Matthew 8:20, commentary and pictures

Jesus declared that He had no settled home or place to rest, with less assured shelter than burrowing animals and nesting birds. Though Maker, Owner and Lord of the world, He owned nothing in it and lived without a home in the world He had created, dependent on the generosity of friends. He spoke to turn away a professed follower who expected wealth, station and an earthly kingdom, cutting off all hope of temporal advantage from following Him. His homelessness was one step in a voluntary descent from heaven's glory to poverty, rejection and the cross, that through His poverty fallen humanity might be made rich and secured a home in the eternal kingdom. Following Him therefore offers no earthly riches or honors but calls for self-denial, sharing His humiliation and suffering, living the life of the poorest without disgracing poverty, and spending means and strength in humble service.

Setting and First Hearers

The saying was given after a day of teaching and healing, as Jesus dismissed the multitude to cross to the other side of the sea for rest from the fatigue of labor away from the dwellings of men. The farther shore was a desert in comparison with the shore being left, yet a number of boats loaded with people followed, desiring to learn more concerning the doctrine He taught. It answered a scribe who professed, Master, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest. That scribe is identified as Judas professing devotion while Jesus was preparing the disciples for ordination.

Jesus read the unworthy, selfish thought of his heart and already knew the part he would act in betrayal and execution. Yet He neither warmly received him nor repulsed him, but answered with mournful pathos by declaring His own poverty in contrast with the foxes and the birds. He still received him to give him opportunity to learn the divine mission, gain moral strength to overcome defects of character, experience entire change of heart, and secure salvation.

The offer came because the hearer had heard truth set forth as jewels of far greater value than hidden treasure. With mind darkened by avarice and love of the world, he supposed Jesus meant to enrich His followers with worldly treasure. His offer to follow came from selfish interest alone, the same motive that moved Judas, hoping Jesus would soon establish His kingdom on earth and give wealth and station to His disciples. Only blindness by avarice and love of the world could so misread spiritual riches as a promise of earthly reward.

The declaration of His own homelessness and poverty was given as a rebuke, showing that the riches He had spoken of were spiritual truth and not earthly reward. It was designed to cut off any hope Judas might cherish of securing temporal advantages, high position, or earthly gain through connection with Christ. It exposed that He had no earthly wealth, station, or honors to give, and that following Him meant homelessness and self-denial rather than honor or gain. From the first He held out to followers no hope of earthly rewards or a worldly kingdom, and those attracted by hope of a worldly kingdom must be undeceived, for He could not accept service offered in hope of having the world with Him or seeing Him exalted to an earthly throne from selfish ambition, knowing disappointment of that ambition would turn love to hatred and praise to curses.

It also opened the minds of the disciples to His future voluntary humiliation and shameful death as a malefactor at the hands of persecutors. It made unmistakable that voluntary humiliation, reproach, and shame belonged to His mission, resolutely discouraging their hopes of His temporal aggrandizement and of Messiah reigning as a mighty king. His suffering must be followed by theirs, His crucifixion teaching them to be crucified to the world, to resign all hope of its pomp and pleasure, to bear the cross in following Him and endure corresponding humiliation if they would share His glory.

Homelessness Less Than Animals

The saying means He had no settled home, no house of His own, no fixed place to rest or sleep, with less assured shelter than foxes that have holes and birds that have nests. He lived without the comforts of a settled place, accepting poverty and toil as the Majesty of heaven who had left His royal throne and heavenly home to save perishing souls. His lack of worldly comfort expressed humility and self-denial, and His followers should therefore not be discouraged by trials and opposition but cheerfully share His sufferings and faithfully do their duty.

Though Maker, Owner, and Lord of the world, He owned nothing in it and lived without a home in the very world He had created. He was unrecognized and unhonored by many while He lived and worked among people to give knowledge to the ignorant and hope to the despairing and to lead them to salvation. His lowly condition belonged to His mission to show sinners the way to the haven of eternal rest, where they can become children of God and heirs of heaven. His lack of earthly comfort reflected self-denial and self-sacrifice to reach the poor, and calls those who would follow Him to study His holy, self-denying example, spend no time on the vanities of this world, and conform their lives to His.

As a traveler He had no home of His own and was sheltered only by the kindness of friends, depending on the generosity of followers. The people entrusted with sacred truth and great privileges failed to serve Him and use their gifts for the blessing of others, when faithful service would have provided for Him. As it was, the women of Galilee followed Him and ministered to Him from their means. His lack of worldly possessions reflects His humble life and shows that a person's worth is not measured by wealth or status.

