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| Jesus |
Jesus was the poorest man who ever walked the dirt roads of
earth. Born in poverty and reared in obscurity, He yet lived to
enrich mankind. A stable was His birthplace, a manger His cradle.
For twenty years He worked as a carpenter in a poverty-stricken and
despised village which bore the scorn of man as they asked, "Can any
good thing come out of Nazareth?"
He began His ministry at the Jordan River, with no organization to
support Him, no patrons to enrich Him. He publicly began a life of
poverty that ended at the tomb. He preached without price, and wrought
miracles without money. As far as we know, He never possessed the
value of one dollar. How pathetic His words, "The foxes have holes
and the birds of the air their nests, but the Son of man hath not
where to lay his head."
He was an itinerant preacher whose parish was the world. When
invited, He entered men's homes for dinner. When unasked, He went
hungry. He sought breakfast from the leafing fig tree, but found
none. He ate grain from His hands as He walked through fields of
corn. His support came from the gifts of a few women, and His
treasurer stole part of the pittance put therein. He walked on over
the hills of Judea and by the waters of Galilee, enriching men,
Himself the poorest of all. He slept often under the open sky, in the
wilderness without food, by Jacob's well without water, and in the
crowded city without a home. Thus He lived and loved, toiled, and
died. His value was thirty pieces of silver when sold- the price of
a slave, the lowest estimate of human life.
So poor was He that he needs must carry His own cross through the
city until, fainting, He fell. In a potter's field He was nailed to
that cross between two thieves, stripped of His robe, the gift of
love, for which inhuman soldiers gambled as He died. With no estate
with which to endow His weeping mother, He bequeathed her to the love
of the beloved John. Then He gave His peace to the disciples, His
pardon to the thief, His life for the world, His body to the cross,
and His spirit to God. His burial clothes were the gift of a friend.
He was laid at last in a borrowed grave.
Truly, Jesus Christ was the poorest man that ever walked the dirt
roads of earth. Though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor,
that we, through His poverty, might become rich.
-- Unknown |
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