SCRIPTURE: Genesis 23
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
(Read my reflection from 2008)
Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites. He said, “I am a foreigner and stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.” [Genesis 23:3-4]
A stranger in the land, Abraham had no property of his own.
He was living on a promise of an inheritance, but as of yet he was just passing through.
He was welcomed as a rich man with the hospitality customary of that culture.
But technically he had no place to call his own, no place to bury his dead, no place to lay his head.
Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” [Matthew 8:19-20]
Jesus enters this world as a stranger, a foreigner, but He does not find the same rich welcome that Abraham did.
Yet He was also living on the promise of an inheritance, trusting that one day God would grant Him all authority in heaven and on earth.
He continued by faith, meek and submissive to the Father’s purpose – with no place to lay His head.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. [Matthew 5:5]
Some people wanted to follow Jesus because they hoped they would get a good spot in His messianic kingdom [Matthew 20:21], but they soon discovered He had other ideas.
Jesus makes it clear that His kingdom is not of this world, and that He has nothing to offer but God – no no pillow, no property, no riches, no armies.
A rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus… took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. [Matthew 27:57-60]
Jesus had nothing, but some people offered what they had to Him: the woman offering her perfume, Zacchaeus offering his wealth, the rich women supporting Jesus and his disciples, and here Joseph offers his own burial cave.
Jesus offered nothing but Himself; people responded by giving themselves to Him.
In this way, Jesus has found a home on earth, in the hearts of those who receive Him.
His kingdom comes in this world not through land acquisition or large armies or wealth or government policy, but through hearts surrendered to Him.
Just as Abraham was offered the space to bury his wife, a place to call His own, so we offer our hearts for Jesus to reside and to rule, a place to call His own.
“I am not my own but belong, body and soul, in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.”
Have you opened Your heart and life to Jesus?
if you do, you will discover that it will not be a place for dead memories, not a burial place, but a living, personal relationship that brings life and joy and peace!
PRAYER:
Lord, I offer my heart – which is nothing but a tomb without You – as a place to lay Your head!
Abraham was in the promised land and yet he did not have possession of it. He was a stranger in the land yet the people knew him and respected him. They wanted to give him the land with the tomb but Abraham did what was right and true and just. He bought it at market price and did not take unfair advantage of them.
And he buried his wife.
This reminds me of a book, “When the game is all over, it goes back into the box’ by John Ortberg. We take nothing with us when we leave this life. We are buried in the earth and the plot we may own as Abraham did and we may in the graveyard but our home is in Him. To live in His Kingdom is our destination. We are His and home is where our hearts are – and that must be living with Jesus forever.
I greet Thee, who my sure Redeemer art,
My only trust and Savior of my heart,
Who pain didst undergo for my poor sake;
I pray Thee from our hearts all cares to take.
Thou art the King of mercy and of grace,
Reigning omnipotent in every place;
So come, O King, and our whole being sway;
Shine on us with the light of Thy pure day.
Thou art the life, by which alone we live,
And all our substance and our strength receive;
Sustain us by Thy faith and by Thy power,
And give us strength in every trying hour.
Thou hast the true and perfect gentleness,
No harshness hast Thou and no bitterness;
O grant to us the grace we find in Thee,
That we may dwell in perfect unity.
Our hope is in no other save in Thee;
Our faith is built upon Thy promise free;
Lord, give us peace, and make us calm and sure,
That in Thy strength we evermore endure.