Bible Verse on Serving
Serving Them Serves Christ
Jesus spent thirty years preparing for his three years of ministry.
His “final exam” was to undergo an intense forty-day period of testing and tempting by the devil in the desert.
After he passed this grueling test, Jesus went to the synagogue in Nazareth and delivered these stunning lines from the prophet Isaiah:
From that day on, Jesus traveled throughout the countryside, healing the sick, caring for the poor, exorcising demons from the possessed, and preaching the gospel of salvation.
Bible Verse on Serving
Jesus’ words are some of the most beautiful and powerful ones ever spoken, but his ministry was much more than a matter of words.
As he continually demonstrated, serving God requires an active, hands-on response to people’s pains and problems.
He told us as much in the passage from Matthew. It shows Jesus sitting on a throne of judgment, dividing all of humanity into two groups: the sheep and the goats.
The sheep are those people who did the things Jesus described in verses 35-36. The goats are those people who did not do these things.
But the sheep wondered when they had performed these ministries. Jesus’ answer was clear and unmistakable: “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (v. 40).
In other words, when we feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, show hospitality to the stranger, clothe those who are naked, and visit those in prison, we are actually doing these things to Jesus.
He didn’t explain exactly how this works. This is one of the many mysteries of the faith.
But in his words and in his actions, Jesus demonstrated the eternal importance of putting our faith into action. Whether or not we do so is our “final exam.”
Father, help me reach out to those in need, for in doing so I am ministering to your Son.