Jesus was a Panhandler

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, “Jesus was a Panhandler.”  We wore the t-shirts to several city council meetings, and we’ve worn them ever sense.  Each of us has experienced how some people get quite upset when we wear this t-shirt that says, “Jesus was a Panhandler.” 

Why do these folks get so upset?  In conversation with them I’ve learned that they just don’t 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. 

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 “Jesus was a carpenter” there is no biblical reference that indicates he engaged in this work, though he was the son of a carpenter. 

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.

            In Luke 8:1-3, several women are identified as traveling with Jesus and the Twelve and “These women were helping to support them out of their own means.”

            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). 

            Jesus sends out his disciples telling them to rely upon the generosity of strangers (Mk 6:7-13, Lk 10:1-12).

            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).

            Jesus’ 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).

            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.

            A final word.  I have found that often it is certain religious leaders who react most vehemently to the statement “Jesus was a Panhandler.”  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’ words to the religious elite of his day, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you” (Mt 21:31).