Son of Man has No Place to Lay His Head
(Gen 28:10-22, Mt 8:20)
Today’s scripture tells us about the experience Jacob had when encountering God in Bethel while fleeing from his brother Esau. Special attention should be given to the scene where Jacob slept with a rock as his pillow. He then woke from his sleep and confessed “this is the house of God and the gate to heaven.” There, Jacob not only met with God, but he found the house of God through the rock he used as a pillow. Let’s look at how the rock Jacob used as a pillow is spiritually related to the Words of Jesus, “the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
I. Jesus had no place to lay his head.
Mt 8:30 and Lk 9:58 tells us “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” What then does “his head” mean? The head is the part of the body that thinks and give orders to other parts of the body. Thus, the head is the main part of the body that gives glory to God. Also, when the head “thinks,” there are two thoughts, spiritual and physical. We must only think of God. Rom 8:6 says “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” Moreover, physical thoughts oppose God. This is because not only do these thoughts make us stubborn in obeying God’s Laws, but it also makes us slow to understand God’s will and ultimately disobey Him. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God (Rom8:8). This means that out of all the people that were following Jesus at the time, no one had a mind controlled by the spirit that was able to understand Jesus and obey him.
When we look closely to the Bible,
1) his relatives did not believe him and called him crazy (Mk 3:21).
2) Jesus’s own siblings did not believe him (Jn 7:3-5).
As a result, Jesus had to avoid being seen by people and had to go in secret when going up to Jerusalem during the Passover (Jn7:10).
3) Disciples also did not believe in Jesus.
When we look at Jn 6:60-61, 66:7, not only did the disciples not believe, they left Jesus’ side (Jn6:66) and one of them, Judas Iscariot, ended up selling out Jesus (Jn 6:71).
II. Jesus is the head of a church.
Our body and feet must touch the ground to live, but not our head. The head is the part of the body that belongs to heaven and because it does the thinking, it is clearly different from rest of the body. Thus, when we lie down, we use a pillow to separate our heads from the ground. What then is the spiritual meaning of this? The bible tells us that Jesus is the head of the church. Col 1:18 states, “And he is the head of the body, the church.” Therefore the place Jesus, the head of the church, should dwell in is the church, and the believers are the spiritual churches (1 Cor 3:16, 6:19). Just as the place where Jacob lied down with a rock as his pillow became Bethel, meaning “house of God”, when God dwells in us who are the churches, we also become spiritual pillows, a true church.
3. Spiritual meaning of “place to lay his head”.
The rock that Jacob used as a pillow to lay his head on in Gen 28 is referred as the house of God, meaning church (Gen 28:16-18). Therefore, when Jesus said “the Son of Man has no place to lay his head”, the phrase “place to lay his head” refers to the spiritual church, the believers. Furthermore, since the head is the body part that thinks and is the heavenly body part, it thinks about “how to believe and understand.” Thus, this part of the body must be thinking spiritual thoughts. Gal 6:8 distinguishes between the believers who have spiritual pillow for Jesus to lay his head and the believers do don’t by saying “The one who sows to please his sinful nature and the one who sows to please the Spirit.” Looking at this more closely, the flesh that appears in Gal 5:19-21 is life without the pillow, and the fruits of the Holy Spirit in verses 22-24 refer to faith with the pillow. Likewise, Noah’s ark was his pillow and the house of God. Therefore, those who dwell in the House of God do not have death or failure. Water was clearly God’s method of judgement and brought deaths, but those in the ark were not affected. Truly, Noah’s ark became the spiritual pillow of God, and church that floated on water. It was the ark of salvation that delivered believers.
Conclusion:
When Jacob slept in the middle of desert with a rock as his pillow, he discovered the House of God. However, Jesus did not have a place to lay his head. Thus, the house where he could lay his head on a pillow, which were the believers that are the true churches, were nowhere to be found. Through this Word, we shall confess “Jesus, I will be your pillow from now on.” I pray that we will become true believers where Jesus will dwell in your hearts.
Original Text (Korean): http://www.pyungkang.com/logos_01/169701
Translation by Kim Yeon Hee (Orlando Green Hill Church, USA)