I know a homeless person |
Fanny J. Crosby’s famous hymn, “Tell Me the Story of Jesus,” describes the  Savior in terms of Isaiah 53: “He was despised and afflicted,” and then adds, "homeless, rejected, and poor.” Last week, as we sang this beautiful song, I focused on that word, “homeless,” and thought about all of the connotations we give to it these days.
It’s hard to imagine Jesus as a homeless person or our usual stereotype—scraggly beard and unkempt hair, dirty clothes, body odor, panhandling, looking for thrown-away objects he can use or sell. Despised, afflicted, rejected, and poor, he would certainly be one from whom men turn away their faces (Isa. 53:3). Yet it is in the eyes of the homeless of this world, the dirt poor, the abandoned, and the forsaken that we need to be looking for the likeness of Jesus. What did he say? Whatever you do for the least of these brothers of mine—whether it is feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, giving clothese to those in rags, or visiting those who are sick or in prison—you are doing it for me. Thanks! Let’s develop an attitude mirroring the Man who spent His days preaching the Good News to the poor. Tell me His story. Write every word on my heart. Let me weep while you whisper of His ransoming love. Then, let’s you and I relive the drama He acted out. |
| —Steve Singleton DeeperStudy.com |
Want to go deeper?The Greek verb exoutheneō ("to despise, treat with contempt, reject") occurs 11 times in the New Testament. Jesus condemned people who trusted in their own righteousness and despised others (Luke 18:9), and He Himself was the victim of such disdain. Luke 23:11 describes the ridicule Herod Antipas and his soldiers gave to Jesus. In Acts 4:11, Peter alludes to Ps. 118:22, applying it directly to the Jewish ruling council: "This is the stone rejected by you builders...." Paul warned Christians against despising other believers with whom they disagreed (Rom. 14:3, 10). He warns the Thessalonians not to reject prophesying (1 Thess. 5:20), the very thing his Corinthian opponents had done to the apostle himself (2 Cor. 10:10). He praises the Galatians for how they received him when he first arrived in their region: they did not despise him, but received him as if he were an angel, or even as they would receive Christ Jesus Himself. Paul warns the Corinthians not to reject Timothy, the brother he is sending to help them (1 Cor. 16:11). Many of these passages help to illustrate the principle Paul sets forth in 1 Cor. 1:28, that God has chosen the lowly, the negligible, and the despised things (or people) to shame the wise, the noble, and the strong. God exalts the humble and debases those who are exalted.
Ron Hall and Denver Moore. Same Kind of Different As Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together (2007). Denver Moore grew up in Louisiana in the 1960's, working on a plantation as a share-cropper--a modern-day slave. Ron Hall is an international arts dealer who moves between upscale New York galleries and celebrities. It seems unlikely that these two men would meet under normal circumstances. Until Deborah Hall, Ron's wife meets Denver and sees him through God's eyes of compassion. When Deborah is diagnosed with cancer she charges Ron with the mission of saving Denver. From this request, an extraordinary friendship forms between Denver and Ron, changing them both forever. A remarkable true story of friendship and unconditional love! Also available as Abridged Audiobook Recommended for online reading: |
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