passion. We have here
setforth, as the pattern to which the Christian life is to be conformed, the
deepestconceptionof what our Lord’s careeron earth was.
The whole Christian Church is about to celebrate the nativity of our Lord at
this time. This text gives us the true point of view from which to regard it. We
have here the work of Christ in its deepestmotive, ‘The grace of our Lord
Jesus.’We have it in its transcendent self-impoverishment, ‘Though He was
rich, yet for our sakes He became poor.’ We have it in its highest issue, ‘That
ye through His poverty might become rich.’ Let us look at those points.
I. Here we have the deepestmotive which underlies the whole work of Christ,
unveiled to us.
‘Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.’Every word here is significant.
It is very unusual in the New Testamentto find that expression‘grace’applied
to Jesus Christ. Exceptin the familiar benediction, I think there are only one
or two instances of such a collocationof words. It is ‘the grace ofGod’ which,
throughout the New Testament, is the prevailing expression. But here ‘grace is
attributed to Jesus’;that is to say, the love of the Divine heart is, without
qualification or hesitation, ascribedto Him. And what do we mean by grace?
We mean love in exercise to inferiors. It is infinite condescensionin Jesus to
love. His love stoops when it embraces us. Very significant, therefore, is the
employment here of the solemn full title, ‘the Lord Jesus Christ,’which
enhances the condescensionby making prominent the height from which it
bent. The ‘grace’is all the more wonderful because ofthe majesty and

Jesus was poor so we could be rich

Jesus was poor so we could be rich

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Jesus was poor so we could be rich

Similar to Jesus was poor so we could be rich (20)

More from GLENN PEASE

More from GLENN PEASE (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Jesus was poor so we could be rich