By Dean Lusk
I'm surprised and feel a little silly that I never caught the connection between these passages before. Notice the phrases I've emphasized.
Anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me. John 12:26, NLT “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ Matthew 25:34-40, NLT
If we want to be disciples and servants of Jesus, we have to be where He is. Sometimes that "place" is not a mysterious destination we have to agonize about, asking God if this or that is what He'd have us to do. Often it's right in front of us.
In a very straightforward manner, Jesus told us just a few of the places we can find Him.
Are we there? You can stop reading here if you'd like, and jump right to criticizing me for espousing some kind of exclusively social gospel. However, this was written to expound on one small aspect of living as a disciple of Jesus Christ, not to say it encompasses everything. Read further for bonus content! These thoughts and clarifications came out of a discussion of the topic via e-mail with a friend. My friend asked, "
So we find Jesus where believers are, right? In these passages then, is Jesus talking about helping only less fortunate Christians?
How do you find Jesus among non-believers?" My response was something like this (with a few edits for clarity):
"We find Jesus where believers are..." That's obviously a true statement, but keeping Scripture in mind (like the passage above, Matthew 25, for instance),
"Jesus is not among non-believers" may not necessarily be a true statement. When Jesus is talking in the Matthew 25 passages, the believers He was talking
about were the ones He was talking
to. He never mentioned whether the hungry, poor, etc., were believers. That apparently didn't matter. That is,
we're never told in Scripture to screen someone to determine if they're worthy of our help -- if they're a believer, etc. We're never told the spiritual status of the guy in the ditch that the Good Samaritan helped, for example. He was just "a man."
And then there's a different perspective making a similar point: the Church is the body of Christ; He is the head. ("
We find Jesus among believers.") However, Jesus put Himself among non-believers as a regular habit when He was physically on earth.
Eating with tax-collecting scum,
defending a sexually promicuous woman who was not a believer, doing things that got Him labeled by the religious elite as
a drunkard and a glutton. ("
We find Jesus among non-believers.") Therefore, one way we find Jesus among non-believers is for us (believers) to be where non-believers are.
Again, Jesus told us and showed us just a few of the places we can find Him.
Are we there?
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Comments (6)
Hebrew 4
14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is PASSED INTO HTE HEAVEN,
Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
.
15 For we have not an HIGH PRIEST
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities
but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Jesus is in heaven interceeding for us..In the Most Holy Place in Heaven
Good points indeed, however @ Titus 1: 15 -16, I Timothy 1: 8 -10...we must always be on guard & ensure WE are not influenced at all by non-believers.
(HE won't tarry too much longer...!)
I think sometimes we forget the obvious- Jesus is in our hearts and He is with us Everywhere we go.
That being said- we should always let our Light-Shine/Walk the Talk- everywhere we go. That way when those around us are in need of Him, we can be there to help. That is the Whole idea behind the parable of the Good Samaritan. When someone really needs help, it doesn't matter how "Kosher" they are or how they worship or what race they are, you stop and help them. They are a fellow human being. It's not the healthy that need "Thee Doctor," if you get my meaning.I guarantee that if you are letting Jesus guide your footsteps, you will be "Right There," where He wants you, everytime! :)
Although we must demonstrate God's love in practical ways to unbelievers, I think you're mistaken in your interpretation of the Mt 25 passage. Jesus does indeed identify the sick, naked, imprisoned, etc as His disciples - "these brothers of mine" (v. 40) - and he is continuing a theme he often repeated.
The theme is this - whatever people do to Jesus' disciples (as they go out preaching the gospel), it's as if they are doing it to Jesus himself. Jesus often equates the treatment of his disciples with himself:
“Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me" (Luke 10:16)
"Whoever
welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and
whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a
righteous person’s reward.And
if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones
who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not
lose their reward.” (Mt 10:41-42)
There are other several other instances as well. Jesus never equated himself with the poor and hungry in general, but he often stated that whatever is done to a disciple is done to him. In Matthew 25 Jesus is saying that many non-Christians will be judged based on how they treated his disciples. If they treated them well (knowing that they were Jesus' disciples) then they will receive a disciple's reward - a welcome into God's kingdom. If they did not help his disciples (knowing that they were followers of Jesus) it's as if they rejected Jesus himself.
Wonderful, clear-headed post! Thanks for posting this!