Scripture Reference: 2 Corinthians 8:9
“Though he was rich . . .” Christ was rich in material possessions, rich in the glory of God, rich in the majesty of a King. Isaiah the court prophet, the most adept and cultured of all the prophets of God, wrote:
“I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple” (Isaiah 6:1).
“Though he was rich . . .” Christ was rich in honor. The Book of Revelation says emphatically:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” (Revelation 5:13).
“Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.”
The earth gave Him a chilling reception upon His birth, and heaven dispatched an angelic choir to echo through the skies the anthem:
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:14).
While heaven honored baby Jesus, the earth did not blow a trumpet, wave a flag, or burn a torch in recognition of His birth. Earth receives her princes and presidents amid the shouts of the people and the strains of music, but the best door opened for Jesus was a barn door. The best bed, a litter of straw; the best cradle, a manger. Born in a stable of poverty, rocked in a cradle of poverty, lulled to sleep in the arms of the mother from Nazareth, a city noted for its poverty. Many times the rocks on the mountainsides were His only pillows, and the blue canopy of heaven His only covering. Jesus stated to those who wished to follow Him:
“Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20).
To our knowledge Jesus rode only once, and that was on a borrowed beast. The boat on which He taught was a borrowed boat. He wrought a miracle to obtain money to pay His taxes. His grave was a borrowed tomb. Instead of the nectar of heaven, the earth gave Him vinegar to drink, a reed for a scepter, thorns for a crown, and a cross for a throne.
Jesus was poor, plain and simple. Yet I have heard some of my peers state that He wasn’t truly poor, for as a child He was given the riches of the three magi, the three kings from the east. His parents must have invested those riches for Him. However I don’t read that anywhere in my Bible. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor.” Jesus was poor in the eyes of the world. He trod the winepress alone. Hence, the world called Jesus a “sabbath breaker, winebibber, traitor, friend of sinners, and blasphemer.” He who owned everything, owned nothing. He whom heaven honored, was rejected by earth’s inhabitants, dying in shame, forsaken by His disciples, and so heartbroken that one of His seven last words from Calvary’s cross was:
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).
A songwriter wrote the lyrics in a song, saying He didn’t have to do it. Well, why did He do it? Was it simply to please the Father? No, He had already done that. At Jesus’ baptism a voice from heaven said:
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).
It was not to increase His own glory. He was great enough. He already had supreme power. At His feet rolled seas of glory and on His brow perched the eternal fame of heaven. He was King of kings. To Him gold was sordid dust and jewels were gaudy toys. Yet He truly did what the Word states. Yes, He did become poor that we through His poverty might become rich.
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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