Jesus and the Poor and A Biblical Worldview of the Homeless Part Three

Jesus and the Poor

            Second Corinthians 8:9 says that Jesus, though He was rich, became poor for our sakes, so that by His poverty we might become rich. Jesus was born into a poor family (Lev 5:7, 12:2-8; Luke 2:24). He later in life told a scribe that the Son of Man had nowhere to lay His head by painting a less glamorous picture of what it was like to follow Him (Matt 8:20). Basically, He was homeless, even though the homes of others, such as Peter, Andrew, Lazarus, and various religious leaders (Matt 8:14; Mark 1:29; Luke 7:36) were opened for Him to rest, teach, eat, and get away from the crowd (Matt 17:25, Luke 10:38-42; Mark 7:24). His ministry extended to teachings on the topic of hunger, by admonishing His followers to share their food with the poor (Luke 3:11) and by feeding the multitudes out of compassion (Matt 14:13-21, 15:29-39).

The Biblical Worldview of the Homeless

Homelessness involves human beings. Human beings, by virtue of their creation, are valuable (Gen 2:7; Heb 2:7). They are the object of God’s concern as Creator and Redeemer of the world. Since human beings have a value and dignity as creatures of God, then they are due a proper recognition and proper respect for that fact. In dealing with the homeless, they should be treated as human beings, not as problems to be solved. They should be able to retain their humanity while receiving help. They should be treated with compassion and not condescension and should not be reduced to a means to a professional or societal end (Jas 2:1-9, 14-17). And there should be no strings attached to the provision of help (Luke 6:35-36). First John 3:17 states, “But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?”