For nearly three years He wandered to and fro from city to city as a patient, meek and lowly teacher and man of sorrows, without a regular bed on which to stretch His weary form at night. Night after night He slept in the open air with His disciples, and when night came the earth was often His bed, even on cold, damp nights. His privation accompanied a life of service and submission to His Father and of blessing those who hated Him. Apart from the disciples He prayed to His Father with strong crying and agonizing petitions, and He bore every temptation so that no poor or tempted person can say He does not know poverty or temptation.

His homeless life was marked by toil, poverty, hunger, thirst, weariness, sorrow, and suffering, sharing the trials and hardships of people without shelter. Though Lord of life and glory and possessor of eternal riches, He lived as the poorest, often hungry and weary, and became poor for humanity's sake so that through His poverty people might be made rich. By humiliation, suffering, rejection, and death He purchased human salvation and made it possible for man to have a home in His eternal kingdom. His example exposes how small our sacrifices are by comparison and sets the pattern for His followers to endure privation and suffering without murmuring or complaint.

Humiliation for Human Salvation

He was the Majesty of heaven, the Prince in the royal courts, the Son sent by God, rich and Lord of life and glory, yet He laid aside royal robe and kingly crown with honor, riches and glory and clothed divinity with humanity. He lived that humanity from helpless infancy through childhood, youth and manhood, taking humanity in its deteriorated state and standing at the head of the fallen race in a world seared and marred by the curse as its example in all things, bearing all its trials and enduring all its temptations. For our sakes He became poor and took the place of a servant, stooping to poverty and abasement with no settled place to rest or sleep and no home to call His own, often suffering hunger, so that His earthly homelessness was the result of that self-emptying.

His homeless condition was one step in His descent from one humiliation to another that ended at the cross, the lowest point divine condescension could reach. His life was one of sorrow, hardship, conflict, privation, poverty and friendlessness, without even the shelter beasts and birds have. That destitute condition made the third temptation the most alluring of all. To one so poor and homeless were offered possession of all the mighty kingdoms of the world and their glory if He would acknowledge Satan as superior, worship him and pay him homage, gaining all without suffering or peril.

He became poor for humanity's sake so that through His poverty people might be made rich with eternal riches and heaven's priceless treasure. By humiliation, suffering, rejection and death He purchased human salvation and made it possible for man to have a home in His eternal kingdom. His lack of a home is the example and pattern of self-denial and self-sacrifice for the salvation of humanity, pledging those baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost to follow as co-laborers making any and every sacrifice, obeying God without seeking personal convenience or an easier path than He traveled, and resisting selfishness to give a fair share to good work and missionary labor.

His lowly homeless life stands in contrast to His glory at the transfiguration. For nearly three years He lived as the patient, meek and lowly teacher, wandering to and fro from city to city as a man of sorrows with no place to rest and no bed on which to stretch His weary form at night, and then the voice of God declared Him to be His Son and Moses and Elijah from heaven paid Him homage, proving He is the promised Messiah and strengthening the three chosen disciples to endure His coming humiliation and crucifixion. The Creator living in the world He made without a place to lay His head, often hungry and weary, presents humble human life alongside divine greatness, possessing eternal riches yet living as a poor man. His humble and difficult circumstances honored humanity, for by becoming human He revealed what humanity may become and brought life and immortality to light.

No Earthly Gain in Following

From the first He held out to followers no hope of earthly honors, riches, reward, station, or worldly kingdom, and the poor and humble are ranked beneath His banner. To follow Him is to accept self-denial and a share in His humiliation with no prospect of earthly gain, rather than honor or advantage. His homelessness warned the would-be disciple that discipleship meant homelessness and self-denial, and opened the truth that voluntary humiliation, reproach, and shame belonged to His mission.

His suffering must be followed by theirs, for they must bear the cross after Him, endure corresponding humiliation, reproach and shame, be crucified to the world by resigning all hope of its pomp and pleasure, and suffer for His name if they would share His glory. The saying is therefore a rebuke to all who would follow for selfish gain and worldly advantage. It exposes that the proud Pharisees, chief priests, and scribes would gladly have paid Him homage and glorified His name had discipleship brought station, honors, and wealth.

