Jesus began his life as a homeless child. After the wise men visited, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and instructed him to “Get up and take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” Matthew 2:13 (NIV).
This obvious hardship was felt primarily by His parents. Joseph and Mary had no alternative but to be strangers and pilgrims in Egypt until the time of Herod’s death. They readily obeyed God and began the long journey to Egypt. Knowing they were obeying the Lord probably did not diminish the feelings of fear and worry that Joseph and his family had to endure. God provided for them but Joseph still had to worry about earning a living for his family.
Christ’s upbringing in Nazareth of Galilee is left to supposition. We know his parents loved him, and Joseph evidently taught him the carpentry trade, but recognized Jesus had to be about his Father’s business. We can still imagine how difficult it would be growing up as a “special” child in a blue collar household. We can only surmise that life was not easy and that Joseph had to work for his daily bread just like the majority of Jewish families of that day. So, Jesus saw and understood the plight of the working class families in Judea. When Jesus began his ministry at 30 years of age, he had seen about every human condition surrounding life in his home town and country.
It is no wonder that Jesus drew from austere living conditions in so much of His teaching. In one incident in Matthew 8:20 (NIV) a certain scribe is talking to Jesus, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
If Jesus came to Denton today He would be glad to see that we as a church are trying to help the needy. Helping the sick and the homeless would be second nature to Jesus since He spent much of his ministry performing miracles for people who were truly in need. This is why Singing Oaks Church of Christ has spent so many years assisting hurting and needy families get through a tough spot in their lives.
The choice of our leadership and members to be a truly benevolent church is to be commended and it is what Jesus would do.
