Do You See Everyone As Another Jesus?

In the Gospel of Matthew 25:40-45, Jesus says “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

What exactly did he mean by this? Well, to put it simply, he wants us to see every person we encounter as another Jesus. It’s easier to think as if every person on planet earth were Jesus in disguise. If you are a Christian and you met Jesus, think about how you would speak to him, treat him, listen to him, and respect him. I’m sure everybody’s answers would be a little different, but most Christians would have an extremely positive reaction to encountering our Lord and Savior. What you do or don’t do to people, you do or don’t do to Jesus Christ.

You might read this interpretation and laugh. I get it. There are some pretty difficult people that we have to encounter in our lives each and every day. But think about how the world would change, if only we treated everyone as if we would treat Jesus. For example, giving people our full attention could be a very hard thing to do, especially when we have so many other responsibilities and stresses going on in our lives. But this connects to our responsibility of living in the present moment with those who are right in front of us. Let’s say Jesus showed up at your door right now and wanted to have a talk with you. Do you think you would be zoned out thinking about homework assignments, laundry, meeting a deadline, or about something better you could be doing? Would you be checking your phone for messages or checking the time? Or would you be hanging on to every word that he says and not taking your gaze off of him for a second? Most would hang on to every word as if nothing else in the world exists. So what makes people in our lives any different? Yes, of course we know that Jesus is God. But if we follow Jesus, then we must obey what he tells us to do. And in this passage from Matthew’s Gospel, He makes it loud and clear what he wants from us. Relationships between friends, family, and romance would all be so much stronger, if only we took the time to really focus on listening to one another. We must treat them as if they are the only person in the world when we speak them. This will test our patience and help us to grow in this virtue.

I know that there are many in this world who we might say do not resemble Jesus. But it doesn’t matter how they act. Jesus didn’t say “Treat others like you would treat me, but only if they resemble me”. For the most part, it is beyond our strength. So we need to go to God and ask for a new set of eyes. How could we possibly see this person from another lens? Only with His help.

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