When did we see you?

Jesus Christ was delivering a message on the Sheep and the Goats when He said:

"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, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’  “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you (Matthew 25:35-39)?’

It is interesting how the Lord describes the response of the righteous in attendance. They said, "When did we see you ..?" As Christians, what relevance does this have to us?

When did we see you hungry and feed you?

Just after a crowd of people located Jesus Christ on Capernaum, He said, "Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval (John 6:27).” Jesus described Himself as the Bread of Life. The food that endures to eternal life is Him. When we accept Jesus as our savior, the Holy Spirit of God comes to indwell us for eternity. Jesus, the bread, is the food that we receive as well as the food that we share with those who are hungry. The hungry are the lost who have not yet come to faith in Jesus Christ. It is them who hunger to have the deepest needs of their heart met in Christ. Perhaps that is why Revelation 7:16 says, "Never again will they hunger, and never will they thirst; nor will the sun beat down upon them, nor any scorching heat."

When did we see you thirsty and give you something to drink?

During the conversation between Jesus Christ and the woman at the well, the Samaritan woman said to Him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water (John 4:9-10).” The living water reference by Jesus is the Holy Spirit. Salvation is the restoration of the life of God which was lost when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden. God removed His life, the Holy Spirit, but through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is restored to all who believe in Jesus as their savior. The thirst that all mankind longs to quench is the absence of the Holy Spirit. When He is restored to us, we will never thirst again because there is no sin that will cause God to remove Himself again thanks to once for all sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. 

When did we see you a stranger and invite you in?

In Galatians 4:9, Paul tells the church, "But now that you know God—or rather are known by God ..." Christians, because of our faith in Jesus Christ are now "known by God." Prior to our salvation, the Bible describes those who are lost as being in "darkness" and that we were "God's enemies." You can't see people who are in the dark and you do not know your enemies even if you might know of them. This is another way of describing a stranger. However, just like the love of God in Christ drew us to faith in Him, so will the love of Christ we bear to others draw strangers to Him through us. And when a person is born again of the Spirit of God through faith in Jesus Christ, they are no longer strangers. That is why the scriptures say, "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household ... (Ephesians 2:19)." We are no longer strangers to God because we have accepted His invitation through our faith in Christ. 

When did we see you needing clothes and clothe you?

The moment that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, their eyes were opened and they hid from God. When God called out to Adam, he answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid (Genesis 3:10).” The nakedness of Adam and Eve was symbolic of their sin. To this day, the majority of the world views the public display of the naked body as sinful. One of God's initial acts of love was to make "garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them (Genesis 3:21)." This was a foreshadow of what God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ would do for mankind. Apart from faith in Jesus Christ, mankind is spiritually naked. Upon accepting Jesus Christ as your savior the Bible says "for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ (Galatians 3:27)." The receiving of the Holy Spirit described as being baptized in Christ, is akin to putting on Jesus Christ as your clothing. The garments the Lord made for Adam and Eve covered their sin. The death of Jesus Christ took away the sins of the world so God could cover our nakedness with Himself through the restoration of the Holy Spirit. 

When did we see you sick or in prison?

Two of the ways Jesus Christ described His mission here on earth was to use illness and captivity. Referring to Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees asked, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  "On hearing this, Jesus told them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners (Mark 2:17).” Unbelief in Jesus Christ is described as being sick. From the point of view of salvation, Jesus is the only "doctor" who has the cure for what ails mankind. When Jesus entered the synagogue in Nazareth, He was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He read from it saying, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free ... (Luke 4:18)" What is it that prisoners desire? It is freedom. Jesus came to set us free from our sins and the love of the world which has made all of us prisoners to them. When we share the Gospel we are offering freedom to all the unbelievers still imprisoned by their unbelief in Jesus Christ. 

Jesus Christ would go on to say, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me (Matthew 25:40)." Whenever we share the Gospel with someone it is as if we are feeding Jesus, giving Him something to drink, inviting Him in and getting to know Him, clothing His naked body, nursing Him to health, and setting Him free from prison. In this day and age, it is easy to see the lost as our enemies who are worthy of our scorn. Unfortunately, they often act in ways that are worthy of such treatment. But, if we look at them through the eyes of God, we will see that they are the hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, and imprisoned stranger that Jesus Christ came to save.