Did Jesus preach against the rich?Well - er - yes - er- I mean - no. Maybe!
Jesus made no social comments about the wealthy other than to make it clear that the rich should choose to spread their money to aid the less fortunate. There is little evidence to support the argument I heard from a leftie, "Ah, yes. Jesus was the first socialist." [There is a singular absence of Robin Hood economics in Scripture.]
Jesus does not preach against wealth per se but against the misuse of it! Our envious lefties resent its very existence. In the parables of The Rich Man & Lazarus, The Rich Fool and the story of The Rich Young Ruler, wealth is seen as a barrier to spiritual growth. We must not forget that it is not just wealth which can be 'an idol' or a barrier between man and God - there are a great many other pitfalls.
Jesus does of course, mention the problems of the rich when speaking of the difficulties of 'camels progressing through the eyes of needles' but does go on to say that 'With God, all things are possible'.
One small problem for us in Western society today is that, although we tend not to have servants, in all other ways we are vastly more wealthy than the people described in these stories!
