“Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, He said, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Luke 9:58
How ironic when Jesus Christ, the Creator of the Universe who entered this world in flesh – and who not only made all things, but for whom all things were made – Himself said He had nowhere on earth to lay His head.
From Genesis to Revelations, God has wanted a ‘house’ – a place where He can dwell and rest. The Lord’s quest for a house runs throughout the entire Bible like a continuous thread. From the Tabernacle of Moses, the Temple of Solomon, the Tabernacle of David, to the temple that Ezekiel saw in his vision, God has sought a home on this earth. Yet, the incarnated Son of God was rejected in most places when He was here.
Consider Jesus’ birth, the entire town of Bethlehem closed its doors to Him. So He was born in a stable amid the stain and stench of animal dung.
When Jesus began His ministry around the age of 30, He was rejected by His own people, the Jews. He was also rejected by His own hometown, Nazareth. Remember His words, “A prophet is not without honour except in his own country.” Mark 6:4
The ‘homeless God’ longs for a place to dwell. Will He find a place to lay His head? (Luke 9:59)
The word ‘lay’ in Greek is ‘klino’. The next time you find this word in the Bible was when Jesus was crucified on the Cross in John 19:30, where He proclaimed triumphantly, “It is finished!” He then bowed (klino) His head, and gave up His Spirit.
The short definition of klino in Strong’s Concordance is to ‘cause to bow’. So not only do Luke 9:58 and John 19:30 both contain the same action verb klino, both verses also point to Jesus’ head.
The Greek word translated as ‘head’ in both these verses, also meant ‘cornerstone’. A direct Hebrew translation of ‘Cornerstone’ would render it as ‘Head of the corner’, ‘Chief stone’ or ‘Capstone’.
A remarkable comparison is made in 1 Peter 2:4-8 of Jesus being the ‘Cornerstone’ and His Church – the ‘living stones’.
But just before Peter concluded the metaphor in verse 8, he quoted Psalm 118:22, ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone.’ 1 Peter 2:7b
For only on the Cross, when Jesus had given His all and finished His work, could He then return to His Father’s home. No longer a homeless God – after His Resurrection, God highly exalted Jesus to be the Cornerstone of His house, to become Head of His Body, the Church.
Through the Cross, we found a home in Him, and He, a home in us. The burning intent of God is for His living stones to be built together with others to form His house.
And so, ask yourself today, “Am I a house for the Lord to dwell”, and “Am I fitted together with other members of His Body for Him to lay His head.”
