Jesus in Others

If Jesus stopped at your home, no doubt you would welcome Him in. If Jesus asked you for a ride to the next town or for a meal or a warm coat, surely you would do everything you could to help Him, to make Him comfortable, to provide for Him. This makes Matthew 25:40 a very sobering verse.

Jesus’ comment in Matthew 25:40 has the potential to make a person feel slightly uncomfortable because the question it raises is not, “How am I treating others?” The question is, “How am I treating Jesus in others?” Jesus had been speaking about some of the practical aspects of a life of faith.

He said, “I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me” (Matthew 25:35, 36).

Christ’s followers will demonstrate their love for Jesus not simply by attending church or giving offerings but by sharing the love of Jesus in practical, tangible ways —not in an effort to win God’s approval but as the result of a connection with Him that sees His love flowing into and then out of the lives of His followers. James expressed a similar thought. Discussing genuine faith, he wrote, “If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?” (James 2:15, 16). How might it impact the church if Christians truly took these passages to heart? And how might it impact the unbelieving world to see a demonstration of genuine Christian love and compassion? Today, Jesus might give you the opportunity to serve Him by being a blessing to someone else. When that opportunity comes, take it.