Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head

 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."   But Jesus said, to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?" 

- Matthew 8:18-27

In yesterday's reading, we were told that when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."  And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."  The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof.  But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.  For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.  And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."  When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!  And I say to you that many will come from the east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  But the sons of the kingdom will be cast into the outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."  And his servant was healed that same hour.  Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever.  So He touched her hand, and the fever left her.  And she arose and served them.  When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed.  And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses."

 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."   But Jesus said, to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."  My study bible says that since the term Son of Man refers to the Messiah (Daniel 7:13), it expresses both Jesus' humanity and His divinity.  Here, He refers to His human condition; in 25:31 Jesus uses the term to describe His divine authority and the power of Judgment.  Here He not only describes His humility (even as Son of Man, He has nowhere to lay His head) but the rigors of discipleship, what it takes to follow Him.  There are few worldly comforts.  My study bible tells us that Jesus isn't negating the command to honor parents, but rather teaching that the things of the Kingdom take highest priority for those who follow Him.  The ones who do not count this as priority are spiritually dead.

Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?" Jesus' mastery over creation is another sign of His divinity, and that He is Messiah.   Commands to nature:  the sea and the waves, can only be issued by God (Job 38:8-11; Psalm 65:5-6).  The fact that Jesus was sleeping gives us a picture of His human needs.  So, at the same time we are taught that He is completely human; His natural needs are the same as ours.  This image of Christ and the disciples in a boat is traditionally used as a "portrait" of the Church.  My study bible says, "God both permits storms and delivers us through them, so that we can see His protection more clearly."  The rebuke of the storm is also a picture of His capability of calming the storms that arise within our souls.

What does it mean to practice discipleship, to obey His command to "Follow Me" and to live this life of the Kingdom coming into the world?  It means many rigors, as indicated in today's reading.  The life of the Kingdom mingled with all that our world contains isn't one of pure ease or without great challenges.  We first are taught clearly of the necessity of humility; the world isn't necessarily rewarding or hospitable to those who follow Him in discipleship.  We may be challenged to be in situations that are very difficult, not only materially or physically, but socially as well.  Our faith may be challenged by the natural forces of life, to which we remain subject:  but everything is in the hands of God, and all become opportunities for learning, growth, stretching our faith and our understanding of that faith and what we are doing as disciples.  The Beatitudes taught us of the blessedness and happiness of this life of the Kingdom, even in the midst of a troublesome world.  Here, we have strong examples of the life of discipleship for these early followers of Christ and their challenges and rewards.  But the vivid examples remain true also for times in our lives when challenges come to us.  We may be headed into our own storms of life without a clue how to handle them, and find that all we have is faith.  We may be challenged in our love of God to put the things of the Kingdom first, sacrificing both material and social comforts -- things we consider not only necessities, but even crucial elements of our identity.  This is also the life of the Kingdom, where we make choices for priorities -- and sometimes very difficult choices, as illustrated in the text.  In some sense, our loyalties are being honed and tested, forged in faith.  Of course, our Lord will make the most extreme choice, the giving up of His human life.  Today's reading teaches us about setting priorities and the demands of faith:  there will be things we need to set aside, priorities to give up and to consider over others.  Sometimes we may be led where we don't want to go:  all of it is in the hands of God and in service to our work as those who seek to bring God's kingdom into the world through our own discipleship.  Uncertainty may characterize much of our lives.  But our faith accompanies us through all, and we must help one other in that faith.