When the crowds asked John the Baptist what they should do to prepare to embrace the coming of God’s reign, he told them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise” (Luke 3:11). As John understood it, we offer ourselves over to God’s great reordering of the world, which would become manifest in Jesus, by caring for each other in real, tangible ways.
When Jesus likened the day of judgment to a shepherd who separates the sheep from the goats, he explained that those who would be welcomed into God’s reign were the ones who gave him food, drink, and clothes when he needed them, who welcomed him into their homes when he was a stranger, and who visited him when he was in prison. As the parable goes, those who are invited into God’s reign then ask when it was that they saw him in need and responded accordingly, and Jesus replies, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40). Among Jesus’ principal instructions to his disciples, therefore, was the command to respond to the needs of others as if they were caring for him.
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