Jesus' Home Address

Biblegems #160

Question: In John 1:37-39 Jesus makes a direct invitation for Andrew to hang out with him at His place . . .or was he referring to some place else? Where's did Jesus reside when he wasn't wandering around?

The Gospel accounts of Jesus’ 3 ½ year ministry make it clear that once Jesus left the wilderness he maintained no permanent address:

         Luke 9:58  Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

At times this meant that Jesus would spend the night outside. When that was the case, the outer cloak served as a bedroll and blanket:

        Matt. 5:40 “And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.”

The event mentioned above in John 1 takes place after Jesus’ baptism in the region of Bethany near the southern section of the Jordan River where John was baptizing (Jn. 1:28). Jesus was just visiting the area at the time, for his home base at this early stage of his ministry was Nazareth, many miles north in Galilee:

         Matt. 2:23 …and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

As he travelled, Jesus would get to know people who would offer him and his disciples a temporary place to stay in their home. Here are a few examples:

         Mk. 3:20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat.

         Mk. 7:17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable.

         Mk. 7:24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret.

Another common place for Jesus and his disciples to stay was the home of the disciples themselves:

         Matt. 8:14 When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.

         In Matthew 17:25  Jesus is again at Peter's house talking about whether it's right to pay taxes.

Jesus would even invite himself over to a meal at the home of a stranger, as he did with Zacchaeus (Lk. 19:5), and with Matthew the tax collector (Matt. 9:10). In fact, this was an outreach strategy he taught his disciples:

         Luke 10:5-7  “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.”

How strangely appropriate that the exalted Creator and Lord of the universe should have no place to call home while on this little blue planet in the vast ocean of the universe:

         Is. 66:1 This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be?