ChosenRebel's Blog

It seems only appropriate that the eternal God of the universe, who once took on flesh and walked about disguised, as it where, in real human flesh, “very God of very God” as the Nicene Creed (*see below) puts it, would also walk about disguised in the world in the forms and lives of the poor. And yet, the teaching of Jesus concerning the final judgment, pulls the curtain back on a stunning revelation, that Jesus, post resurrection and until the end of the age, visits the world in the disguise of the poor, the naked, the starving, the thirsty, the sick and the imprisoned. 

³¹ “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; ³³ and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; ³⁶ naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ³⁸ And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ³⁹ When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ ⁴⁰ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

⁴¹ “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴² for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; ⁴³ I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ ⁴⁵ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ ⁴⁶ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Matthew 25:32-46

The interpretation of this passage seems straight-forward except for one point. Is Jesus referring to the sacrificial care of His people (His followers) who are poor and marginalized OR is he referring to the poor and marginalized of the world in a general sense? Personally, I think the Lord meant both with particular emphasis on caring for the family of God, the Church. This is one of the reasons He says that the world will know that we are His by our love for one another (see John 13:35). But it is also true that one of the most powerful witnesses of the Church has been that wherever the gospel has gone, schools and hospitals, clinics, orphanages, men’s and women’s shelters have followed. All of these reflect a love for mankind as a fundamental result of true faith in Christ. (** see below for a fascinating link to an article on this point).

But I don’t want to get off on an apologetic tangent as important as that might be. I want to sit in “the chair of awe” at the reality that you and I have the opportunity to serve our ever-living-resurrected Lord when we love the least, the lost, and the last thought of in our world! Let’s remember that and let’s live that out everyday. Look for them. Let’s go out of our way to find them and serve them as we would serve Christ Himself.

Final note: It is astounding that the enfleshment of God in the person of Christ is permanent! God took on our humanity and will forever be clothed in that flesh so as to forever identify with humanity! Astounding!

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* The Nicene Creed. (A.D. 325)

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth,
and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God,
begotten of the Father before all worlds;
God of God, Light of Light,
very God of very God; begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father,
by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men for our salvation,
came down from heaven,
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary,
and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate;
He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again,
according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven,
and sits on the right hand of the Father;
and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead;
and whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost,
the Lord and Giver of Life;
who proceeds from the Father [and the Son];
who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified;
and who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins;
and I look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

** “Christianity and the Origins of Hospitals and Modern Medicine.”