What is Abide? | Listen to this Episode | Watch this Episode

This week’s Abide comes from the passage in the Our Daily Bread devotional for Monday 25th March.

Sometimes I find it easier to connect with passages in the Bible when I can picture them in my mind. For example, if I’m reading about Jesus teaching a crowd I will try and imagine what it must have been like to stand there and listen to Him. How would I react to his words? How do people in the crowd next to me react?

So as we journey together exploring different ways to engage with the Bible, today we’re going to try using our God-given imagination to picture moments in the passage.  We’re not trying to make things up about the passage, but use the details and images the passage gives us to help us imagine ourselves into it.

First, let’s read the passage together, it’s Matthew 25:31-40.

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.”

So the scene is set for us, it’s a royal throne room and we hear the voice of the Son of Man, that’s another name for Jesus, and He’s calling out this astonishing invitation. He’s inviting people to come forward and receive the gift of the kingdom of God, prepared for them since the creation of the world.

And then the scene continues. Jesus says:

35 “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

Jesus reveals that when these people, the righteous people as they are described in the passage, served the needy, they were actually doing it for Jesus, not just the needy.

And as the scene unfolds I’m drawn to wonder what these people’s reactions are. Because there’s a moment where the seem surprised to hear what Jesus says. Have you noticed that?

V37 “Lord” they say, “when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 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 visit you?”

And Jesus responds to their question, basically repeating what He’s already said.

40 ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

I wonder if their question reveals something about these people and their character?

When I picture them in my mind, I imagine humble, unassuming types. The quiet servers who just get on with the task. The kinds of people who serve generously whether the higher-ups are watching or not. They didn’t realise they were serving Jesus, but they served anyway.

So when Jesus singles out these kinds of people, I imagine they might step forward thinking “is he really speaking to us?” Is he really inviting me? I wonder if they are like a child who can’t quite believe the present is really for them.

As you picture these people stepping forward to accept Jesus’ invitation, what do you picture? What would you feel or think if Jesus calls you to come forward and receive His gift of the kingdom of God?

We hope what we’ve done has helped to engage with this passage in a fresh way. As we picture how people might react, it might help us understand the passage and reflect on how we’d react to Jesus words. It might just help us hear the Lord’s message to us afresh.

God’s gifted each of us with an imagination to help us understand what He is like. The Psalmists were using their imaginations when they described God as a rock or as a fortress or as a shield. They were using their imaginative, creative minds to find ways of describing what God is like.

And he gives us the same kinds of imagination to grasp what He is saying to us today through His Word.

So this week, give this a go for yourself. Take a different passage from Matthew’s Gospel and actively engage your imagination. Ask the Lord to lead your thoughts. You might be surprised what you learn about God this way!