Ship of Fools: Follow the money (or Oy! Where's the money I got for Christmas gone?)

Thread: Follow the money (or Oy! Where's the money I got for Christmas gone?) Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

To visit this thread, use this URL:
http://forum.ship-of-fools.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=70;t=029421

Posted by deano (# 12063) on :

Presumably the Myrrh was used on Good Friday, and I assume the Frankincense was used at a sermon or meeting during His ministry, but what happened to His gift of gold?

Did Mary and Joseph use it to pay off the mortgage? Send Him to a good private school for carpenters?

Any ideas?

Posted by cliffdweller (# 13338) on :

flight to Egypt?

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :

quote:
Originally posted by deano:
Presumably the Myrrh was used on Good Friday, and I assume the Frankincense was used at a sermon or meeting during His ministry, but what happened to His gift of gold?

Did Mary and Joseph use it to pay off the mortgage? Send Him to a good private school for carpenters?

Any ideas?

They probably needed it to pay off the border guards to get out of Judea and into Egypt.

Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :

And travel is not free. Even if you walk from Bethlehem to Egypt, you have to feed that donkey, and buy food for the nursing mother and yourself. Probably a new pair of sandals every now and then is called for too. I hope Joseph found a carpenter gig or two when he was down there, otherwise they would have to live on something until it was time to come back.

Posted by Doc Tor (# 9748) on :

The gold was confiscated at the Egyptian border, to pay for the Holy Family's generous benefits while refugees.

Posted by Martin60 (# 368) on :

[Yipee]

Posted by Eutychus (# 3081) on :

hosting/

This looks like a great thread. For Heaven.

/hosting

Posted by deano (# 12063) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Eutychus:
hosting/

This looks like a great thread. For Heaven.

/hosting

Noooooooooooooo!!!!!!

Hell I can live with, but Heaven! I feel itchy and unclean, as though I am nice or something!

Posted by Alan Cresswell (# 31) on :

Judas had charge of the money bag, perhaps some of that gold was in that supporting His ministry.

Posted by Eutychus (# 3081) on :

quote:
Originally posted by deano:

quote:
Originally posted by Eutychus:
hosting/

This looks like a great thread. For Heaven.

/hosting
Noooooooooooooo!!!!!!

Hell I can live with, but Heaven! I feel itchy and unclean, as though I am nice or something!

Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :

Joseph sculpted the gold into a nice little pony, which Jesus rode among the clouds across the rainbow.

Posted by Helen-Eva (# 15025) on :

Mary has no idea where the gold went. And yes of course she needed those red patent eight inch heeled Louboutins. If you're stuck on a donkey you've got to add a touch of glamour and you don't need to worry about comfort. What gold was that you were talking about?

[ 04. February 2016, 15:51: Message edited by: Helen-Eva ]

Posted by Eutychus (# 3081) on :

Joseph handed it over to a nice-enough looking chap who confided in him that he could buy a time-share in the Pyramids and double his investment in six months.

Yes, the original Pyramid Scheme.

Posted by HCH (# 14313) on :

I doubt if the myrrh was used on Good Friday, as I imagine there must have been other deaths in the family (Mary's parents? Joseph's parents?) over the years.

As for the gold: we have no evidence of the quantity of any of these gifts. Maybe this was one gold coin?

Posted by no prophet's flag is set so... (# 15560) on :

Jesus saves. So it is all in bank. Performing the miracle of compound interest. He said eventually he'll buy us a stairway to heaven.

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

quote:
Originally posted by cliffdweller:
flight to Egypt?

Yep, three flights to Egypt and freight for the donkey.

Posted by Chorister (# 473) on :

They bought wood, and tools, to support the family carpentry business. I expect they did a nice line in mangers.

Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :

After they got the gold, Joseph discovered that suddenly he had a lot of friends and lost cousins who needed something from him.

Posted by Banner Lady (# 10505) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:

quote:
Originally posted by cliffdweller:
flight to Egypt?
Yep, three flights to Egypt and freight for the donkey.

Well, two flights to Egypt (nursing infant should be free) and freight for the donkey But definitely three flights back - because they returned from Egypt a few years later.

I suspect the donkey didn't. But I could be wrong. By then it may have been three donkeys, several goats, a camel and a flock of sheep in freight class.

Posted by Chorister (# 473) on :

quote:
Originally posted by LeRoc:
After they got the gold, Joseph discovered that suddenly he had a lot of friends and lost cousins who needed something from him.

Perhaps that's where the Prodigal Son story came from?!

Posted by rolyn (# 16840) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Alan Cresswell:
Judas had charge of the money bag, perhaps some of that gold was in that supporting His ministry.

If the gold survived the sticky fingers of Judas it was no doubt eventually used to pay St. Paul's stipend [Razz]

Posted by Rev per Minute (# 69) on :

quote:
Originally posted by no prophet's flag is set so...:
Jesus saves. So it is all in bank. Performing the miracle of compound interest. He said eventually he'll buy us a stairway to heaven.

Are you sure that was Jesus? I'm sure I know a song about that... [Biased]

On the grounds that a couple of ingots or a bag of coins would be too easy to steal, I expect that Joseph asked the local blacksmith to melt it down into handy ornaments or small objects that could be secreted in their clothing and baggage. They could then be used when needed - getting things in Egypt, paying for school books/scrolls, buying Jesus' apprenticeship, and so on. Hopefully, Mary got a nice pair of earrings out of it!

Posted by deano (# 12063) on :

But would it be theologically proper for Mary and Joseph to use gifts meant for God for other things?*

*"Heaven my arse" - Jim Royal circa 1998

Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :

quote:
deano: But would it be theologically proper for Mary and Joseph to use gifts meant for God for other things?*

They tried different things.

First they thought: we'll draw a line on the ground, throw the gold coins in the air, whatever falls right of the line is for God, whatever falls left is for us.

Then they thought: we'll draw a circle on the ground, throw the gold coins in the air, whatever falls inside the circle is for God, whatever falls outside is for us.

Then Joseph just said: "We'll just throw the gold coins in the air. Whatever God wants He may keep, what falls down is for us."

[ 06. February 2016, 11:01: Message edited by: LeRoc ]

Posted by cliffdweller (# 13338) on :

quote:
Originally posted by deano:
But would it be theologically proper for Mary and Joseph to use gifts meant for God for other things?*

You don't think God was behind the flight to Egypt? Seems like God's work to me...

Posted by leo (# 1458) on :

I know this is meant to be light-hearted, being in heaven - but do people really believe this story is historical rather than a midrash on Moses?

Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :

I do.

Back to lighthearted speculation!

jedijudy
Heaven Host trying to avoid a Purgatorial headache.

Posted by Uncle Pete (# 10422) on :

(Battle Hymn of the Republic. Words anon)

Jesus puts his money in the Bank of Montreal
Jesus puts his money in the Bank of Montreal
Jesus puts his money in the Bank of Montreal
Jesus saves! Jesus saves! Jesus saves!

One of the cleaner verses.

UBB.classic^TM 6.5.0