December 13, 2022

Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Matthew 8:19-20

It is incredible that, from the very day that Baby Jesus was born into the world, there was not a home for Him . . . a place to lay His head. The Roman-dominated world into which Jesus was born was described by Daniel as exceedingly strong. (Daniel 7:7). Worldly power does indeed have an exceedingly great, yet often subtle way of oppressing the people of God. The rough stone feeding trough of hay where the Baby Jesus lay was a foreshadowing of the lack of welcome He must face throughout His earthly life, just as the rude swaddling cloths foreshadowed the burial clothes with which His tortured and dead body was to be wrapped. Yet, knowing all of this and more ahead of time, Infinite Love came into our world . . .

The particular one who approached Jesus to declare his loyalty in our opening verse had not been called by Jesus, but apparently wanted to be among the inner circle of disciples. It is likely that he recognized Him as the Messiah and, like so many others, was expecting a powerful leader to overthrow the political, military, and economic shackles of Rome. Jesus could see straight to the core of the man’s thinking. The reply that Jesus gave was simply a confirmation of His ongoing poverty, in contrast to the anticipated riches and earthly glory that the Jews had come to expect of the Messiah. In essence, Jesus was saying, “I am a homeless man.”

The wonderful promises of our God and Savior that we are commanded to lay hold of are so often misrepresented in the world. Jesus was always clear that service from a heart of love to our heavenly Father brings the true and lasting benefits of inner peace and eternal life—but instant gratification or worldly wealth is not a guarantee. There is a vivid contrast between the muddled religious messages intertwined with worldliness and the true message of the everlasting Gospel. Acceptance of the world’s false messages may sometimes have an element of gratification in the here and now. But such a faith easily crumbles when the storms of life blow in. This is the classic formula which leads to cynicism. Yet, for the one whose heart is fully given to the Lord, the inevitable hardships of a fallen world both build the character and sharpen the focus towards Heaven.

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18