Jesus was a Panhandler<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"by Peter GathjeRhetoric Race and Religion ContributorFrom: Radical Hospitality A year or so ago, guests and volunteers at Manna House agitated\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2012\/06\/jesus-was-a-panhandler.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jesus was a Panhandler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Peter GathjeRhetoric Race and Religion ContributorFrom: Radical Hospitality A year or so ago, guests and volunteers at Manna House agitated\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2012\/06\/jesus-was-a-panhandler.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rhetoric Race and Religion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-11T15:03:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/files\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-WQtTaJoGo_s\/T8ROfmF5Y0I\/AAAAAAAAAgs\/9qau5TnLQbk\/s200\/pete+gathje.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andre E. 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{"id":2063,"date":"2012-06-11T15:03:00","date_gmt":"2012-06-11T15:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2012\/06\/jesus-was-a-panhandler.html"},"modified":"2012-06-11T15:03:00","modified_gmt":"2012-06-11T15:03:00","slug":"jesus-was-a-panhandler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2012\/06\/jesus-was-a-panhandler.html","title":{"rendered":"Jesus was a Panhandler"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/a>by Peter Gathje<\/span>
Rhetoric Race and Religion Contributor<\/span>
From: Radical Hospitality\u00a0 <\/span><\/a>

<\/span>A year or so ago, guests and volunteers at Manna House agitated against a proposed anti-panhandling ordinance that was proposed for the city of Memphis. We decided to get some t-shirts made that simply said, \u201cJesus was a Panhandler.\u201d We wore the t-shirts to several city council meetings, and we\u2019ve worn them ever sense. Each of us has experienced how some people get quite upset when we wear this t-shirt that says, \u201cJesus was a Panhandler.\u201d <\/span>

<\/span>Why do these folks get so upset? In conversation with them I\u2019ve learned that they just don\u2019t like panhandlers and it seems disrespectful to equate Jesus with panhandlers. These folks judge panhandlers as immoral, as lawbreakers, as lazy, as addicts. They see in panhandlers all sorts of immorality, and so certainly Jesus as our Lord and Savior was not a panhandler. <\/span>

<\/span>Yet, despite their view of Jesus, it is quite clear that in the Gospels there is no record that Jesus worked to support himself. Despite the popular notion that \u201cJesus was a carpenter\u201d there is no biblical reference that indicates he engaged in this work, though he was the son of a carpenter. <\/span>

<\/span>There are, however, direct instances in which it is clear that Jesus and his disciples relied upon the generosity of others for their well-being.<\/span>
In Luke 8:1-3, several women are identified as traveling with Jesus and the Twelve and \u201cThese women were helping to support them out of their own means.\u201d<\/span>
On numerous occasions Jesus relies on the generosity of others for meals (Mt 9:10, Mk 1:29-32, Mk 14:12-16, Lk 11:37, 14:1, 12-14, and on at least one occasion, when he encounters Zacchaeus, Jesus invites himself to dinner (Luke 19:1-10). <\/span>
Jesus sends out his disciples telling them to rely upon the generosity of strangers (Mk 6:7-13, Lk 10:1-12).<\/span>

<\/span>Jesus consistently teaches that strangers are to be welcomed and that he identifies with those who are hungry, thirsty, without clothing, in jail, sick and those who are in need of such welcome (Mt 10:40-42, Mt 25:31-46, Lk 15:2 Lk 16:19-31). Jesus himself practices the feeding of the hungry drawing upon donated food (Mt 14:13-21, 15:32-39 see Mk 6:30-44, 8:1-10).<\/span>

<\/span>Jesus\u2019 disciples practiced gleaning, an ancient form of panhandling (Mt 12:1-8). Jesus responds to panhandlers in a gracious way (Lk 18:35-43, Jn 9:1-34) and urges us to do the same (Lk 6:30, 12:33, 14:13-14).<\/span>

<\/span>So, in his life Jesus both identified with panhandlers and literally relied upon the generous donations of others to engage in his lifestyle of street preaching.<\/span>

<\/span>A final word. I have found that often it is certain religious leaders who react most vehemently to the statement \u201cJesus was a Panhandler.\u201d Perhaps they want to protect the sacredness of Jesus; perhaps they find it blasphemous to identify Jesus with people they judge to be contemptible or at the very least unrighteous sinners. But perhaps they need to be reminded of Jesus\u2019 words to the religious elite of his day, \u201cTruly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you\u201d (Mt 21:31).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"