December 18

"And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." Matthew 8:20.

THE fact is affecting: but is it not instructive too?

We may take from it a standard by which to judge of the age and country in which he appeared. Nothing reflects more upon a people than suffering characters distinguished by the greatest goodness and usefulness to want. It will always be a reproach to the Corinthian converts that they allowed such a man as Paul, while preaching and working miracles among them, to work night and day at tent-making. But we love and commend the Philippians, who once and again, when he was in Thessalonica, sent to his necessity. Surely we should have said, men will reverence God's Son. At his coming, nobles and princes will offer their mansions and palaces. What preparations are made to receive a superior; yet the honor of the visit is deemed a recompense for the trouble and expense. But He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came to his own, and his own received him not. What is man? Let Judea furnish an answer. See the Lord of all, the friend of misery, possessed of every moral perfection, the image of the invisible God, yet not having "where to lay his head!" But is human nature the same now? Some censure others, and think well of themselves merely because they have not been tried by the same circumstances. "Oh, had we been living there, he should not have been destitute of any accommodation we could have yielded him." Yet you follow the multitude, and the reproach of a name will keep you from owning his truth, and you are backward in giving in the support of his cause. But by the disposition which you exercise towards his gospel and house and ministers and members, he judges of your attachment or indifference to himself. He that receiveth you, receiveth me. "Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it not to me." Depart.

Pause and admire the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, how that "though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich." Do not imagine that he did not fit his condition. He was really a partaker of flesh and blood, and knew the sensations of hunger and weariness and cold as well as any other man. But the conveniences and comforts which he required he often found not. Think of his preaching and travelling all the livelong day, and at night not having where to lay his head! The sensibility of his condition was enhanced by his former state of dignity and enjoyment. We are therefore more affected when we see a prince reduced, than when we behold an individual suffering who was always indigent. Jesus was higher than the kings of the earth, and had given them all their thrones. Heaven had been his dwelling-place, and all the angels his attendants, and adorers too. What condescension was here! Let us remember that he made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant. There was no compulsion: it was all voluntary; not for himself, but for us. And did we deserve such an interposition, such an expensiveness of sacrifice for our comfort? We were viler than the earth; we were enemies by wicked works. Yet he never repented of his engagement, but said, as he was entering all this abasement, Lo. I come; I delight to do thy will. And as his agony approached, he said, "I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished." It was therefore, as the apostle calls it, Grace—grace the most free and unparalleled. And shall not this love, which passeth knowledge, fix our minds and fill our hearts? Where is our gratitude, unless we are willing to deny ourselves for him, and to walk worthy of such a divine benefactor unto all well-pleasing? The lower he descended to save me, the higher shall he rise in my esteem for ever. He is always and altogether lovely; but never so adorable as when his face is marred more than any man's, and he has not where to lay his head.

Let us also learn not to judge of worth by external advantages. True greatness is personal, and does not depend on power, titles, or wealth. Is a man the more valued of God because he has a larger field or a longer purse than his neighbor? Does it give him more virtue, or understanding? A fool, a child of the devil, may be set on the high places of the earth; while the apostles were hungry and naked, and the Son of God had not where to lay his head. While we view him who is higher than the heavens in such an estate, let us learn the vanity of worldly distinctions. Let us see how absurd it is to be vain of a fine house, and splendid furniture, or any of the meanness of the pride of life. Let us despise ourselves, if we have esteemed a man the more for the gold ring and gay clothing, or regarded the poor the less because he is poor; and remember, that if we had lived in Judea, we should have courted Pontius Pilate, and shunned Jesus Christ.

Let the Lord's poor take this truth and apply it to produce resignation under the privations of life. You talk of penury, but he was poor. You have many a comfort you can call your own, but he had not a place where to lay his head. But allowing that your trials were much greater than they are, remember this is not your rest, and you are rich in faith, and have the honor of conformity to the Lord Jesus. You only know the fellowship of his sufferings. Is it not enough that the servant be as his Master, and the disciple as his Lord? Can the common soldier complain when he sees the commander-in-chief sharing the same hardships with himself?

Let it lead us to rejoice in the Saviour's present condition. He that descended is the same also that ascended. He who was crowned with thorns, is crowned with glory and honor. He who had not where to lay his head, has all power in heaven and in earth. How delightful is this assurance to those who love him, for love glories in the exaltation of its object. It is also interesting to their hopes. They are one with him; and because he lives, they shall live also.