A KING IS BORN

The spread of fallacy among the Christians regarding the poverty of Jesus’ family has framed a history that is completely untrue and leads people in paths of thought that should not be traveled in.

Jesus was an heir to the throne of David. His was a royal genealogy, (1) he was a direct descent of David and Solomon (2). His legal father, a carpenter, was well known among the villagers because his was a respectable and profitable career (3). The furniture that filled roman palaces, temple rooms and private homes were made at his workshop; it was also the place where roman soldiers bought the crosses for their executions. People get surprised when they learn he was born in a cave and was laid in a manger (4). They immediately infer that as a sign of lack of money but they forget about what really happened at the moment. Joseph and his family went to Bethlehem because they needed to be censed and taxed. Joseph’s first intention was to take a room at the inn but because the village was crowded with tourists he found no room. Going to a different place was accidental and for just a short period of time.

Jesus was educated, as I was myself, in a highly respectable House and had friendships with his peers, the publicans (5). These publicans were public contractors, in which role they often supplied the Roman legions and military, managed the collection of port duties, and oversaw public building projects (He himself as well as his step father, Joseph, were in charge of several building projects being themselves carpenters)(5a). He enjoyed company with his group of friends, the publicans, and constantly gathered for banquets and dinner with them. He chose some of his disciples from among them (6). They were men that enjoyed life, who made and spent money. Like Joseph, a rich man, from Arimathea (7), a very prominent and honorable counselor (8) that was also among his disciples. Some members of the Jewish Sanhedrin were among his disciples as well (9).

He and his peers were used to traveling around the villages, and against all present belief, they had enough money to do it. I was told that there was an occasion when he was among five thousand hungry peasants, he was deeply moved by them and asked his friends to “feed them” (10). He knew they had money in the purse to do it. It was completely illogical to think he would have commanded something that was not feasible within their financial limits. This was reaffirmed when they declared they didn’t have enough food at the moment, “except we should go and buy meat for all these people” (11). That was the original intention, to go and buy food for five thousand. They even said: “Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?” (12). (Just a quick clarification, one pennyworth was a full day work payment at the time. Two hundred pennyworth was a seven-month income that would be used to feed five thousand people and they had that amount of money available immediately!) (12a).

You can see what he and his group were used to. Just to illustrate this point a little farther I was also told that once he was at the house of a friend in Bethany (13), a Pharisee (14), and they were ready to participate in a large banquet. It is then that a woman appeared holding a nicely carved alabaster box containing a very precious ointment (15). The woman was his friend, Mary, Lazaro’s sister (16). Because she didn’t fit the life standard of the villagers she was considered a “sinner” (17), isn’t that the normal reaction of low-class people? She anointed his feet with a precious and expensive 300-pennyworth ointment (18). Overwhelmed by the waste, Judas Iscariot decided to leave the group and contacted people to execute his plan (19) (buying that ointment would have meant a 10-month savings to the least).

He was royalty. He walked as a king. He moved as a king and he always dressed as a king. After his betrayal and before he was nailed on the cross the Roman soldiers undressed him and were amazed by the luxury of his robes. They had never seen this type of fabric being worn by simple villagers. Usually they would burn the robes of anyone who was to be crucified. This was not the case; they parted his garments, casting lots (20) because the robe had a binding of woven work round about the neck, as it were the hole of an habergeon, so that it could not be rent (20a). His royal garments were designed to be exclusively worn. So majestic were his garments that people would think they would be healed if they could at least touch the hem of his garments; (21) all decorated with pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about. A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about (21a)

His funeral was prepared to be a royal funeral as well. A sepulcher hewn out of a rock had already been prepared for him (22); his body would be anointed with a hundred pounds of a mixture of myrrh and aloes (23) and then wrapped up in white linen. A quick comparison, Abraham in a similar circumstance, when he wanted to bury the body of his wife Sarah, paid 10 pounds of silver for a similar sepulcher carved in rock (23a).

He was born great. He was buried great. Great was his life in between.

(Should you want to verify sources):
a. Acts 7: 58
1. Matthew 1:1-16
2. Luke 3: 23-38
3. Mathew 13:55
4. Luke 2: 7
5. Mathew 9:10
5a. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Publican (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publican)
6. Mathew 10:3
7. Mathew 27:57
8. Mark 15:43
9. John 3:1-2
10. Matthew 14:16
11. Luke 9: 13-14
12. Mark 6:37
12a. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Denarii (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denarius)
13. Matthew 26:6
14. Luke 7:36
15. Matthew 26:7
16. John 11:2
17. Luke 7: 38
18. Mark 14: 5
19. Mark 14:10; Matthew 26: 14-15
20. Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:24; John 19: 23-24
20a. Exodus 28: 32
21. Matthew 9:20-21
21a. Exodus 28: 33-34
22. Matthew 27: 58-60
23. John 19:39
23a. Genesis 23:15-16