For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)"He became poor", not by ceasing to be God or taking off any of his divine attributes, but by adding another nature to his divinity. He became flesh (incarnation). And when he came in to the world, he did not choose a palace as a birthplace, rather he chose to be born in an inn where there was no room for him. He was placed not in the finest crib but in a manger.
Becoming poor meant veiling his glory with human flesh. Yes, that glory so bright that not even angels could look upon directly with their bare eyes must now be hidden in frail humanity.
The Mighty One was born a real baby. The one who was sustaining the world was at the same time dependent on his parents. He cries when he is hungry or when his diaper is wet as if he was saying: "Mother, Mother help me"-- yet if he will not restrain his power he would survive anyway. For he doesn't need the help of human hands in order to survive because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else (Acts 17:25).
Becoming poor meant though he owns all the living creatures in the oceans, he would have to eat a small if that is all his carpenter foster father Joseph could afford.
Becoming poor also meant submitting himself to human vulnerability to pain and suffering; to the abuses of sinful man, to be insulted, to be spit upon, to be accused of wrongdoing when he knew no sin-- a suffering ending ultimately at the cross.
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