Jesus was both poor and for much of his life he was also homeless; practically from his birth as he was born in a barn because there was no room for him in an inn. He had a lower-class upbringing, as a cabinetmaker's son. That was a trade usually marginal and itinerant in his time. He chose his followers from the lower class, from fisher- men, dependent on the season's catch, or from a despised trade (tax collection for the Romans). There were no Scribes or scholars of the Law in his following.Jesus not only favored the homeless, He was himself homeless, born homeless and living homeless during his public life, he said … "Foxes have lairs, and birds have nests in air, but the Son of Man has nowhere to put down his head" (Mt 8.20). He depended on others to shelter him. He especially depended on women, who were "second-class citizens" in his culture. He was not a philosopher. He wrote nothing for his followers to come. He depended on his uneducated followers to express what he meant. He knew that the Spirit moving them had no need of men with Ph.D.s or with grants from learned foundations (1 Cor 1.20). He was born homeless and on the run, fleeing Herod. He was buried homeless, in a sepulcher that was donated last minute by another. That is the true story of the Lord Jesus - stripped bare of modern trappings, crucifixes, altars, gold and mystical glamour - behold you King!
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