Why Didn’t They Have Any Money?

Q

Why is it that Jesus and his family didn’t have anything when the Magi brought them the treasure Daniel had left for them? Or is it that I have missed some thing?

A

In many countries, it’s not uncommon for people to own nothing. Most people in the world have to work all day every day just to earn enough to pay for that day’s needs. (Two generations ago Americans became the first nation in the history of mankind whose average citizens had any discretionary income.)

Imagine you’re one of those people and are suddenly required to take a journey of several hundred miles, and when you get there you discover it’s not only not safe to go home, but you have to leave the country for an extended period of time. Could you do it? Neither could Joseph and Mary. The gifts the Magi left with the holy family were God’s provision for sustaining them in a time of desperate need.