In this Christmas season our thoughts turn more intentionally and more frequently to Jesus, the reason for this annual celebration.
In consideration of the first Christmas, my thoughts are warm and cozy, happy and joyous, and idyllic and serene, with angels singing, kings bearing gifts, and happily contented shepherds shepherding. This is all true, but one reality is often overlooked.
Jesus was homeless.
Jesus was born in someone else’s barn, amid unsanitary conditions and with the stench of animal feces permeating the air. It seems unholy and unworthy, but that’s how it was.
Not only was Jesus born homeless, his early childhood was homeless as well, living an intenerate life as his parents fled to Egypt to save him from a premature execution. Even when it was safe to return, they did not go to their hometown, but instead settled in Nazareth.
His ministry has also marked by homelessness, traveling from place to place with no home or a “place to lay his head.” So it was when he was arrested, tried, and executed: homeless.
With this in mind, wouldn’t Christmas be a great time to do something in memory of him for the homeless?
[See Luke 2:1-20, Matthew 2:1-23, and Luke 9:58.]
A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.
