One day an enthusiastic young scribe told Jesus “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go!” Jesus responded with an interesting comment:
“Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests. But the Son of Man has no place to lay His head” Matthew 8:19-20.
Was Jesus homeless?
There is a Wikipedia page entitled “Homelessness of Jesus,” discussing different kinds of homelessness and which might apply. There are books on the subject and even a bronze sculpture of Jesus asleep on a park bench.
But Jesus was not homeless. Modern-day homelessness comes with a long list of associated problems. Homeless people are not only destitute, but are relationally poor. They have no one to rely on. No friends or family. On top of that, there are often addictions, criminal records, and mental illnesses that compound the problem.
Jesus—in spite of the time He spent on the road—was not a vagabond, a hobo, or an a member of the modern urban homeless sleeping under doorways and bridges.
“He left Nazareth and made His home in Capernaum” Matthew 4:13.
“When He returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home, and many gathered until there was no room for them, not even at the front door…” Mark 2:1-2.
When Jesus left His mother’s home, He MADE HIS HOME in Capernaum. He had a home, as both Matthew and Mark have confirmed in the verses above.
Consider these words from the article, WHY JESUS WASN’T HOMELESS, AND WHY IT MATTERS:
“Modern people who are homeless are often cut off from relationships that could benefit them financially … there are many types of poverty: financial, spiritual, relational, political, and so on. People who are poor in one area are often poor in others…. I find it pretty hard to believe that one can create a world-changing ministry and movement while struggling with homelessness. Jesus would have no time to preach, because he’d be standing in line at the employment office. He’d have no energy to preach because he wouldn’t get any sleep … And no one would follow him or take him seriously because he’d be practically invisible.”[1]
Sometimes Bible interpretation or “rightly dividing the word of truth,” requires the reader to consider not only the words of original languages, but also the idioms or figures of speech. As the writer of the article I cited points out, when readers of the Hebrew Bible spoke of “laying one’s head down,” they were speaking of finding peaceful rest.
That is, when Jesus said He had no place to lay His head, He was saying He had no peaceful rest, such as that described in Psalm 23. Instead, He was a wanted man, a fugitive, One who knows execution awaits.
I imagine this scribe as a young man, 19, perhaps, full of excitement. And Jesus smiled at this boy on the cusp of manhood, and shook His head. “Do you really want to spend your best years on the run? Do you want to sleep every night with one eye open, never knowing when they will come for you? Because that is my life right now.”
Perhaps this is simply an interesting way for Jesus to say, “Go home to your parents and the life you love. I have enough men risking their lives on this dangerous road with me.”
ΑΩ
[1] https://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/3933/why-jesus-wasnt-homeless-and-why-it-matters. This is a great article. It is short but addresses the issue thoroughly. Much of what I’ve written here comes from this source.
Household Words: 