Jesus, Socialism, and Covetousness

"Their prophet says 'submit.' Jesus says 'decide.'"
--Sybilla (Kingdom of Heaven)

These pages have previously discussed the absurd claim that Jesus was a socialist. My sense is that those who make the claim are ignorant of economics, the bible, or perhaps both.

Lawrence Reed thoroughly refutes the Jesus/socialist canard here. One of his references is Christ's admonishment of envy that sets up the Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12: 13-21) which comprised the gospel last summer on the 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Someone in a crowd says to Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me." Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?"

He then turned to the crowd and said, "Take care to guard against all greed." Emphasis is mine, as it is straightforward to construe that Jesus is reprimanding covetousness as a form of greed.

If Jesus was a socialist, then He would have rebuked the brother who purportedly was not 'sharing' his inheritance and, likely, campaigned for a program of forced redistribution in the name of fairness and equality.

Instead, Jesus reinforced what God has commanded: Thou shall not covet.