November 2005 by E. Louise Williams
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Finding Jesus
Matthew 25:31–40

“Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” —Matthew 25:40

Where are you likely to see Jesus? Reading your Bible? Hearing a good sermon? Gathered around the communion table? In someone who is helpful and gracious to you? In someone who offers you forgiveness?

Of course, by God’s grace, we do meet Jesus in Word and Sacrament and in people who share God’s love and grace with us.

Jesus suggests that we might look also in other places—in people Jesus describes as hungry, thirsty, estranged, naked, sick, imprisoned. They are the ones who have the greatest need or the least power. They are the most vulnerable and the easiest to ignore or forget. They are the people hard to love and sometimes even harder to be around. In them Jesus can be found.

Maybe you have had a glimpse of this. Maybe you have welcomed a stranger or visited someone in prison or sat with someone who was ill or given food to someone who needed it, and found yourself strangely blessed by the experience. Maybe you set out to be Christ to another, and you met Jesus in them. When that happens, it is a gift of God’s grace.

There is a more grace-full message still. If Jesus can be found in those needy and vulnerable ones, Jesus can also be found in each one of us—and not only when we are strong and giving but also, and especially, when we are weak and in need.

For reflection and discussion: Have you ever met Jesus in one you served? Who are “the least of these” in your congregation, neighborhood, or world?

Prayer: To see thee more clearly, for this we pray, O God. Amen.