Homeless Jesus
Schmalz, Timothy. Homeless Jesus, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56181 [retrieved June 24, 2022]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Homeless_Jesus_2016,_London_Ontario.jpg.
Spiritual Practices: Breath Prayer
Overview
In these interactions we see Jesus' response to people who rejected him (like the Samaritans in verses 52-55) and to those who put other things before him (verses 57-62). In verses 57 and 58, someone comes to Jesus and says that they want to follow him wherever he goes. Jesus replies that he has no place to lay his head. In other words, the life of following Jesus is not always comfortable. Sometimes we need to put following Jesus ahead of our personal comfort.
In verses 59 and 60, Jesus calls a man to come follow him, but he needs to go bury his father first. Due to Jewish burial practices, this man could be asking for as much as a years delay. This was also a major responsibility for this man. Jesus' response indicates that following him should be more important than our other responsibilities.
In verses 61 and 62, another man says that he will follow Jesus, but he wants to go talk to his family first. Jesus reply is that when we start following him, nothing should pull us away from that.
When we follow Jesus, we need to put him first in our lives, before our comfort, before our other responsibilities, before anything and everything else. That is what this breath prayer is about.
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, I want to put you first
Overview
In these interactions we see Jesus' response to people who rejected him (like the Samaritans in verses 52-55) and to those who put other things before him (verses 57-62). In verses 57 and 58, someone comes to Jesus and says that they want to follow him wherever he goes. Jesus replies that he has no place to lay his head. In other words, the life of following Jesus is not always comfortable. Sometimes we need to put following Jesus ahead of our personal comfort.
In verses 59 and 60, Jesus calls a man to come follow him, but he needs to go bury his father first. Due to Jewish burial practices, this man could be asking for as much as a years delay. This was also a major responsibility for this man. Jesus' response indicates that following him should be more important than our other responsibilities.
In verses 61 and 62, another man says that he will follow Jesus, but he wants to go talk to his family first. Jesus reply is that when we start following him, nothing should pull us away from that.
When we follow Jesus, we need to put him first in our lives, before our comfort, before our other responsibilities, before anything and everything else. That is what this breath prayer is about.
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, I want to put you first