John 7:53-8:2 : Everyone went to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Now very early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him. He sat down, and taught them.

Here it says that even though everyone went to their own houses, Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. This really doesn’t seem to communicate very much on its own. There are some things we can consider about this. Let’s find out more about Jesus’ home situation:

Matthew 8:19-20 : A scribe came, and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

This verse from Matthew’s record suggests that Jesus was homeless in the sense that He didn’t have money to stay in houses or hotels. It is likely that He didn’t go to his home because He had none. It is an important thing to realize that Jesus felt poverty. In other parts of the Bible it says that Jesus didn’t have the money to pay taxes. Another place, Jesus asks for a coin in order to show what it looks like to the crowd. He may not have even had a single coin! I know that Jesus could have made money appear in front of Him, but He chose to obey His Father in this, perhaps, to know what it was like so He could relate to us. I believe that someone would have let Him stay in their house but there is another reason why Jesus may not have gone to a house to stay. Jesus went to the Mount of Olives and then taught the people during the day. He didn’t do this only once:

Luke 21:37 : Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives

It is recorded that, other times, Jesus didn’t just sleep when He went off by himself. Listen to what His followers observed:

Matthew 14:23 : After he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into the mountain by himself to pray.

Luke 5:16 : But he withdrew himself into the desert, and prayed.

Luke 6:12 : It happened in these days, that he went out to the mountain to pray, and he continued all night in prayer to God.

Luke 9:28 : It happened about eight days after these sayings, that he took with him Peter, John, and James, and went up onto the mountain to pray.

Although it doesn’t say it here in John, we know that He spent time alone praying on the hillsides before. Jesus showed signs of having a prayer addiction. He would sneak away to do it! Wouldn’t it be great if we all had this addiction? Obviously, praying was very valuable to Him and He would find time to do it and valued it more than a bedroom. Notice also that He we get up very early and get right to teaching. I think Jesus loved His job.