November 3, 2022

Matthew 11: 5 (NIV)

“The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.”

His ministry with them [the poor] was never just about material provisions or the healing.*

John the Baptist was in prison but he was not out of touch with his disciples. When news about Jesus reached him, John sent his disciples to gather information. They were to ask Jesus if he was “the one who was to come” or if they should keep looking for the Messiah.  This verse contains Jesus’ reply to their inquiry. Jesus told John’s disciples to report what he was doing – and then left John to form his own conclusions, it seems.

Jesus was restoring sight to the blind, healing the infirmities of the crippled, curing leprosy, causing the deaf to hear, raising the dead, and making the poor rich . . . wait, what? No, he didn’t say anything about eliminating poverty. He just preached the good news to the poor. Based on other scripture passages, we might speculate why solving the problems of the poor wasn’t included in Jesus’ marketing strategy - but not today. Today we will look at Jesus’ ministry to the poor.

In Jewish society of the day, no one would have expected the Messiah to stoop to minister to the poor. Apparently, it was believed that they were to blame for their condition and they deserved what they got. Jesus changed the way we look at the poor – and at anyone whose life choices have led to poverty of any type.

Jesus performed miracles among the people who needed them most as a sign to all people. Not everyone needs to be healed of a physical disability; not everyone is poor. But everyone needs to hear the message of Jesus. His miracles were part of a carefully crafted plan to get people to listen to his words of life. As someone else observed, he “restored sight to many blind people but not to every blind person he encountered. He healed many lepers but not every leper in Israel. He did his Father’s will.”*

Who is poor? Not just those who lack material possessions and money but anyone who hasn’t heard the good news. Jesus is no longer walking the earth as a man who performs miracles, but his message is still good news and, in his final words to us, he commanded us to preach it.

We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy 

this kind of poverty.*