Many would gladly connect themselves with Him, accept the truth, and enlist in His army if there were no self-denial connected with it and if they could have the world with Christ. But feeble faith cannot endure discipleship without earthly reward, so when called to follow in poverty they turn back crestfallen under its rebuke, as the scribe did. Service or allegiance offered in hope of having the world with Him or seeing Him exalted to an earthly throne from selfish ambition He could not accept, knowing that disappointment of that ambition would turn love to hatred and praise to curses, so those attracted by hope of a worldly kingdom must be undeceived.

Despite possessing all power He did not use it for self-aggrandizement, earthly conquest, or worldly greatness, but lived without a settled place to lay His head and cast off worldly rule and honor. Greatness among His disciples consists not in worldly dignity but in following Him closely in life and conduct, and those who seek worldly honor contrary to His example are not to be followed. Following Him may mean having no secure earthly home or comfort, yet such loss does not make His followers poor in the lasting sense, for those who suffer for Him gain eternal riches and a home with the Saviour in heaven.

Solidarity With the Poor

Jesus lived the life of the poorest, walking and working among the needy and the suffering, unrecognized and unhonored while moving in and out among the people for whom He had done so much. Though He was heaven's Majesty and Creator of the world, He claimed no part of it as a home and lived without self-seeking or the comforts of a settled place to sleep, sheltered only as a traveler by the kindness of friends. He often suffered hunger and shared the trials people face, and He worked with His hands to help support His family and did not honor people because of their wealth. His lack of a settled place to rest illustrates His self-denying life devoted to doing good, relieving suffering, and meeting the needs of the destitute, making everything subordinate to His Father's will.

By accepting poverty and privation without even the shelter animals have, He removed the disgrace attached to poverty because of lack of worldly advantages. Poverty is no disgrace, while sin is, and His poverty did not make Him disgraceful though He entered the world as a poor man without a settled place to sleep. His example teaches that the poor must not be treated with contempt, so no one can justly look down on or despise the poor.

A person's worth is not measured by wealth, possessions, status, or outward appearance, for His lack of worldly possessions and dependence on the generosity of His followers reflects a humble life of poverty and toil. Riches and high rank do not increase a person's worth in God's sight or make anyone worthy of eternal life, and those who follow Him must be willing to share His poverty, deny themselves, and take up their cross.

He identifies Himself with the lowly, oppressed, suffering, poor and afflicted, taking human poverty and grief into His own experience and treating their hunger, thirst, homelessness, nakedness, sickness, imprisonment, and lack of food, shelter, clothing, and freedom as His own. Receiving and caring for suffering people is therefore receiving and caring for Him, and giving to those in need is giving to Him. Neglecting them, refusing fellowship and help to them, is neglecting and refusing Him, for His words about having no secure place to sleep apply to the poor and suffering without shelter.

By sharing their hardship, afflictions, and temptations He learned how the poor are treated and understood their treatment. He took His place among the poorest in the humblest poverty, with less shelter than foxes with holes and birds with nests, coming among the poverty-stricken as a poor man's son of a poor family when He could have come with His angels. His mother was poor and Joseph's family was poor, and He lived without a home, sleeping night after night in the open air with His disciples and bearing all kinds of temptations from Satan. So the poorest and most tempted can never say He does not know poverty or temptation, and no poor or tempted person has any excuse.

Call to Self-Denying Service

His homeless, self-denying life is the pattern to be studied and conformed to all the way to the end of life, with no seeking of personal convenience, an easier path, or a better portion than He had. Though He was the Majesty of heaven He accepted poverty and lack of a settled place to sleep, knowing hunger, thirst, weariness, and suffering hunger while living as the poorest and sharing the trials people face, becoming poor for humanity's sake so that through His poverty people might be made rich. His holy, self-denying character as one who became a child of humanity and owned nothing in the world although the world was His gives a perfect example to every human being, calling followers to spend no time on the vanities and follies of this world, since seeking worldly things reveals lack of harmony with His character. From His life and labors and struggles with temptation is learned how to become partakers of the divine nature and overcome corruption through lust, and walking in His footsteps brings a supply of divine grace such as sustained Him in every circumstance, while selfishness and neglect of missionary work bring shame and reproach on Him. Those who hope to share His glory must expect to share His sufferings in this life, enduring privation, hardship, and lack of shelter without murmuring or complaint and remembering His suffering rather than insisting on comfort and their own wishes. He left His royal throne and heavenly home to save perishing souls, accepting rejection, toil, sorrow, and suffering, at times with the earth for His bed when night came, in a life of service and submission to God blessing those who hated Him, so His followers should not be discouraged by trials and opposition but cheerfully share His sufferings and faithfully do their Christian duty.

