Matthew 8:20: Foxes, birds and Jesus
Jesus said, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Matthew 8:20
Matthew
is centrally about God’s kingdom authority as expressed in Jesus Christ
and this remark made to a biblical lawyer (scribe) seems to be a
warning to the man, seems to be calling him to a radical lifestyle or
commitment. He may have been “a disciple” in some
sense of the word (8:21 says “another” disciple) but in any case, it
would appear that Jesus was saying to him, “Do you know what it is
you’re wanting to get in on?”
But
was the Master speaking of literal homelessness? He’d have been
welcomed in his mother’s home or with Peter, Lazarus and his sisters.
Perhaps it isn’t physical issues he has in mind. For all the homes that
were open to him and would have welcomed him to have their
beds, there was an aloneness about Jesus that couldn’t be changed. For
all the rich truth that the Incarnation teaches us Jesus didn’t fit in
our society. In his song Vincent,Don
McClean said of the famous painter, “this world was never meant for one
as beautiful as you.” If this was ever true of anyone it was true of
Jesus Christ. The fox trotted his way home to a warm lair and his pups
and birds winged their way home to nests they had built for themselves
and their families—they had their place, they belonged; Jesus did not
belong!
P.
T Forsyth has taught us that for all the joy he found in life, doing
his Father’s will, Jesus must always have lived in profound separation.
The only living being in a world that had died in sin, the only one left
standing when Sin was done ravaging and reaping. Alone—though never
alone for he always did those things that pleased his Father.
Did
the Torah teacher note the authority of Jesus; had he taken notice of
the healings and the jaw-dropping power and would he have agreed with
Nicodemus that nobody could do these things unless God was with him? Did
he sense that this was the beginning of the divine revolution and that now was the time to get into the circle of the Master’s disciples? And if he did, knowing that the Messiah had come to rescue Israel
and restore their place of blessedness with God was he wanting to find a
home, a place, security and acceptance? Did he seem to see all that
promised in the young teacher?
To
embrace Jesus as Master that our marriages might be made better, that
our commerce might prosper, that our living quarters might be bettered,
that we will be treated with more respect—what do you make of that?
It’s
said that in light of the gold and silver of one of the fabulous
buildings a Pope’s said to Aquinas, “We can no longer say as Peter did
to the lame man, ‘Silver and gold have I none’.” Aquinas was said to
have quietly responded, “Neither can we say, ‘such as I have I give you,
rise and walk’.”
Should
we say that the days of foxes, birds, holes and nests are long gone? Is
Christ now welcome in the world? Is he now at home? Does he want
to be at home in a world like this? I don’t doubt that kingdom
authority is still invested in him but since I believe that Matthew
tells Jesus’ story in a way that has the character of Philippians
2:5-11, have things really changed? Some things have
changed—obviously—but has the character of Jesus changed simply because
he's King of Kings and Lord of Lords?
Does
he not to this very day choose to live in this world in the lives of
those who are happy for foxes and little birds but who now and then are
jealous of them because somehow they feel homeless?
©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.
Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.