Matthew 8:19, 20

"And a scribe came up 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).

Comment:

You have chosen a powerful passage for reflection. (I have added a sentence from verse 19 to establish context.) Jesus is here at the height of his ministry, and I think this wry comment expresses his awareness that much of the crowd's enthusiasm is superficial, focused on his deeds rather than his teachings. It takes on special meaning if you realize that Jesus used the word translated here as 'Son of man' to refer, not to himself personally, but to all mankind. And it's true, isn't it, that pretty much everything in nature has its appointed place to be, except for man? We are the free radicals in creation, roaming at will according to the effects of our choices. Birds live in trees. Fish live in the sea. Wolves live in dens. Even plants have specific places to be. We do not. That's not a good thing or a bad thing. It's an interesting thing. It means Jesus may have no idea of 'wherever' he's going. He doesn't tell the scribe not to follow him. He just comments that it will be an interesting trip into unknown waters. And the same is true for us, I think. We may decide to follow spiritual Truth, in the assumption that the result will be guaranteed happiness. And we may become discouraged when shadows appear. Ultimately, the decision to follow must be made without conditions or expectations simply because, as spiritual beings in human form, it's ours to do.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed