Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

THE QUESTION OF JESUS SELF-UNDERSTANDING
§16.4
the Spirit's power were immediately in view (§15.7h). So a personal reference
within a more ambiguous reference is quite likely, but we can hardly be more
positive than that.
(4) Matt. 8.20/Luke 9.5S/GTh 86. 158
Matt. 8.20
And Jesus savs to him. 'Foxes
have holes, and birds of
the air have nests; but the Son of
Man has nowhere to lav his
head'.
Luke 9.58
And Jesus said to him. 'Foxes
have holes, and birds of
the air have nests; but the Son of
Man has nowhere to lav his
head'.
GTh%6
Jesus said, [Foxes
have their holes] and birds
have [theirl nests, but the Son of
Man has nowhere to lav his
head (and) to rest.
Thomas clearly knows this tradition; it is the only Son of Man saying in
Thomas. The contrast indicated is quite conceivable as a general son of man =
humankind masal: nature provides an appropriate habitat for creatures like
foxes and birds, but human beings (bar ' e nasa) require more before they can
sleep comfortably. 159 But in the context within which the saying was remembered
and circulated (Matt. 8.19-22/Luke 9.57-62), bar ' e nasa was obviously
taken as a self-reference, that is, as a warning to less than wholly committed
would-be disciples. 160 Either way the saying is not untypical of Jesus' use of exaggeration
for effect: human beings can live in caves and Jesus could usually
expect hospitality during his mission. But, as with Matt. 6.25-34/Luke 12.22-
32, he evidently wanted to press home the need for greater, more radical trust in
God. 161
(5) In one other case already cited the most obvious explanation is that an
underlying bar ' e nasa was used with more directly personal reference: Matt.
11.18-19/Luke 7.33-34.
158. For the context in Q see above, §13.2d.
159. Bultmann, History 28. M. Casey, 'The Jackals and the Son of Man (Matt. 8.20/
Luke 9.58)', JSNT 23 (1985) 3-22 observes that an underlying Aramaic form would probably
have referred to 'places to roost' rather than 'nests', which would make the contrast clearer —
and meet the usual response that birds have to build their nests as much as humans their homes
(as in Burkett, Son of Man Debate 94).
160. See also Colpe, TDNT 8.432-33; Lindars, Jesus Son of Man 29-31; Hare, Son of
Man 272-73. The Jesus Seminar found the saying congenial, taking the implication to be that
Jesus was a homeless wanderer ('human vagabonds of Jesus' type') (Funk, Five Gospels 160-
61); cf. Lüdemann, Jesus 326.
161. Pace Hahn, Hoheitstitel 44-45 (Titles 36), the saying is perfectly intelligible without
postulating a post-Easter christological heightening; similarly Schürmann, Gottes Reich
163. Caragounis strains to find allusions to Daniel (Son of Man 175-79). Hengel wonders
whether behind the saying lies a Wisdom reference — 'the motif of Wisdom homeless upon the
earth' (1 En. 42.2) — ('Jesus as Messianic Teacher' 92-93).
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