Who Did Jesus Come For                            Galatians 4:4-5

We are now in the season of preparation, a time to reflect and to concentrate on God fulfilling his promise to the world. A time to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus.

But when the time was right, God sent his Son…” (Gal 4:4) Who did Jesus come for? I think I mentioned this once or twice in the past, when I was younger, I was told Jesus came for everyone. Everyone, a big fuzzy cloud of everyone. And somehow, I always felt lost in this cloud of everyone. Jesus did come for everyone, but let’s break it down a bit.

Luke 18:12, “If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wonders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine and go look for the one?”

That sheep was under the protection of the shepherd, but the sight of green shoots and tender grass led it away from his protector. And as each new shrub was eaten, the sheep wandered farther, seeking more. Eventually the sheep had wandered such a vast distance, it couldn’t see how to get back. It was now on its own, completely lost, exposed and vulnerable to the elements, and to predators. The shepherd, noticing the missing sheep, instead of saying, “That sheep wandered away, too bad for it, I have ninety-nine others that I will care for, losing one’s ok,” went after the one lone sheep.

1 Timothy 2:3-4, “This is good, and please God our savior, who wants all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.”

The flock; humanity. The lost sheep, it represents mankind through millennia. People see bright and shiny things in the world. They see what they want, the newest green grass, and they forget what they need, the protection of the shepherd. But God never says, “I’ve got enough, I’ll let that soul go off until it’s devoured by the wolf that is Satan.” God seeks out that soul. He may send someone who talks about the Bible. He may lead a person into a church by the music heard inside. God may do any one of a million things to bring that one person back to him.

Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man came to seek, and to save the lost.” Jesus came for the lost, for those adrift in life, those at risk of Satan, those who see nothing around them but emptiness and fear.

Matthew 25:40, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of my brothers and sisters, you did for me.” And who are these brothers and sisters Jesus talks of? Matthew 25:38-39, “When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison, and go to visit you?”

Who are the least? They’re the ones that have not been born into wealth and privilege. They’re the ones whose lives have taught them to be quiet, not raise a ruckus, stay unseen. They are the ones who have had it beaten into their minds that they have nothing to offer, and they should expect nothing better in life.

We live across the river from the Vanderbilt mansion. A family born into privilege, in want of nothing. But there are many born in places like an Ecuadorian mountain village with nothing. Jen and I sponsored a young girl from one of these villages. Her family tried their best but were desperately poor. They couldn’t provide her with clothes, or nutritious food, definitely not an education. They are among the least; no hope, no future.

Jesus came for the least. To show them it’s not your fault where you were born. To give them hope, to show them a future with God because in God’s eyes, the least is equal to the privileged. Isaiah 41:120, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Matthew 20:16, “So the last will be first, and the first shall be last.”

In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees thought they were the elite people of God, the first to enter heaven. They knew scripture. They demanded respect. They looked down on the people of the nation and saw them as beneath them. They saw the people as the last people God would reach out to. The last people to enter heaven.

Jesus came for the last. Jesus came to tell mankind God’s kingdom operates on grace, not on human effort or position. Jesus came to tell mankind that social norms mean nothing to God, that it’s belief, faith, and trust that matter. Jesus came to tell mankind that those who are humble before God, surpass those that are proud, or feel entitled before God. Jesus came to tell mankind that the sick, the imprisoned, the poor, all those who feel that they are the last people God will reach out to; are seen more highly by God than those who believe their position in life grants them God’s grace automatically.

We are entering the Christmas season, preparing ourselves to celebrate the coming baby Jesus. To all those across the world who think they have no chance of receiving Christ’s grace either because of where they are, what they have done, or how they live, you are wrong.

Luke 5:31, “It’s not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”

Jesus was born among the least, among the poor, among societies outcasts. Jesus was born to welcome to the kingdom those who are the last. By coming to earth as one of the poor, all mankind can see the struggles in his life and know he fully understands the struggles in our lives. All mankind can look at him and call him savior.

               Jesus came to earth to save the least. The shepherds who came to the manger were looked down on and shunned by the elite. They were the last society gave thought to. No one, no matter where you live, no matter how you live, no matter your finances, no matter your place in society, no matter what anyone thinks of you, no matter what some pampas religious leader or prejudice people think or say, no one is beyond Jesus’ vision and grace.

Jesus came to earth to save the lost. John 3:165, “For God so loved the world, he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” By coming to earth as the poor, visited by the least, and preaching to the lost, Jesus does come for everyone.

Christmas is coming, be joyful for Jesus Christ is coming into the world. And he comes for the least, for the last, and for the lost.                                                   

 Amen.