And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.
The Church in Jesus’ Skin
When you live your life for Christ, it means that you do to others what Christ would do for others if He were still here on earth. Is this why the church is called the Body of Christ? Is the church called this because we are supposed to do what Jesus would do if He were still here on earth? Who are “the least of these” anyway? Matthew 25 gives us an idea, I believe, because it talks about making strangers feel welcome, giving food to the hungry, offering a drink to the thirsty (v 35), giving clothing to those who need them, visiting those who are sick and in the hospitals, and even visiting those who are in prison (v 36). It doesn’t say anything about why they’re in prison, why they’re hungry, why their naked, why they’re a stranger, why they’re thirsty, or why they’re sick. Jesus doesn’t qualify this as being for only the church, but could well mean that this is for all those who are afflicted in this world.
When Did We See You, Jesus?
There is humility in those who do such things when they basically say, “Jesus, we didn’t see you in any of these situations.” But listen to Jesus’ response: When you did it to the least of these, it was the same thing as doing it for Me (Matt 25:40). Why didn’t they know that they were doing it for Jesus? Because they were doing it with the sincere, genuine intention of helping others and not to impress God. They didn’t actually realize at the time that when they were doing these things for others, they were in reality doing these things for Jesus.
Not Doing It for Others Is Not Doing It for Jesus
The opposite of not doing anything for others is that we are not doing it for Jesus. What do you call doing nothing for anyone (Matt 25:42-45)? It’s a sin of omission, which is just as much of a sin as one of commission would be (James 2:16). The consequences for doing nothing (sin of omission) seem to be just as gravely serious as they would be for sins of commission (Matt 25:45-46). When we do anything for anyone with the right motive or intent, God sees it as doing it for Jesus. If Jesus could actually ask you “what did you do for Me today,” what would be your answer?
A Closing Prayer
Father God, thank You for doing so much for me in the sense that the Son of God died for me. I can never repay what You have done for me, so I pray that I can do things in love for those who the world considers the least of these so that I can actually be seen as doing them for You, and in Jesus’ name I pray.
Amen
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