Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“A scribe then approached and said, “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.””
NL Daily Devotion for Wednesday, February 8, 2023
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
For the length of his ministry, Jesus was homeless. Sometimes we hear about him staying certain places—Peter’s house, Mary and Martha’s house—but most of the time, we don’t get a glimpse of where Jesus actually lay his head on a day-to-day basis. Did he sleep rough? Were there hospitality laws that obligated people to open their homes to him? There must have been some people in those crowds that gathered around him who had houses where he could stay. Regardless of the exact arrangements, the fact remained that Jesus had no home of his own.
Jesus called his followers into this itinerant life. He asked them to leave whatever comforts they had grown up with and walk with him from place to place bringing good news to the poor, health and wholeness to the afflicted, hope to the oppressed. And here comes this scribe, who we can assume does alright for himself, considering his status, and declares his intention to follow Jesus.
As so often happens, Jesus does not give a direct response. He doesn’t say, “Sure! Come on in!” or “Nope. You don’t qualify.” He just states the truth about what following Jesus entails—giving up comfort, security, familiarity, wealth—and leaves it up to the scribe to make the decision for himself. We are not told what the scribe decides, and so we are left to put ourselves in his shoes and wonder: what would we have chosen?
Following Jesus isn’t always comfortable. It requires sacrifice, humility, and perseverance in the face of obstacles. And while it may not require homelessness, it certainly requires solidarity with those who are homeless. Think about all Jesus asks of us, and let yourself wonder about how to answer that call.
If you were the scribe, would you have followed Jesus? Why or why not?