"And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.' Amen." (Matthew 28:18-20 NKJV).
In Matthew 25, Jesus is facing the cross. As he does so, he issues orders to His followers to care for people of every tribe, tongue, and nation. Our counter-culture mandate comes not from the White House, a government, or a court. Our mandate to the nations comes from our Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
“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.’
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
“Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-46).
Jesus Christ's mandate concerns and convicts me. It is a mandate to all nations. All nations will face judgment. That judgment will begin with the nations care for the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned. The Gospel mandate is expressed in a social mandate. This is not social justice in the neo-Marxist context of our age. This justice is Jesus' justice.
Surely, immigration is a pressing political and policy problem that needs to be addressed. Surely, many competing interests seek alternative solutions. I don't have the answers for all of the thorny issues policy makers face. But the Biblical mandate from our Lord Jesus Christ is clear: food for the hungry, water for the thirsty, protection for the stranger, clothing for the naked, medical care for the sick, and compassionate care for the imprisoned. And the comments of our president are offensive to "Jesus' Justice."
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