Jesus believed himself to be the Son of Man, the Messiah for the Jews…and eventually the rest of humanity. His mission crystalizes out in the wilderness – fasting for forty days and going head-to-head with Satan. When he comes out of the desert, crowds flock for he is clothed “in the power of the Spirit.” (1) In a synagogue in Nazareth, he announces who he is by reading from the prophet Isaiah…
“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,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (2)
And Jesus does preach to and for the poor, and the condemned, and the sick, and the enslaved. These were the people he came for, both literally and symbolically. At the same time, he also accepted everyone: rich or poor, Jew or Samaritan, priest or prostitute. Clearly, his least favorite people were his own religious leaders. (3) It turns out, a humble heart was the only prerequisite for approaching the Son of God.
He was moved by the desperate, and they were drawn to him because they sensed he cared about them. This Rabbi didn’t just preach or pray a good game. He gave people food when they were hungry (and was persuaded to make wine when the party was dying.) He calmed a storm when his disciples were scared. He healed the sick, lame, blind, even the dead. The untouchable lepers, he healed by touch.
Luke again mentions “power was coming off of him” when Jesus began to heal and preach, “Blessed are the poor (‘in spirit’ in Matthew), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” He then goes on to make promises to ‘those who mourn and are meek, who show mercy and make peace,’ A few verses down, Jesus even commands his followers to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (4 and 5)
If this is too nuanced or open to interpretation, a little later, Jesus plainly explains how we will be judged: “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.” When asked how they failed to help him, Jesus replies, “…whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” (6)
It’s ironic that those who cry the loudest for a “Christian nation” often seem to do so without considering Jesus’s own priorities. Most (conservative evangelical) Christians I know are good, even generous, to the people around them, and yet, there is a convenient disconnect when it comes to matters of public policy. While government cannot be run like a charity, Jesus clearly tells us who we should aspire to be – as people, and as a nation. It begins and ends with compassion and care for the “least of these.”
Jeff Fulmer is the author of Hometown Prophet and American Prophet.
1. Luke 4:14
2. Isaiah 61:1-7 and Luke 4;18 and 19
3. Matthew 23:27 “Hypocrites! You are like white-washed tombs which look beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of bones of the dead and everything unclean.”
4. Luke 6:17-36 and 5. Matthew 5:1-12
6. Matthew 25: 42 and 45
