Since this is the time of the year when many people’s thoughts turn to the birth of Jesus Christ, it might be nice to look at how Jesus was born and lived.

Much of Christianity has depicted Christ, the Messiah, as a poor man, born to a poor family, lived life eking out a living as a poor carpenter and died as a poor man on the cross.

Because of a lack of understanding of Eastern culture, religion (tradition) teaches that Jesus was a poor man.

Religion (tradition) says he was poor because he was born in a manger/barn, wrapped in rags, his father was a carpenter and he said of himself that he had not a permanent home. Therefore, they say at the end of his life he died a poor man on the cross.  And that if we are true disciples of this “poor man,” we should renounce all worldly possessions to follow him.

Here are a couple of quotes from some websites I found.

“The English word “swaddling” indicates that these were clothes in which a baby was wrapped.  But the Greek word translated “swaddling” indicates that these clothes were pieces of old castoff clothing which were cut up into strips and wrapped around a baby.  This surely was not the kind of clothing that a baby of rich parents would be wrapped in; he would be dressed in decent clothing.  But Jesus was wrapped in rags.  He was born poor; Joseph and Mary were poor.”

“Just as He was poor in respect of material things, so must we be ready to give up earthly riches to be His disciples.”

“This poverty of Jesus which was evident in His birth was an indication that He would be poor His whole life.  Jesus never was rich in material goods.”

A line from The Little Drummer Boy, “I am a poor boy too…”

I beg to differ!

To understand the topic of Jesus’s financial status in life one needs to start at and consider his birth.  From the book Jesus Christ Our Promised Seed, one can begin to understand Eastern customs regarding childbirth.  

“Whenever a son of a king, a prince, was born, that child was “salted” and “swaddled.”  To salt a child meant that soon after birth the newborn babe was gently washed with water having a small portion of salt in it.  Salt symbolized the qualities of truth and honesty.  Bathing a newborn in salt water indicated that the child would have these characteristics.  His words would be “salted”.”

(In other words, he would speak the truth.)

“After salting the newborn child, strips of fine linen cloth, about two inches wide, were then wrapped around his body.  These were called “swaddling clothes”.  The child was wrapped from head to foot, with only a part of his face being left uncovered so he could breathe.  The baby’s body and limbs were held very straight when wrapped in this fashion.  These linen strips were not rags and did not mean Joseph and Mary were poverty-stricken, but rather, this was a sign to God that these parents would raise the child to be upright before the Lord, and that he would be free from crookedness and waywardness. The babe (which now looked like a mummy) would normally be left in the swaddling clothes for only a brief period of time, (maybe 15 to 20 minutes) while the parent took time to meditate and make their commitment to God concerning the sacred trust which was given to them in having the child.”

“Salting and swaddling were recognizable as significant to an Eastern person.  In Biblical times, any child born to nobility or royalty would be salted and swaddled.  If this were not done, there would be doubt regarding the person’s integrity both in his youth and in his adulthood. …”
If the parents of a noble-born son had not salted and swaddled their son, the young man would always be suspected of being dishonest, unreliable and having no integrity.
But Joseph and Mary did bathe Jesus in salted water and then swaddled him because they knew he was the rightful heir of the throne of King David. If you knew a child was swaddled, you knew without saying that he had been salted.

Joseph and Mary had gone back to Bethlehem, their ancestral home, for the registration on the order of Caesar. Both were of the house of David, and Bethlehem was the home of King David.  Therefore, to Bethlehem they went.  So many people came there for the registration for the enrollment that the inn was full.  So, they bedded down in the manger which was a stone building behind the inn where the food and bedding for the animals were stored.  In our culture, it might be like a hayloft or a haymow.  They would have laid a sheet on the straw, and Mary and her newborn would have slept together as was the custom of mothers and newborns to sleep together in the lands and times of the Bible.

This bedding down in the manger was because the inn was full not because they were poor.  They were not poor, poverty-stricken people as we will see.

Sometime later the Bible says wise men, or Magi, came to see the young child. They brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  We have all seen pictures of three men, so-called “kings” coming with three small boxes.  The Bible does not refer to them as kings nor does it say there were three men.  It only names the three types of gifts the Magi brought.

