This is not to say that Jesus prescribed some kind of socialist communism. If he had done so, he would have left with his disciples either monastic rules similar to those of the Essenes, or some constitutional order to be implemented within a collectivist Jewish state. He did neither of these things. Forced collectivism was contrary to the spirit of the Mosaic Law, not to mention Jesus’ gospel of the kingdom.
When Jesus commanded, “Sell your possessions and give to the poor” (a better translation would be, “Sell what you possess and practice kind deeds”), it was neither a counsel of perfection, nor a constitutional law founding a utopian state. It was rather a joyful announcement to be put into practice here and now in A.D. 26 as a “refreshment” foreshadowing the restitution of all things. “Give what is inside,” as in Luke 11:41.
Such a redistribution of capital every forty-nine years, out of faithfulness to God’s justice and in the hope of the kingdom, need not be utopian, nor forced. Many bloody revolutions might have been avoided had the Christian church alone, with all its holdings, practiced the jubilean ideal.8
When interpreted in light of the Jubilee, many of Jesus’ other teachings fall easily into place. And none of this takes away the spiritual force of Jesus’ message. For surely when Jesus announced the inauguration of the Jubilee he was also thinking about the salvation of his people. He consistently made a rigorous equation between the Jubilee practiced here on earth and the grace of God. “Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven” (Luke 18:22). “Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted…” (Luke 12:33).9
The redistribution of capital as taught in the above verses could be misconstrued to encourage selfish acts with the aim of securing one’s place in heaven. The believer thus rids himself of all his possessions in order to purchase his salvation. In reality, however, compassion for the poor precedes the acquisition of treasure in heaven. What matters primarily to God is the lot of the poor. It is for them that the “rich young ruler” must sell his possessions; doing so is the treasure. To practice compassion is to reestablish the poor in the condition God willed for everyone. God will, one day, entirely reestablish the poor, with or without the help of the rich. “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” If it does not happen in this life, it will be realized in the next, as expressed in Jesus’ parable of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19–31). In the end, those in a precarious situation are not the poor, but the rich who refuse to put the Jubilee into practice. If they don’t distribute their capital now, it may be too late tomorrow. “Woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.” A tremendous chasm separates the kingdom of God from the place where the rich like to enjoy themselves in pleasure.
The power of salvation is such that it brings with it acts of liberation. Consider the examples of two people to whom Jesus proposed a jubilean redistribution: Zacchaeus, who accepted, and the rich young ruler, who did not.
The former belonged to the scorned class of publicans and usurers whose activities are described above. Zacchaeus had become rich by lending money at usurious rates to the insolvent poor with one hand so that they could pay the government taxes he collected with the other hand. Before meeting Jesus, Zacchaeus had probably already heard rumors about his proclamation of the Jubilee. All the unjust riches he had acquired troubled Zacchaeus’s conscience. The story tells us that instead of fleeing from the prophet, he climbed a tree to see him. Jesus called Zacchaeus down because he wanted to stay in his house. His sheer presence compelled Zacchaeus to see that his wealth resulted from robbery. Applying to himself the commandment of Exodus 22:1–4,10 which tells the robber to return four for the one he stole, Zacchaeus cried out, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount” (Luke 19:1–10).
By this action Zacchaeus was joining the great movement of jubilean reform undertaken by Jesus. He was practicing what Jesus preached by abolishing his part in the system of exploitation under which the people of Israel were suffering. And so Jesus exclaimed, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” One could conclude that those who do not practice the Jubilee are excluding themselves from among the sons of Abraham.
Jesus considered the rich who did not redistribute their capital as lost. When referring to the rich young ruler, Jesus said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” and the disciples cried out, “Who then can be saved?” Indeed, the rich young ruler had refused to sell his possessions and return them to the poor. He had received the command as the disciples had – to put the Jubilee into practice – but he had not obeyed. Despite Jesus’ sympathy for him, he could not be one of his disciples (Luke 18:18–30).
The contrast between the bitter sorrow of the rich young ruler and the joy of the apostles, who had responded to Jesus’ call by leaving behind all that they had, is indeed striking. It was, in fact, after the rich man’s departure that Peter exclaimed, “We have left all we had to follow you!” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life” (Luke 18:28–30).
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