The king who judges the poor with truth, His throne will be established forever. Proverbs 29: 14.
Dear God, as we live from day to day it becomes more difficult to find truth in action. Nevertheless, we know that Your kingdom is established upon truth and that is why it will never be overthrown. Yours is an everlasting kingdom! We rejoice in this and give You thanks. Amen.
In one of the prophecies concerning Jesus’ coming into the world, and one day establishing His kingdom, the Prophet Isaiah had the following to say: “Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 6: 7). The kingdom of the King of truth would have “no end” for He would “judge the poor with truth.”
As we study Sacred Writ we cannot help but observe the justice, mercy, and kindness, with which Christ dealt with the poor of His day. There was no looking down at them as if they were the least -. to the contrary, He made known His admiration for them whenever possible as observed in the following incident: “So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood’ ” (Mark 12: 43, 44).
Even before coming to the world as the Messiah, His mission to the poor had been foretold: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Isaiah 61: 1, 2a).
And He faithfully fulfilled His mission. When John the Baptist languishing in prison needed assurance that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, this is the message that Jesus sent to him: “. . . ‘ “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them” (Luke 7: 22).
He also advised others to be mindful of the poor among them: ” ‘ “. . . But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just” ‘ ” (Luke 14: 13).
“So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, ‘ “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” ‘ ” (Luke 18: 22).
He knew that the selfishness of our hearts would most likely result in our neglect of the poor so He left us a gentle reminder in three of the four Gospels: “For you have the poor with you always . . . ” (Matthew 26: 11; Mark 14: 7; John 12: 8).
And on that final day those who hear the Welcome and Well done from Jesus will be those who allowed Christ to love the poor through them.
“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’” (Matthew 25: 34-40).
God cared for the poor while He was here on earth; and is depending on His followers to do the same today.