Matthew 25:31-46 | “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 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?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
When did we see you sick . . . and go to visit you? -Matthew 25:39
Believers in Jesus, though a meager minority, enacted a bold witness as the plagues overwhelmed the Roman Empire. According to Rodney Stark in The Rise of Christianity, while the wealthy managed private medical care and fled the city, believers cared for their sick neighbors, nursing them to health or caring for them until death.
In the fourth century, Basil of Caesarea continued this practice by organizing the first major hospital, caring for lepers. From the church’s founding through the Middle Ages and into our contemporary COVID-19 crisis, one of the sure signals of its faithfulness has been sacrificial care for the sick.
Likewise, when we ignore those who suffer, we can be certain we’ve abandoned our calling. Scripture warns that at the end of our life when we must give account for our actions, one of the questions we’ll answer is how we cared for those who were ill (Matthew 25:37–39).
We even hear a stunning reality: to care for the sick is to care for Jesus. “Truly I tell you,” He said, “whatever you did for one of the least of these . . . you did for me” (v. 40). While this doesn’t mean we’re to abandon all safety and take risks with our own health, we’re called to be a people of healing. As we move toward those who suffer, we enact the sacrificial life God has given us, and we directly touch and serve Jesus.
Winn Collier
Where do you see suffering or sickness? How, with your resources and capacity, might God call you to be a person of healing?