Condemned for Caring (Not)
Matthew 25:41-46
Jesus said something that hit people like a ton of bricks. He was teaching, talking to the people about a lot of things and He condemned people for not taking care of His needs. The people around Him were stunned. Jesus is talking about the coming judgment before God’s throne and says that one group of people will be cast into “everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” The reason was that they did not care for His needs.
The people wanted to know when they ever saw Jesus with a need they did not try to meet. He says “whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” (Matt. 25:45) In other words, if you see people all around you with needs and you don’t seek to help them, to meet those needs, it’s the same as ignoring the needs of Jesus.
Now, I doubt anyone if they saw Jesus hungry, naked, or homeless would walk by without doing something to help. Jesus wants us to know that we need to think of every person as if they were Jesus. So how would your life change if you looked at every person as if they were Jesus? What if you treated every person as if they were Jesus? I dare say our lives would be so radically changed by this paradigm shift that people would wonder what is wrong with us. But this is precisely what Jesus is telling us to do.
Jesus is pleading with us to look at the homeless family with the same compassion He does, and seek to help them find a home. Jesus is begging us to bring food to the hungry with the same love we would provide food for our own family. Jesus is asking us to visit the sick and imprisoned with the same grace that He offers us each day.
It’s easy for us to meet the needs of our family and friends and those we love. But Jesus says there is no reward in this because even the lost world does that (Luke 6).
We are quick to make excuses of not having time or money to be able to help. But the fact is if our own mom, brother, child or best friend was homeless, starving, and sick or in prison we would all of a sudden have plenty of time and resources to help. So in reality it’s not a matter of time and money, it’s that we just don’t care. Our priorities have been distorted and we’ve lost focus of what Jesus asked us to do.
The bottom line is that Jesus isn’t interested in our platitudes or our hollow words. Jesus wants to see our words and our actions agree. He wants to see our faith put into action in our everyday lives in order to prove to a lost world that we have truly been born again.
Opportunities are all around us every day. People are desperate for hope, someone to reach out in love. We have the choice to ignore the people that Jesus loves, or to do what He would do and go to them. Will you choose to be the hands and feet of Christ or will He condemn you for ignoring His needs?
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