Jesus and the Least

In Matthew 25, Jesus speaks to His disciples about the end of the age and the final judgment of the world. In this, His final “parable,” He speaks of the Son of Man (Jesus’ favorite name for Himself) separating the nations before Him as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

One of the most interesting things that Jesus says to these people is that their outcome (whether or not they get to enter into heaven) is based solely on what they did or did not do to the “least of these.” He is telling these people whatever you did or didn’t do to the most vulnerable and weakest among you, you did (or didn’t do) to me. Jesus is saying here that He is the weakest and most vulnerable among us.

Now just as a point of clarification, I do not believe that Jesus is teaching here that the acts done in the body in any way determine our worth to enter into heaven. I can see how at first blush this might be saying that to some. But one of the things that we need to take into consideration when studying the Bible is what the whole of Scripture teaches. The whole of Scripture teaches us that we gain entrance into heaven based solely on what Jesus has already done on the cross and in rising from the dead…not one what we do. So this cannot be what Jesus is telling us.

Instead, I strongly and most definitely believe that Jesus is teaching us that the way we treat the “least” is a direct reflection on our love for Him. And our love for Him grows out of our faith. You see, we are not saved by what we do, but it is the evidence that our faith is alive and active…thus making us fit for heaven.

So here’s the question we need to ask ourselves today: “What am I doing to help the least? What I am doing to save those who are weak and vulnerable among me? What I am doing to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to welcome the stranger, to visit the sick, to go to those in prison, to rescue the orphan and widow, to be the kind of person that God has called me to be?”

It’s a hard question to answer, and I don’t think that God is calling us to be all of these things all of the time. But I do think that we miss His call sometimes because in our fast-paced society, we are just too busy to help. Perhaps it is time for us to just slow down, take a deep breath, and look for the open doors around us.

Think about it, and we’ll see you on Sunday!