Disciple James log: The essence of Jesus - As you do unto the least of these, you do unto me.

 

8/3/24

Warning: Everything but what moves you to discipleship of Jesus is destructive of your health. jesianity.info/search/label/Jesus

Of the 1010 instructions from Jesus in the four canonical gospels, I find that I need every one. I didn't expect or realize that would happen. But it has. I need every one. I can't reduce Jesus example and instructions to just one phrase or verse.

But I do find that the essence of Jesus that speaks out from those thousand and ten teachings and examples, I do find that the essence of Jesus is captured in this - as you do unto the least of these you do unto me.

He was pure empathy. He identified with every human, but especially the least of these, the suffering, the outcasts, the dehumanized. To the extent that their suffering was his suffering, their Joy was his joy. 

So to the rest of us, if we care about jesus, we are devoting ourselves to the least of these, for the same reason he did. Their Joy is our joy, their suffering is our suffering.

And any of us that thinks that we love jesus, and like him, we have not been drawn into devoting our lives to the least of these, we don't love jesus, and we certainly aren't following him.