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"And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.

And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay (κλίνω: to rest) his head." Matthew 8:20

I have three questions:

Did Yeshua avoid the scribe because he was really tired and just wanted to take a nap?

Is there any connection to:

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28

And:

"Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest." Psalm 95:11 (Septuagint and Hebrews 4:5; 3:11: "If they shall enter my rest")

And my last question is:

Who is the son of man in Matthew 8:20?

Thank you.

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  • These questions don't appear related and it is not clear that they arise naturally from the texts themselves. – Dan Aug 16 '16 at 17:54
  • It's okay @Dan. I don't mind if you close this one. http://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/23363/who-is-the-son-of-man-in-john-935 This is the question I'm really concerned with. – Cannabijoy Aug 16 '16 at 18:00

1 Answers1

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Did Yeshua avoid the scribe because he was really tired and just wanted to take a nap?

He actually is answering the scribe's question in a way that speaks directly to the scribe, but seems opaque to us.

We note that the scribe came to Jesus after he had done a great many miracles (Matthew 8:1-17). The scribe, being unbelieving and seeing such great multitudes come to him (8:18) presumes that Jesus must be making a great deal of money from all that he was doing. Jesus, knowing his true thoughts, tells the scribe that if he truly wants to follow, then he must be prepared to be so poor as to be homeless. We are reminded also of the story of the rich young man who went away dejected when Jesus told him that he must sell everything and give his possessions to the poor.

Is there any connection to Matthew 11:28 and Psalm 95:11 (also Hebrews 4:5; 3:11)

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest
(Matthew 11:28)

Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest
(Psalm 95:11; Hebrews 4:5; 3:11)

I am not sure that there is a direct allusion here, but I think we could certainly connect Matthew 8:19 to these two verses.

Matthew 11:28-29 concerns humility:

Learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart

Since humility has no room for avarice, we could certainly make a connection to Christ's admonition to the scribe.

Psalm 95 (94 LXX) is somewhat starker, beginning with an exclamation of joy and ending with one of fear. But I think the theme is similar: a battle between catering to one's own desires or humbling oneself before God and submitting oneself to God's will.

Who is the son of man in Matthew 8:20?

Jesus is certainly referring to himself in Matthew 8:20. Jesus uses this term over 80 times in the Gospels to refer to Himself. The very first time He used the expression seems to have been when He spoke with Nathaniel, who came to see Him at Philip's urging:

John 1:50–51 (KJV 1900)

Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

When Nathaniel said to Jesus, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God (John 1:49). He did not mean it in the sense of Peter's confession (Matthew 16:16-18), but rather in the sense that He was a man who by grace and virtue had been adopted as a Son of God. Jesus clarifies his Divinity to Nathaniel through a mild correction, since angels would not be ascending to a mere man. In other circumstances, however, Jesus uses the phrase "son of man" so as not to offend the Jews.

That Jesus meant Himself when referring to the "Son of Man" in Matthew 8:20, as well as in the parallel passage in Luke, 9:58, is affirmed by numerous Church Fathers:

  • Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary Upon the Gospel According to St. Luke, Part I, Sermon LVII

  • John Chrysostom, Homily XXVII on the Gospel According to St. Matthew; Homily I on the Acts of the Apostles; Homily XXXI on the Gospel According to St. John; Homily XVIII on the Epistle to the Hebrews

  • Isaac the Syrian, Ascetical Homily LXXVII

  • Theophylact of Ohrid, An Explanation of the Holy Gospel According to St. Matthew

  • Hey NonTheologian thank you for the answer. You wrote "since angels would not be ascending to a mere man", and this seems to be your argument for why Yeshua was referring to himself in John 1:51. I don't mean to be so blunt, but I haven't asked who is the son of man in John 1:51 yet. But for now, how would you interpret Hebrews 1:14 and Psalm 91:11? Might I recommend Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges commentary- http://biblehub.com/commentaries/hebrews/1-14.htm Thank you. – Cannabijoy Jul 18 '16 at 15:47
  • Hi, anonymouswho. Based on your comment, are you suggesting that Jesus means one thing when he refers to the "Son of Man" in John 1:51, but some other thing or things in the other 80 verses? It sounds like you already have an answer in mind to your question but are interested in drawing out other answers for debate. That is fine, I think, but maybe the right forum would be a chat we could set up here. If you have an answer in mind, could you post it so we can understand where you are coming from? –  Jul 18 '16 at 16:01
  • I am not sure where you are going with examining Hebrews 1:14 and Psalm 91:11. Were you keying in on my comment, "angels would not be ascending to a mere man"? –  Jul 18 '16 at 16:02
  • Yes, because angels/messengers do ascend and descend to mere men. God loves mankind and He prepared the entire world just for us. We can bring this to chat if you'd like, but I have two kids so it may take me a while to respond. Thank you. – Cannabijoy Jul 18 '16 at 19:32
  • For angels to ascend to men, wouldn't that imply that angels dwell beneath the earth? I think that you have your own answer to this question in mind already. Could you share it with us? –  Jul 19 '16 at 02:33
  • I'm sorry I won't be able to talk much today. I'm spending some time with the wife and kids. I'll have to study this more closely, because I'm seeing some pretty awesome stuff here. I find it significant that "angels" are constantly "ascending" and "descending" "upon" the son of man. As if the son of man is Jacob's ladder. Maimonides has an interesting commentary on Jacob's ladder. The parable of the net seems significant (Matt. 13:47) When Yeshua explains this parable, he says that the angels shall come forth and separate the evil ἐκ (out from) μέσου (within) τῶν (the) δικαίων (righteous). – Cannabijoy Jul 19 '16 at 16:39
  • @TheNonTheologian, can you provide a source or exegetical argument for your claim that Jesus was “certainly referring to himself” in Mt.8:20? It is a highly debatable question among scholars as to when, if ever, Jesus took the title of this eschatological figure for himself. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_of_man – Schuh Aug 13 '16 at 17:45
  • @Schuh - I looked at the wikipedia article you quoted. I suppose that one must weigh the speculations of 20th century theologians against what the Church Fathers seemed to have believed. I added a list of Patristic sources that indicate that Jesus was understood to have applied the appellation "Son of Man" to Himself. I think further discussion of this should be move to a chat forum, would you agree? –  Aug 16 '16 at 04:59
  • @TheNonTheologian I enjoyed reading your response. If I were to add or change anything I'd do it at the "since angels would not be ascending to a mere man" comment. Jacobs ladder shows Angels ascending and descending because they are doing the will of God. Jesus uses this imagery to show that he has authority over the Angels thus making himself equal to God. But the conversation is interesting because Jesus, having seen Nathaniel meditating on the word, tells him what he was meditating on. Nathaniel's reply indicates a "how do you know my thoughts" reply. – user6053 Aug 16 '16 at 07:14
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    Dear @user6053: Thank you for considering what I wrote. The interpretation of John 1:51 that I included comes from John Chrysostom (4th c.): "Do you see how He leads him up little by little from the earth, and causes him to no longer imagine Him a man merely? For One to whom Angels minister, and on whom Angels ascend and descend how could He be man?" (Homily XXI on the Gospel According to St. John). –  Aug 16 '16 at 12:22