ע
ABARIM
Publications
Was Jesus poor?

Source: https://www.abarim-publications.com/Misunderstanding_Bible/Was_Jesus_Poor.html

Was Jesus poor?

Not in the least

Joseph was a craftsman of royal descent. When he and Mary travel to Bethlehem they proceed to the nearest inn for lodging, which is not for free not even in Biblical times. They end up in a private house, where Mary gives birth to Jesus. Soon after that, some heavy laden and exceedingly joyous Iraqis, who were such bobos that they were previously granted an audience with the king, sweep in and surrender their gold, frankincense and myrrh.

When Jesus is of age, He establishes a small private school, whose students were working men but are now no longer so. Fortunately, they receive gifts from female admirers (Luke 8:3), not only food, drink and lodging but also clean cash, even to such an extent that one of the students (Judas) was appointed secretary, to handle the cash flow (John 13:29).

Some have suggested that Jesus was much of a hippy ('my hair like Jesus wore it, hallelujah I adore it' — Hair the Musical) but His coiffure was most likely immaculate and according to the fashion of the time (long hair; beard). He wore for a tunic or undergarment a seamless garment that was so costly that his executioners didn't tear it up but cast dice for it.

The Bible strongly suggests that planet earth is wealthy enough for all of us to have an excellent standard of living, and the existence of poor people, countries or entire continents is an ugly sign of our commercial prepubescence. There are ways to solve localized poverty, but undermining our own wealth or even bankrupting ourselves, is foolishness and utterly uncalled for. A drowning man is not helped by jumping in with him.

Hoarding is rarely virtuous (negative, for self: Matthew 6:19, 19:21; positive, for sharing: Genesis 13:2, 41:35, 1 Kings 3:13) but willfully choosing poverty (that is a life below minimum standards; a life of want) comes dangerously close to tempting God. The same goes for willfully inflicting injuries to your own healthy body or mind. instead, we should search for ways to be physically, mentally and financially healthy, and then commence to share the wealth radially outwards.