December 16: TEMPORARY vs. ETERNAL

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 never a real 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 has an exceedingly great, yet often subtle way of oppressing, or overshadowing, that part of the human mind that would respond to Salvation’s gentle invitation. The rough stone feeding trough of hay where the Baby Jesus lay was a foreshadowing of the lack of welcome He would experience, just as the rude swaddling cloths foreshadowed the burial clothes with which His tortured and dead body would be wrapped. Yet, knowing all this and more ahead of time, Infinite Love came into our world . . .

The certain scribe who approached Jesus to declare his loyalty had not been directly called by Jesus, but apparently wanted to be among the inner circle of disciples. It is likely that he possessed some recognition of Him as the Messiah but, like so many others, was expecting a powerful worldly leader to forcefully overthrow the political, military, social, 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 worldly riches and earthly glory that the Jews had come to expect of the Messiah. In essence, Jesus was saying, “I am a homeless man.”

In our fallen world, the wonderful promises of our God and Savior that we are to claim are all too often misrepresented. Jesus was clear that obedience and service from a heart of love toward our heavenly Father is what follows the acceptance of the invitation to salvation (John 14:15). Understanding the true and lasting benefits of inner peace and eternal life is the polar opposite of instant gratification or worldly wealth. There is a discernable contrast between the many muddled religious messages intertwined with worldliness and the true, vivid message of the everlasting Gospel. Acceptance of the world’s false messages sometimes has a fleeting element of gratification in the here and now. But a faith built on this experience easily crumbles when the storms of life blow in. This is the classic formula which leads an individual to spiritual shipwreck (1 Timothy 1:19) and cynicism. Yet, for the one whose heart is fully given to the Lord, the inevitable hardships of this fallen world both build 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