SIX PEOPLE GROUPS

There are several basic and foundational truths in the famous Matthew 25 parable: The hungry, thirsty, strangers, unclothed, sick and prisoners are the explicit figures and focus. But there is another meaning to each of these six. There is hunger for food, but also hunger in the soul for nourishment from the Father to have a real and verifiable life in Christ. There are those who are thirsty for physical drink, but also those who thirst for Spiritual water, which is the life of the Holy Spirit, a ‘river of living water shall flow out of the belly’ (John 7:37-39), and there is the stranger who needs to be accepted and welcomed, but also all those who are unaccepted and away from the shelter of God’s love, those who do not have God living in them, nor they living in God. There are the unclothed (naked) who need clothing to cover their bodies, but also need spiritual covering; they need a mantle, a cloak, a coat of many colors, garments of praise and the armor of God. There are the sick, those who need to be healed, made well and made whole, but also need deep inward healing of heart, soul, mind, and spirit. There are the prisoners, those who are in a physical prison and need a visit, but also those in spiritual prison and captivity, those who need to be delivered, set-free, and released from demonic forces. All of these require literal and spiritual concern. To care for one and not the other is to only understand a partial gospel, a half gospel.

“Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” Jesus