The least of these

"Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' – Matthew 25.37-40

How would we treat Jesus given the chance? If somehow He came and we did not know who He was how would we respond? What would we do?

I wish I could say what I would do, but here Jesus Himself gives us a pretty good indication.

Just before this Jesus had told about servants who came to the king and were praised for feeding and clothing the king and giving him water. ‘When did we do that?’ they asked. ‘You did it when you did it to the least of the people in my kingdom.’

If we want a test of how we would treat Jesus if we met Him and didn’t know it is Him is by how we treat ‘the least’ of those around us. It is not how we treat the popular or well-respected or the well off or the well-dressed or the proper folk. It is how we treat the lesser and the rejects and the unpopular.

How would we treat Jesus if He showed up unannounced today?

How do we treat others, especially the less fortunate?

The answer is the same.