Privilege?

In today’s culture of “be less white” we must subject our master and savior to this question: When He walked the earth, was Jesus white and did He have privilege?

First we must define what we mean by “white”. The only truly white humans are albinos because they lack melanin in their skin. The rest of us are shades of brown from light to dark. What today’s culture means by white is Caucasian; one of the ethnicities. I use ethnicity because the only race on earth is the human race.

So, was Jesus Caucasian? There is nothing historically or Biblically that indicates His ethnicity while he walked the earth. The only description of Him in the Bible was after His resurrection:

[Revelation 1:14-15 ESV] 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.

If you look at the description of his feet like burnished bronze then we might assume His skin is brown because burnished bronze is brown. Was that the color of His skin when He walked the earth? Who knows?

So, would where He lived make a difference? According to Wikipedia: “Israel stands at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa. Geographically, it belongs to the Asian continent and is part of the Middle East region.”  So, that area gives a spectrum of brown from light to dark; kind of like humanity in general.

I don’t think we know what His ethnicity was when He walked the earth other than He may have had a burnished bronze skin color making Him a shade of brown, like the rest of us.

So, what about His privilege?

Now we must define what this culture is defining as privilege. When it comes down to it, it is the power to subjugate others and that usually comes with money. Today’s culture says that most of the so called privilege is in the hands of Caucasians like George Soros, Bill Gates, the Rothchild family, the Rockefeller family, and the list goes on. Yes, these people have money but they only have the power that we let them have.

So, what privilege did Jesus have when He walked the earth? His earthly father was a carpenter and the tradition was that male children went into their father’s occupation.

Carpenters work with wood and, honestly, wood is scarce in Israel. So, that would mean that His earthly father did not get much work and the family scraped by. That is, until the family was visited by the Maji.

[Matthew 2:11 ESV] 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

Gold is an expensive item and at that time so was frankincense and myrrh. Honestly, this put the family of Jesus in a new tax bracket. But did that give them the power to subjugate? There are no such indications of this in the Bible or history. The visitation of the Maji may have made the family of Jesus wealthy but that wealth was not used maliciously as some do today.

What does the Bible say about obtaining wealth?

[Deuteronomy 8:18 ESV] 18 You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

[Proverbs 10:4 ESV] 4 A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

[Matthew 25:14-30 ESV] 14 "For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.' 21 His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.' 23 His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.' 26 But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

God encourages us to seek wealth so that we may do well but He despises those that use their wealth to hurt others.

[1 Timothy 6:10 ESV] 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

[Proverbs 13:11 ESV] 11 Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.

[Matthew 6:24 ESV] 24 "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Having wealth is not a bad thing; misusing it is. The family of Jesus did not misuse the wealth given them by the Maji and that should be the example the so-called people of privilege should follow.