Those receiving His grace should not expect or seek an easier and better time than He had, but should give up personal spending, question each personal purchase whether it can be done without, and use means to God's glory for the cause rather than personal comfort. Though rich in heaven's priceless treasure and adored by angels as a prince in the royal courts, He laid aside glory and heavenly riches and became poor with no place to lay His head, journeying for three years from place to place as a homeless wanderer enduring toil and poverty for humanity's salvation so that people might receive eternal riches. His self-denial exposes the ingratitude of selfish men who repine and murmur at leaving a little earthly treasure for Him or laboring to save souls for whom He gave His precious life, and His followers who have far more than He had should not complain of hardships but choose sacrifice and support the work of God. No one can appreciate the blessings of redemption without joyfully making any and every sacrifice for love of Him, since every sacrifice made for Him enriches the giver and every suffering and privation endured for Him increases the overcomer's final joy in heaven, which is reason to resist selfishness and give a fair share to good work. Workers for present truth must follow His lowliness, simplicity, and poverty by being willing to serve suffering people for reasonable pay without demanding a stipulated sum, large wage, high pay, position, or protection of dignity. Though Son of the infinite God who might have come with a retinue of angels He came as a babe and suffered the privations of poverty with glory in simplicity, and His followers must wear His yoke and learn His meekness and lowliness, denying themselves to help suffering fellow beings as medical missionary workers without refusing work unless position and dignity are preserved and without following worldly customs and display.

Demanding large wages throws open the door for others to do the same, spoils the simple self-sacrificing spirit in which the cause was founded, and uses money that should be spent building up the work in other places. Though homeless Himself He spent His life seeking to give knowledge to the ignorant and hope to the despairing, wisdom making them wise unto salvation, lightening self-imposed burdens of worldly anxiety and care by inviting them to come for rest and peace and to exchange their self-made, cumbrous, galling yoke and heavy worldly burdens for His easy yoke and light burden. Having laid aside royal robe and crown to come as a poor man with no home of His own, making everything subordinate to His Father's will and mission while living unrecognized and unhonored among the poor and suffering, He is the pattern for believers to work for the unconverted in humbleness of mind without pompous words, not turning away from any soul but laboring for brethren, children, neighbors and all with earnest self-sacrifice because He died for each one and wants every soul to come to the truth. His plain, lowly life and plain dress expose worldliness, vanity, and covetousness, and His truthful, holy life condemns those professing religion who prize worldly appearance, comfort, and wealth, restrains their worldly conduct, and makes those ashamed of Him wish to reject, silence, or remove Him. His lack of worldly comfort and settled rest, in contrast to even animals that have shelter, stands against luxury, vice, rich habitations, costly clothing, and worldly display in those claiming to represent Him, including leaders whose indulgence-backed wealth sustained magnificence, luxury, and vice.

Beholding His divine love and wonderful sacrifice at Calvary, where as Lord of life and glory He clothed divinity with humanity, stood at the head of the fallen race as example in all things bearing all trials and enduring all temptations, lived the life of the poorest often suffering hunger with no home to call His own, and by humiliation, suffering, rejection, and death made it possible to have a home in His eternal kingdom, fills those who love Him with desire to spend and be spent in service of the Redeemer. True love and willingness to deny self are shown not by burying in monasteries or going on long painful pilgrimages but by working for those for whom He died, which those baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost pledge to follow by making any and every sacrifice as co-laborers with Him. Paul, like his Master, was a homeless wanderer who lived to bless humanity, enduring homelessness, poverty, self-denial, and suffering for the truth, and his life reflected the self-sacrificing life of Christ. His poverty and lack of a home did not prevent trusting God or carrying out the work, proving that wholly consecrated ministers who devote all energies to building up His cause and labor self-sacrificingly for lost souls without being influenced by wages, ease, or selfish interest, walking in their Redeemer's footsteps in sustaining God's cause, will have no lack. His humble, self-denying life in human form, though He made the world yet claimed no part of it as a home and lived without self-seeking devoted to doing good, relieving suffering, and meeting the needs of the destitute, is the pattern and guide for soul-saving work in simplicity, economy, and plainness free from unnecessary display. His example stands against seeking the largest place for oneself and points instead to serving God in the place best suited to that service, learning His meekness and lowliness.