How Poor was Jesus?

Growing up in a Christian home, I found myself often questioning the assumptions of religious people. I don't question religion itself. I don't question morality, virtues, and the belief in hope. I question the unquestioned assumptions blindly believed to be true.

If you think about Christianity, the life of Christ is only taught from his birth and then skips to when he is 30 years old. It's a fairly large hole in the biography...don't you think? What about his childhood? How poor was Jesus?

Jesus was born in a manger. Why? This biblical fact is taught with the implication of humble beginnings. Being born in a barn feels similar to today's situation of being born in a van. I was always lead to believe that the family of God's son was struggling through poverty.

But...consider this...

Bethlehem had no vacancies. Joseph and Mary went to sleep in a manger, NOT because they couldn't afford lodging, but because there were simply no available rooms at the town inn. Like today, some people sleep at the airport because all the hotels are booked...not because they don't have money for a room.

Also, do poor people travel? We can make the claim that someone can hitch a ride on another traveler's wagon at a discount, like taking the bus or train. Yet, these are only applicable claims for the surviving poor (today's working minimum wagers). The struggling poor do not travel. The homeless and truly impoverished have a tendency to become stationary with a constant need to peddle.

Joseph was a carpenter. He had a job, social status, and seven children. He might have been far from wealthy, but it's extremely reasonable to believe he was far from poor.

So, how poor was Jesus?

Jesus, like his earthly father, was a carpenter. Through all of his travels, there was more that he could offer than turning water into wine. Jesus could also turn wood into chairs. There was a time when Jesus was relatively unknown as Christ and had no disciples. Isn't it reasonable to believe that at some early point he likely had to rely on some of his skills as a carpenter to aid his prophetic mission?

The man even had a posse. Jesus Christ had 12 disciples. Sure, he could split bread and fish to feed a community...but how often does a healed leper have a salmon and a bushel of wheat to donate as gratitude for a bestowed miracle? Seriously...do the blind go fishing? During their travels, Jesus didn't simply walk along coastlines collecting fishers of men. The entire group likely had an accumulated wealth in order to fund their mission. I'm not insinuating that they paraded around in gold-wheeled wagons. Jesus and his disciples probably had at least a minimal amount of currency to sustain themselves. Remember...even back in their times...they asked people to volunteer 10 percent of their income to the Lord.


The problem today is how this type of questioning/reasoning effect people's religiousness. For most, my words will have me ousted as an atheist and blasphemer. That's wrong. The truth is that my words simply should have no negative inflictions on people's faith. Religious fortitude should be founded upon the love and compassion of Christ...and NOT the often implied imagery of a pauper prophet. Lessons in logic teach us that one cannot invalidate an argument by invalidating the speaker. In other words, when someone tells you to not touch a snarling lion, they don't have to be a zoologist for it to be good advice.

My problem is not with religion...it's with the way we spread it. We condition our young to believe without question, to know without reason, and to act without reflection. These are the reasons we live without the tolerance and compassion Jesus wanted of us. We live as though we fear to question rather than questioning our fears. Yet, as God tests us to take a leap of faith...it's not for us to close our eyes and jump...but rather to look clearly down into the depths of the canyon while boldly walking forward.