Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
Matthew 8:19–20
There are several aspects of Jesus’ life that we do not relate to very well. These are not so much Jewish aspects as they are aspects of living in His day that are just not relatable to the modern world. Here are some that came to mind.
For one, Jesus spent His whole life walking. We are so used to driving somewhere in five minutes that we can’t relate to this reality. I’ve seen estimates north of 20,000 miles that Jesus walked in His lifetime—most of which were before His three or so years of ministry. For example, it was mentioned earlier that every Jewish man was expected to travel to Jerusalem three times a year for the festivals. This would have been a 240-mile round trip from Nazareth each time.
Further, life would have revolved around the basic essentials—food, water and shelter. Jesus lived even one step beyond this during His ministry, likely relying on the goodwill of others each day to survive. Conversely, we live in a land of plenty that would be inconceivable to the people of Jesus’ day. That is both a blessing and a huge responsibility for us to be good stewards.
Jesus didn’t start His ministry until age 30. This is not to say He didn’t have an occupation before then, as He was a craftsman, possibly a carpenter (Mark 6:3). Today, most men and women go into ministry right out of high school or college, preferably after seminary. Would Jesus be accepted into a Bible college today?
Another aspect of the Jewish Messiah’s life was a continual occurrence of the miraculous. The Gospels record many instances, but many more were not written down (John 20:30, 21:25). We don’t see a lot of miracles in the Western world today. It has been my experience that most miracles take place where the message of Christ is in its early days of being declared in a particular location.
In conclusion, it is amazing to me that a simple, “uneducated” Man who was basically homeless, had no seminary education, spoke no English, and never preached in a church could impact our modern-day world. Likewise, we in the American Body of Christ should be very cautious as to the man-made measures we use to evaluate other believers. Where we may see an “unqualified” person, God may see someone available to change the world. The Bible is full of stories in which the Lord worked through the simple and humble to do great things. May we be so fortunate to be used in this way.