Joseph got up and, during the night, took the child and his mother to Egypt. — Matthew 2:14
Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens, and the birds in the sky have nests, but the Human One has no place to lay his head.” — Matthew 8:20
Two well-known groups of people, the immigrants and the homeless, prompt society to ask, “What are we going to do with them?” The answer often entails violence, either physically or emotionally. Pictures of masked ICE agents are in the headlines. Stories circulate as to how to get the homeless off the streets.
Isn’t it interesting that Matthew specifically states that Jesus was both an immigrant and a homeless person?
Maybe there’s a lesson in this for us, individually and as a society. Jesus treated people as people and not as categories or stereotypes. He didn’t ask, “What are we going to do with them?” Rather, he asked: “What do you want?” (Matthew 20:21) and “What do you want me to do for you?” (Matthew 20:32)
It’s also interesting that Matthew added a kicker at the end of Jesus’ life. His Gospel is the only one with the parable of the sheep and the goats, which has the litmus-test-for-Christians statement: “When you’ve done it to the least of these, you’ve done it to me.” This was Jesus’ last parable before the authorities killed him.
The least of these today include the immigrant and the homeless. They can be Jesus to us, if we ask the right questions.