not where to lay his head

Luke 9:57-62

"And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."



The best way to understand Jesus' statement "...the Son of man hath not where to lay his head" is to see it in its immediate context. Gospel writers collected it together with two other statements to prospective disciples. In those other statements, Jesus indicated that familial responsibilities are secondary to becoming a follower of his (one man he discourages from staying at home until his father dies--the likeliest meaning of "let me bury my father"; the other he discourages from even returning home to say goodbye). In this regard, then, we see that attachments that distract from service to God is the theme of the passage. To get the best understanding, we must see the first quotation within this overall theme. Jesus is explaining how, if anyone would follow him, they must not be like the bird feathering his nest, or the fox digging out a den. His followers had to be relatively detached from material concerns.

material wealth versus the Father's favor

A major tenant of the prosperity gospel is the teaching that Jesus and
his disciples were men of considerable wealth and standing. To me, this
is the most irksome aspect of the doctrine. It completely distorts the
biblical record. There's no evidence of Jesus being wealthy (or even
what we would call "middle-class"). Jesus had something far more
substantial than material wealth... he had the Father's favor.

You have to misread the record to conclude that Jesus owned a house
(which prosperity gospel proponents have done); why would he need one
when believers in every town lent out their own to him. Peter's
mother-in-law actually let them tear up her roof to lower down a
paraplegic. After having been healed by Jesus, what wouldn't she have
shared with him?

Why would he need money for groceries when Jesus could borrow a child's
lunch and multiply it to feed thousands. He didn't even need money to
pay tribute, since he call forth a fish with coin in its mouth. Jesus
was moving his believers towards a complete trust in God that meant they
were no longer obsessed with possessions. "Give us this day our daily
bread,"he taught them to pray. Do the kingdom work, and God will meet
all your needs.

Anything Jesus needed, the Father supplied. This is what makes the
prosperity gospel's speculation about monetary concerns (e.g., how much
money he might have inherited from Joseph, how much money he earned as a
craftsman before he began his ministry, how much money the twelve
disciples brought with them) so utterly insignificant.

Jesus instructed the disciples about this when he sent them out to
proclaim the coming Kingdom: "And commanded them that they should take
nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no
money in their purse..." The disciples didn't need to bring money...they
didn't even pack a lunch... because the favor of God was resting upon
them throughout their mission. Everywhere they ventured, the Father had
already made provision for them. Jesus asked after they returned, "When
I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing?"
and they had to confess "Nothing."

When you are serving the Lord, submitted to his will and arrying out the
mission he has given you, you will not experience lack. You don't need a
background of privilege, you don't need to have an employment history,
you don't need a white-collar job, you don't need a bulging bank
account, you don't need to be swimming in material resources. By
consequence of your relationship to Christ alone, you will have access
to anything you need. You will lack nothing.