In Fanny J. Crosby’s beautiful hymn, “Tell Me the Story of Jesus,” Ms. Crosby describes the Savior in terms of Isaiah 53: “He was despised and afflicted,” and then adds, “homeless, rejected, and poor.” In the second verse of this very beautiful and moving song, my eyes focus on the word “homeless,” and think about all of the connotations our society gives to this term.
While we know that Jesus had no secure or fixed place of abode (Matthew 8:20), it is difficult to imagine Jesus as a homeless person, or as the usual stereotype — one with a scraggly beard and unkempt hair, dirty clothes, body odor, panhandling, looking for thrown-away objects he can use or sell.
However, using the descriptive terms of Isaiah, “despised,” “rejected,” “stricken,” and “afflicted,” our Savior was one from whom men would turn away their faces (Isaiah 53:3-4). Yet, it is in the eyes of the homeless of this world, the dirt poor, the abandoned, and the forsaken, who are looking for the likeness of Jesus in us as Christians.
What did our Lord say?
Whatever you do for the least of these brothers of mine — whether it’s feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, giving clothes to those in rags, or visiting those who are sick or in prison — “you have done it to me” (Matthew 25:35-40).
Beloved, do we know "the homeless” person, Jesus? Let us live a life which mirrors our Savior’s life (1 Peter 2:21; 1 John 2:6; cf. Gal. 2:20; Philippians 1:21), the “homeless” Person who spent His days preaching the “Good News” to the poor (Luke 7:22) and going about “doing good” (Acts 10:38).
“Tell me the story of Jesus, Write on my heart every word: Tell me the story most precious, Sweetest that ever was heard.“
—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets
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