In the lands and times of the Bible, there were three people you were required to bring a gift to if you were to visit them — kings, prophets and pregnant women.  In the record we are considering, these men came to see him that was born King of the Judeans, the Messiah.  They knew he was not just another king but the redeemer — the one prophesied about all through the old Testament.

The Bible gives us a couple of examples of the types of gifts brought to a king or prophet.

2 Kings 5:5 And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he (Naaman) departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. (Raiment was so valuable at that time it was treated as money)

2 Chronicles 9:1 And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

This should give you an idea of the gifts brought to a king.  Much more than would fit into three small boxes!

Also because of the bandits that preyed on travelers in the lands and times of the Bible, most travelers traveled in very great caravans.

NOVA did a documentary many years ago called Searching for The Lost City of Ubar. Ubar was an instrumental city involved in the frankincense trade.  The large caravans of merchants came through it.  The searches found the old caravan routes, and the ruts were still there in the hard-packed ground.  The ruts were 70 camels wide with no indications of how deep the lines went.  This is how they traveled safely with their wealth in that day and time.  

So, when these Magi came to pay their respects to the heir of the throne of King David, most likely they came with a great caravan and a great number of presents.  It has been said that kings in the Eastern world many times had multiple sons because of the great wealth they were presented with at the time of their birth.  They became very wealthy men.

Now after the visit from these Magi, God spoke to Joseph:

Matthew 2:13-14 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:

In today’s money, how much would it cost you to leave your home on an hour’s notice and move to another country? You not only have the expenses of travel, car rental, airline tickets, food, etc., but now you need to buy or rent a new home, furnish it and set yourself up in business again.  That would be expensive.  But Jesus’s father, God, just gave Joseph plenty of wealth to carry out what God asked him to do.  Joseph must have been a wise man that knew how to handle money and not waste it as the prodigal son did with riotous living.  That is interesting.

Then a few years later God came to Joseph again and told him it was time to return home, and he moved his family all over again.  Once again God had provided Joseph and Mary with all the funds they need to take care of God’s only begotten son. They moved back, got a new home and set their business up over again.  

From reading the parables in the Gospels one gets the impression that Jesus was raised in a home where there were servants because many parables deal with the goodman of the house and his servants.  He must have understood firsthand how a lord worked with servants.  Example:

Matthew 25:14-15 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

This understanding is not something a young poor man working at minimum wage would know about.

Luke 12:42-44 And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.

Jesus well understood what it was like to live in a home with servants.

This teaching that Jesus was born poor, lived poor and died poor and that we are to renounce all worldly possessions to be a true follower of him falls into the category of doctrines of devils.  It has served to keep God’s children in bondage financially for centuries.

Another verse that is used to show Jesus was poor is in Matthew.

Matthew 8:19-20 And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

They use these verses to say Jesus was a poor man.  This is an idiom or Eastern expression.  Foxes dig a hole when they have a mate and are ready to raise a family, and birds build a nest when they are ready to lay eggs.  Jesus was saying in an Eastern way, an idiom, “I am not married, I have no permanent place to stay and entertain you.”

The people loved Jesus and knew who he was.  Every home was open to him.  This was true of every holy man in Eastern culture.  He was not poverty-stricken, but he was simply not married and had no permanent resting place.  The man in the above verse was looking to be taken care of and not have to work.  Jesus knew this and thus his response.  

He wore a seamless tunic or robe.  

John 19:23 NIV When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

This seamless garment was very costly and was usually worn under the outer garment.  Mostly only the wealthy and royalty owned them.  Most robes or tunics were made of two pieces of cloth sewn together.  However, his was woven from top to bottom as one continuous garment.  

Therefore, they cast lots for the tunic when he was crucified to see who would get it.  He was not a poor man.

I am not presenting this to encourage people to strive after riches, but my purpose here in writing about this is to show that Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten son, was well taken care of by his Father.  We have the same Father he did.  Jesus Christ is our brother.  There are a great many promises of prosperity God has put in His word for us, His children, to believe.

Born a poor man and died a poor man on a cross?   I beg to differ!